Joaquín Chacón brings solo-guitar album «DREAMLAND» to a jazz trio in Madrid

Recording an album for solo guitar is an unusually exposed undertaking. There is no bassist to anchor the pulse, no drummer to propel the music and no other melodic instrument to redirect the listener’s attention. Spanish guitarist Joaquín Chacón has embraced that challenge on DREAMLAND, a collection of his own compositions. On 21 and 22 October 2026, he will present the material at Madrid’s Café Central Ateneo — this time with a trio.

One instrument, an entire landscape

Chacón describes DREAMLAND as a turning point in his career. Developed over several years, the recording places the guitar at the centre of every melodic, harmonic and expressive decision. Acoustic and electric sounds, different timbres and effects contribute to a project conceived less as an exercise in categorisation than as an invitation into a personal, dreamlike musical world.

The difficulty lies not simply in executing complex passages. Solo playing asks one musician to manage tension, movement, silence and narrative without being able to rely on another instrument’s response. Technique is essential, but it only matters when it serves a musical argument.

What changes when a solo becomes a trio?

For the Madrid performances, Chacón will be joined by Víctor Merlo on electric bass and David Antúnez on drums. The shift is far more interesting than just adding volume. A line that belonged entirely to the guitarist can now prompt a bass response; a pause may be held or interrupted by the drums. Arrangements become conversations between three players.

That is one of jazz’s central pleasures. A composition can remain recognisable while its internal relationships shift from performance to performance. We cannot claim in advance exactly how these concerts will sound, but their change of format offers a clear reason to listen.

Decades of experience behind the decision

Chacón emerged from the generation shaped by Spain’s developing jazz schools in the 1980s. His career combines recordings as leader and collaborator with teaching at Musikene, the Basque Country’s higher music conservatory, and the publication of educational material on bebop and guitar harmony. DREAMLAND can be understood as a culmination of that experience: a search for a distinct voice rather than a display of everything the player knows.

Madrid dates and tickets

The concerts take place on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 October at Café Central Ateneo, Calle Santa Catalina 10, Madrid, with sets at 8 pm and 10 pm. The venue’s official listing provides ticket information; the Ateneo de Madrid calendar also confirms the dates.

Later announced performances include El Escorial, Donostia, Gijón and Avilés in November, followed by dates in northern Spain in January 2027. The real attraction is hearing how an intimate, self-contained guitar album changes when three musicians are invited to explore it together.