Rubalcaba is considered one of the most important Cuban musicians on the international jazz scene today: Videos

My first encounter with Gonzalo Rubalcaba playing live was one of those meetings during which you immediately know that you are on the same page with the artist.

I commented on his performance from a few years ago in the following report: “The pianist, on the other hand, balanced between whispering and screaming: he looked for tension in the pauses, which found an outlet in fast and expressive strikes.

His playing was very interesting, the audience listened to him attentively and duly appreciated each solo.” The course of his career clearly indicates that this view of his music is shared by many.

He was born in Havana in 1963 into a musical family. From the very beginning, he was close to the art of creating sounds, which he began to learn when he was eight. His first instrument was the piano, and it has remained faithful to it to this day.

Among his most important inspirations, apart from Cuban music, he lists pianists Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and Oscar Peterson, as well as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey. As a teenager, in addition to his regular musical education, he performed in Havana and the surrounding area.

At the age of twenty, after graduating from the local Institute of Fine Arts, he embarked on his first significant concert tour abroad: together with the Cuban Orquesta Aragon, he performed in France and Africa.

Two years later, he founded his own band, Grupo Proyeto, with which he visited festivals in Berlin and Rotterdam, among others.

In the same year, his relations with American musicians began to deepen – it is worth noting the pianist’s significant meeting with one of his childhood masters: Dizzy Gillespie. In 1986, at the Havana Jazz Festival, he performed on the same stage with Charlie Haden and Paul Motian.

Thanks to Haden’s support, the line-up soon appeared in Montreal and Montreux. After these events, there was no doubt that the Cuban pianist already had in his hands the necessary credentials to boldly pursue his own artistic ambitions.

In the late 80s, several of his albums with Cuban musicians saw the light of day, and in 1990 and 1991, Blue Note released the first “American” Rubalcaba albums: “Discovery: Live at Montreux” (with Haden and Motian) and “Blessing”, on which Motian was replaced by another drummer – Jack DeJohnette.

After their very good reception, he joined the Blue Note label for a dozen or so years. Among his special achievements are the albums “Inner Voyage” (1999), “Supernova” (2001, Grammy Award), “Paseo” (2004) and “Solo” (2005). He also has experience as an artist-in-residence, together with his famous compatriot Chucho Valdés, at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2002. He has also played for, among others,

with musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Ignacio Berroa, Chick Corea, Al DiMeola, Herbie Hancock, Katia Labeque, Richard Galliano, Francisco Cepsedes, Tony Martinez, Issac Delgado, Juan Luis Guerra, Dave Holland, Chris Potter, Eric Harland, Dennis Chambers, Brian Bromberg, Ron Carter, Yosvany, Terry, Matt Brewer, Mike Rodriguez, Marcus Gilmore, Pat Martino, Giovanni Hidalgo, John Patitucci, Joao Bosco and Eric Harland.

Rubalcaba is considered one of the most important Cuban musicians on the international jazz scene today. He is distinguished by the fact that he does not operate exclusively in the Latin idiom, but weaves it into his own, varied, fresh improvised art.