Born in Barcelona, Lluís Vidal studied at the Conservatori Municipal de Música. He combined his formal studies with intense self-training in jazz, leading to the formation of the quartet Catalònia, in 1977. He also founded the groups Onix and Ictus, and has worked as a teacher at the Aula de Música Moderna i Jazz in Barcelona and, later, at the Taller de Músics, of which he was musical director between 1991 and 1994.  He has been a guest at international seminars in Dublin, Siena, Graz and New York, and has given master classes all over the country.  In the 2001-02 academic year, he joined the teaching staff of the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC) as a teacher of piano, combo, composition and big band, in the Jazz and Modern Music Department.

In 1985, together with Josep Pons and Jaume Cortadellas, he founded the Orquestra de Cambra Teatre Lliure, an ensemble devoted to the performance of music from the 20th century, with which he has performed at major festivals in Spain and Europe, as well as performing as a soloist in recordings of Manuel de Falla’s Concerto for Harpsichord and Five Instruments and Josep Soler’s Concert de cambra. He has also been very active as a composer and arranger in a wide variety of fields with different ensembles and has been awarded the National Music Prize by the Generalitat de Catalunya.

He has worked with many jazz, classical and tango performers, as well as with groups such as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, the Spanish National Orchestra and the Cobla Sant Jordi. He has recorded numerous programmes for radio and television, and has performed at major festivals in Spain, Portugal, France, England, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Bulgaria, Israel, the USA, China and Argentina.