From Cuba, pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba

Pianist-composer Gonzalo Rubalcaba was already a young phenom with a rising career in his native Cuba when he was discovered by jazz icon Dizzy Gillespie in 1985. Since then, Piano & Keyboard magazine (now known as Pianist) selected Rubalcaba in 1999 as one of the great pianists of the 20th century, alongside towering figures such as Glenn Gould, Martha Argerich and Bill Evans.

While establishing himself as a creative force in the jazz world, Rubalcaba has received three Grammys and two Latin Grammys. He performs in an SCP Jazz concert Miles Davis at 100: Gonzalo Rubalcaba/Unlimited Miles on March 27.

​Born into a musical family in Havana, Rubalcaba began his studies early. His father, the pianist, composer and bandleader Guillermo Rubalcaba, had played in the orchestra of Enrique Jorrín, the creator of cha-cha; his grandfather Jacobo Rubalcaba was the composer of classic danzones, and his two brothers are also musicians. By the age of 6, Gonzalo was playing drums in his father’s orchestra; he started his formal training two years later, with piano as his main instrument — he once recalled, “just to please my mother.”

He graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts in Havana with a degree in composition; by his mid–teens, he was working as a drummer and pianist in the hotels, concert halls and jazz clubs of Havana. After graduation, he stepped right into the life of a touring musician, traveling across Cuba, Europe, Africa and Asia with the fabled Orquesta Aragón and also as a sideman in jazz groups. Beginning in 1984, he started to lead his own Afro-Cuban jazz rock fusion band, Grupo Proyecto.

​The encounters with Gillespie, and in 1986, with Charlie Haden and then Blue Note Records president, Bruce Lundvall, set the stage for Rubalcaba ́s talent to be showcased before jazz audiences in the United States. These years are documented in a series of recordings in Havana and Frankfurt, Germany, including three recordings with his Cuban Quartet on the German label Messidor: “Mi Gran Pasión” (1987), “Live in Havana” (1989) and “Giraldilla” (1990). In 1991, Rubalcaba moved to the Dominican Republic and settled in Miami in 1996.

​His international recording career, which includes titles such as “Discovery: Live at Montreux,” “Images: Live at Mount Fuji,” “The Blessing,” “Suite 4 y 20,” “Rapsodia,” “Diz” and “Imagine — Gonzalo Rubalcaba in the USA,” has brought him 16 nominations from the Grammys and Latin Grammys. He won Grammys for “Nocturne” (2001) and “Land of the Sun” (2004), two collections of Latin ballads and boleros recorded with bassist Charlie Haden, and Latin Grammys for “Solo” (2006) and “Supernova” (2002).

​In 2010, Rubalcaba and businessman Gary Galimidi founded 5Passion Records; since then, the label has not only released Rubalcaba’s latest recordings, such as “Fe” (2011), “XXI” (2012), “Volcan” (2014), “Live Faith” (2015), the Latin Grammy-nominated “Suite Caminos” (2015) and “Charlie” (2016), but also albums by artists such as Will Vinson, Ignacio Berroa, Yosvany Terry and more. In addition to 5Passion, Rubalcaba joined the Top Stop Music label family in 2020 to record/release the Grammy-nominated “Viento y Tiempo,” recorded live at Blue Note Tokyo with singer Aymée Nuviola.

Reflecting his interest in education, Rubalcaba joined the faculty of University of Miami’s Frost School of Music in 2015. In 2020, he founded his own school, Rubalcademy, which offers remote masterclasses to musicians worldwide.

​That same year, his independent label 5Passion Records was restructured in partnership with businessman Ariel López. Gonzalo then released the album “SKYLINE,” a reunion of old friends Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette. Rubalcaba’s most recent nomination came for a collaboration with singer and pop-soul music composer Jon Secada on the album “SOLOS” (Oleta Music). It received a nomination at the 2021 Latin Grammys in the best traditional tropical Latin album category.