Gonzalo Rubalcaba (born May 27, 1963 in Havana, Cuba) is one of the most important pianists in jazz today. A prolific virtuoso and composer, he fuses Cuban and American influences into a powerful and innovative hybrid. Known for his stupefying and unbridled command of the keyboard throughout the 90s, his recent work has shown broader range as Rubalcaba has matured into arguably one of the five most important living jazz pianists.
A Duke Ellington staple, "Caravan", which Rubalcaba calls the Latin jazz "anthem", penned by the great Puerto Rican composer and Ellington trombonist, Juan Tizol, is buoyed by Berroa's straight-ahead and Afro-Caribbean drumwork, Chambers' deep-toned bass solo and Rubalcaba's percussive and pointillistic pianisms.
For GonzaloRubalcaba, the ability to easily interweave musical idioms is a by-product of the long presence of American jazz on Cuban soil.
With the approach of a new century in a new country, GonzaloRubalcaba stands poised to create a musical language that is hemispheric in its scope and heroic in its conception.
Rubalcaba's ensemble scores are often complex and his own statements may seem expansive to abstraction, yet his music is always rhythmical, grounded and compelling.
Rubalcaba enjoyed his first New York club stand of a week with bassist Carter and drummer Idris Muhammad at the Blue Note in Spring '95.
Rubalcaba was invited to give a solo performance on the world-wide telecast of the Grammy Awards, in support of his Best Jazz Small Group Album nomination for Rapsodia.
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