Rubalcaba nació Gonzalo Julio González Fonseca en La Habana, Cuba el 27 de mayo de 1963 en una familia musical. Adoptó el nombre de su bisabuela para uso profesional, al igual que su padre Guillermo Rubalcaba (nacido Guillermo González Camejo) y su abuelo Jacobo Rubalcaba (nacido Jacobo González Rubalcaba). Es un importante artista y pianista y compositor de jazz cubano galardonado con un Grammy.

Durante su infancia, además de la tarifa estándar de las escuelas primarias, Gonzalo absorbió la herencia musical cubana de su ambiente naciente a través de contactos personales dentro de su familia, en particular su padre, el pianista Guillermo Rubalcaba y sus dos hermanos (pianista y bajista), así como de músicos destacados que fueron invitados frecuentes: Frank Emilio, Peruchin, Felipe Dulzaides y otros.

También asimiló, a través de grabaciones escasas y preciadas, las melodías y estilos de los maestros de jazz de los años 40 y 70: Thelonius Monk, Bud Powell, Oscar Peterson entre los pianistas; y los instrumentistas Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie y Art Blakey. A Gonzalo le encantaba tocar la batería y al principio de su carrera estudió piano y batería. A pesar de la diversidad de sus antecedentes, la formación musical formal inicial de Gonzalo fue completamente clásica.

https://youtu.be/RQ8wSSyKggE

Comenzó su formación en el Conservatorio Manuel Saumell a los 9 años, donde finalmente eligió el piano como su instrumento principal. Se mudó a la escuela secundaria en el Conservatorio Amadeo Roldan y finalmente obtuvo su título en composición musical del Instituto de Bellas Artes de La Habana en 1983. Para ese entonces ya estaba tocando en clubes y salas de música en La Habana. Recorrió Francia y África con la Orquesta Aragón en 1980 e introdujo su propio Grupo Projecto en los festivales del Mar del Norte y Berlín en 1985.

En 2002 actuó como artista en residencia en el Festival de Jazz de Montreal junto con Chucho Valdez. Gonzalo ha actuado con artistas como Dizzy Gillespie, Ignacio Berroa, Chick Corea, Al DiMeola, Herbie Hancock, Charlie Haden, Katia Labeque, Richard Galliano, Francisco Cespedes, 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, Jack DeJohnette, Joao Bosco, Eric Harland, Ivan Linz y muchos otros.

Su arte continúa evolucionando y se inspira tanto en su herencia afrocubana como en el mundo que nos rodea. Nuestro Maestro continuará dando forma y remodelando los temas, formas y ritmos que lo han inspirado para el trabajo de su vida. En cualquier idioma que trabaje, sus futuras creaciones musicales serán melodiosas, rítmicas, emocionantes y tendrán en sus intrigantes complejidades la intención inherente del artista de transformar las rutinas diarias de nuestras vidas en algo más hermoso y significativo.

Gonzalo ahora produce y graba para su propia compañía discográfica y productora, 5Passion LLC, fundada en 2010.

La primera oferta se titula ‘Fé” (Faith), una oferta de piano solo que es una incursión exquisita en las profundidades del color y la emoción que premian al oyente con cada giro. En 2011, Gonzalo lanzó “XXI Century”, un doble CD con música de varios períodos y géneros, y presenta a personajes como Ignacio Berroa, Matt Brewer, Marcus Gilmore, Lionel Leouke, Pedro Martínez y Gonzalo Rubalcaba.

Gonzalo está trabajando actualmente en su próxima oferta, que se lanzará en 2015. Además, su sello 5Passion planea lanzar varios discos de Yosvany Terry, Ignacio Berroa, José Armando Gola y Alex Sipiagin, todos los cuales son considerados algunos de los mejores. Músicos del planeta.

Discografia.
Algunas de sus Ultimas Presentaciones.

