Juan Cruz de Urquiza was born in Buenos Aires on April 13, 1965. He studied music at the Catholic University of Argentina and later at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Throughout his career, he has played with prominent international musicians such as Paquito D'Rivera, Chucho Valdés, and Fred Hersch, as well as Argentine jazz figures such as Luis Salinas and Javier Malosetti.

In 1999, he co-founded the Urban Quintet, with which he recorded three albums and performed on international stages. As a soloist, he has released several albums, includingOn This Side(2005) andIndomitable Light(2012), which was awarded Best Jazz Album at the 2013 Gardel Awards. He has been recognized with the Konex Awards in 2006 and 2015 as one of the best jazz soloists of the decade.

In addition to his career as a musician, De Urquiza works as a professor at the School of Contemporary Music (EMC) in Buenos Aires, where he teaches trumpet, audio-perception, and ensemble classes. His teaching approach seeks to transmit his vast knowledge and passion for jazz to new generations of musicians.