Ray Ureña is a Detroit-based jazz guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and educator known for his command of jazz improvisation and his distinctive fusion of jazz harmony with Caribbean and Latin American musical traditions. A versatile guitarist equally at home in traditional jazz, Latin jazz, world music, and contemporary styles, Ureña performs on six- and seven-string guitar as well as the Puerto Rican cuatro.

Professor Ureña is a lecturer in music at the University of Michigan–Flint and has spent decades performing, composing, and teaching guitar. He is a graduate of Wayne State University, received multiple jazz studies scholarships and studied with noted Detroit jazz arranger, Matt Michaels.

As a performer, Ureña has appeared at major Michigan events including the Concert of Colors, Ann Arbor Art Fair, and Arts, Beats & Eats. His work as a composer extends to film, where he has served as a film-score composer and music supervisor for multiple short films and a documentary.

Drawing inspiration from his Dominican heritage and his studies of Caribbean music, Ureña brings merengue and other Afro-Caribbean rhythmic traditions into a sophisticated improvisational language influenced by jazz, fusion, and chromatic harmony. His original recordings include The Oracle, El Cibao, and Sancocho, his Caribbean-influenced interpretation of John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps.”