Faith (5Passion, 2010)
XXI Century (5Passion, 2011)
Live Faith (5Passion, 2014)
Suite Caminos (5Passion, 2015)
Tokyo Adagio with Charlie Haden (Impulse!, 2015)
Charlie (5Passion, 2015)

https://youtu.be/VGHOMc3VEkc

Awards
Grammy Awards

2000 Antiguo Best Latin Jazz Album Nominated
2002 Supernova Best Latin Jazz Album Nominated
2002 Nocturne (as producer) Best Latin Jazz Album Won
2002 “Oren” Best Instrumental Composition Nominated
2005 Land of the Sun (as producer) Best Latin Jazz Album Won

Billboard Music Awards

2002 Supernova Latin Jazz Album of the Year Nominated
2007 Solo Latin Jazz Album of the Year Nominated

Latin Grammy Awards

2002 Supernova Best Latin Jazz Album Won
2005 Paseo Best Instrumental Album Nominated
2006 Solo Best Latin Jazz Album Won
2008 Avatar Best Instrumental Album Nominated

GONZALO RUBALCABA, AWARD-WINNING CUBAN PIANIST AND COMPOSER. VIDEOS.

Rubalcaba was born Gonzalo Julio González Fonseca in Havana, Cuba on May 27, 1963, into a musical family. He adopted his great grandmother’s name for professional use, just as did his father Guillermo Rubalcaba (born Guillermo González Camejo) and his grandfather Jacobo Rubalcaba (born Jacobo González Rubalcaba). He is an important artist and Grammy Award-winning Cuban jazz pianist and composer.

During his childhood, in addition to the standard fare of elementary schools, Gonzalo absorbed the Cuban musical heritage of his nascent environment through personal contacts within his family, notably his father, pianist Guillermo Rubalcaba and his two brothers (pianist and bassist) as well as from leading musicians who were frequent houseguests: Frank Emilio, Peruchin, Felipe Dulzaides and others.

He also assimilated, through scarce and treasured recordings, the tunes and styles of 40′s – 70′s US jazz masters: Thelonius Monk, Bud Powell, Oscar Peterson among pianists; and instrumentalists Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Art Blakey. Gonzalo loved drumming and early in his career studied both piano and drums. Despite the diversity of his background, Gonzalo’s initial formal musical training was entirely classical Gonzalo.

He began his training at Manuel Saumell Conservatory at age 9, where he finally chose the piano as his main instrument. He moved up to middle-school at Amadeo Roldan Conservatory and finally earned his degree in music composition from Havana’s Institute of Fine Arts in 1983. By that time he was already playing in clubs and music halls in Havana. He toured France and Africa with Orquesta Aragon in 1980 and introduced his own Grupo Projecto to the North Sea and Berlin Festivals in 1985.

In 2002 he performed as Artist-in-Residence at the Montreal Jazz Festival together with Chucho Valdez. Gonzalo has performed with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Ignacio Berroa, Chick Corea, Al DiMeola, Herbie Hancock,Charlie Haden, Katia Labeque, Richard Galliano, Francisco Cespedes, 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, Jack DeJohnette, Joao Bosco, Eric Harland , Ivan Linz and many others.

His art continues to evolve and draw inspiration from both his Afro-Cuban heritage and the world around us. Our Maestro will continue shaping and reshaping the themes, forms, and rhythms which have provided him with inspiration for his life’s work. In whichever idiom he works, his future musical creations will be melodious, rhythmic, exciting and bear in their intriguing intricacies the artist’s inherent intention of transforming the daily routines of our lives into something more beautiful and significant.

Gonzalo now produces and records for his own record label and production company, 5Passion LLC, founded in 2010.

The first offering is entitled ‘Fé” (Faith), a solo piano offering that is an exquisite foray into the depths of color and emotion that reward the listener with every spin. In 2011, Gonzalo released “XXI Century”, a double CD featuring music from various periods and genres, and features the likes of Ignacio Berroa, Matt Brewer, Marcus Gilmore, Lionel Leouke, Pedro Martinez and Gonzalo Rubalcaba.

Gonzalo is currently working on his next offering, to be released in 2015. In addition, his 5Passion label plans to release several discs from Yosvany Terry, Ignacio Berroa, Jose Armando Gola, and Alex Sipiagin, all of whom are considered some of the best musicians on the planet.

(READ RUBALCABA LAST PERFORMANCES AND AWARDS IN THE SPANISH SECTION- ABOVE)

Agencies/ Wiki/ Various/ Internet Photos/ YouTube/ Arnoldo Varona/ www.TheCubanHistory.com
THE CUBAN HISTORY, HOLLYWOOD.