Julio Gonzalo González Fonseca

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Cuban jazz pianist and composer whose stage name is Gonzalo Rubalcaba

Framed within the post-bop era, Rubalcaba is a virtuoso instrumentalist who is considered one of the main figures of Afro-Cuban jazz.

Member of a prominent family of musicians. He began his music studies at the Manuel Saumell Conservatory in his native city and later continued them at the Amadeo Roldán, where he also studied percussion.

Subsequently, he received lessons from the great pedagogue and pianist Ñola Sahig and at the Superior Institute of Art he studied composition with Roberto Valera and Carlos Fariñas.

From the age of 14 he worked in various orchestras and accompanying soloists such as Cuban Beatriz Márquez, with whom he attended the 1980 International Festival of Buga, Colombia, where he won first prize for orchestration. In this first stage of training he created his own group in 1978, Proyecto, in which he served as drummer, pianist, composer and arranger until the late 1980s when he consolidated his international career as a soloist.

In the early editions of the Jazz Plaza festival in La Habana, he attracted much attention with his piano solos, his rich improvisation and rhythmic exuberance. Creations from those years are Nueva cubana, Pisando el césped, Pergamín, Rapsodia española and others compiled in his LP albums La nueva cubana (1984) and Concatenación I and II (1986).

At the 1986 Jazz Plaza festival he impressed the great American trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, at that meeting they recorded together the LP Gillespie en vivo con Gonzalo Rubalcaba. In 1986 he signed a contract with the German record label Messidor for which he recorded the albums Gonzalo Rubalcaba (1986), Live in Havana (1986), Mi gran pasión (1987) and Giraldilla (1989).

Before the end of the 80s he had won the EGREM awards 1986 and 1987, prize at the Benny Moré Festival 1987, as well as widespread international recognition for his albums and tours through Japan, Canada, Brazil, Greece, Spain and other countries.

In 1987 he recorded with the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra the album Concierto negro, his first foray into symphonic music although without abandoning Latin jazz, where he combined Yoruba elements with Cuban music and other genres. The following year he reduced his group to five members and enriched his work with computerized media, in this line one of his first scores was conceived for the film Cartas del parque, by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea.

Since 1992 he has resided in the Dominican Republic, since then increasing his tours around the world and his record releases. For the Blue Note label he has recorded more than 10 albums, among them Discovery (1990), The Blessing (1991), Suite 4 y 20 (1992), Live in the USA (1994-96), Antiguo (1997), The Trío (1998) and Supernova (2002), several of which were nominated for Grammy awards.

With the album Supernova he won the 2002 Latin Grammy and in 2006 he won that award again with the album titled Solo. In recent years he has continued his performances with his trio and with other important figures and groups in salsa, jazz and other genres. He has participated in albums by Isaac Delgado, Juan Luis Guerra (Bachata Rosa), Francisco Cespedes (Con permiso de Bola) and Charlie Haden (Nocturno).

In 2010, Rubalcaba and entrepreneur Gary Galimidi founded 5Passion Records and, since then, the label has not only released Rubalcaba's latest recordings, such as Fe (2011), XXI Century (2012), Live Faith (2014), Suite Caminos nominated for a Latin Grammy (2015), and Charlie (2016), but also albums by artists such as Yosvany Terry, John Daversa and Ignacio Berroa, José Armando Gola, Will Vinson, Seamus Blake and Volcan.

He currently resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States.

Discography
Concierto Negro (1987)
Mi Gran Pasión (1987)
Live in Havana (1989)
Giraldilla (1990)
Discovery: Live at Montreux (1990)
The Blessing (1991)
Images: Live at Mt. Fuji (1991)
Suite 4 y 20 (1992)
Rapsodia (1992)
Imagine (1993)
Diz (1993)
Concatenacion (1995)
Flying Colors (1997) with Joe Lovano
Antiguo (1998)
Inner Voyage (1999) with Michael Brecker
Supernova (2001)
Inicio (2001)
Nocturne (2001) with Charlie Haden
Paseo (2004)
Land of the Sun (2004) with Charlie Haden
Solo (2006)
Avatar (2008)
Fe (2010)
XXI Century (2012)
Live Faith (2014)
Suite Caminos nominated for a Latin Grammy (2015)
Charlie (2016)

AWARDS
1991: "PALMAR D'OR" from the Music Academy in Paris, France
1991: "BEST INSTRUMENTALISTS AND KEYS" from the mayor of the city in Lugano, Switzerland.
1992: "AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE" for his album "SUITE 4 Y 20", from the Association of Art Critics of Japan.
1993: "AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE" for his album "RAPSODIA", from The Art Critics Association in Japan.
2001: National Academy of Recording Art and Sciences "GRAMMY" to Gonzalo Rubalcaba as Producer "BEST LATIN JAZZ ALBUM" - "NOCTURNE" (Charlie Haden)
2001: In recognition of his extraordinary contributions to Jazz, the CIRCLE OF LEADERS OF THE SAN FRANCISCO JAZZ FESTIVAL ORGANIZATION proclaims Gonzalo Rubalcaba "2001 LEADER CIRCLE LAUREATE"
2002: Latin Academy of Recording Art and Sciences "LATIN GRAMMY" to Gonzalo Rubalcaba Trio "BEST JAZZ PERFORMANCE" "SUPERNOVA"
2004: National Academy of Recording Art and Sciences "GRAMMY" to Gonzalo Rubalcaba as Producer. "BEST LATIN JAZZ ALBUM" - "LAND OF THE SUN" (Charlie Haden)
2006: Latin Academy of Recording Art and Sciences "LATIN GRAMMY" to Gonzalo Rubalcaba Artist and Producer, "BEST LATIN JAZZ ALBUM" - "SOLO"
2007: "NATIONAL AWARD OF LATIN PRIDE" to Gonzalo Rubalcaba, "AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE"
2008: The ASCAP Foundation "VANGUARD AWARD" for composer and pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, whose innovative and distinctive music is charting new directions in jazz.
2009: Critic selections on Amazon.com JAZZ ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2009 "NUMBER 1 GONZALO RUBALCABA - AVATAR" TOP 10 best jazz albums
2011: GOLD AWARD UNIVERSAL MUSIC presents Gonzalo Rubalcaba for the sales of the album POLANNA. (Anna Maria Jopek)
2015: "47 Barcelona International Jazz Festival" to Gonzalo Rubalcaba with Admiration and Recognition for his work.
2016: "Edison Jazz / World 2016" - International Jazz to Charlie Haden and Gonzalo Rubalcaba for "Tokyo Adagio"
2017: "Vibrant @ 10": Adrienne Arsht Center for Performing Arts of Miami to Gonzalo Rubalcaba for "Oh Vida", the best commissioned.
2017: GOLD AWARD UNIVERSAL MUSIC presents Gonzalo Rubalcaba for the sales of the album "MINIONE". (Anna Maria Jopek and Gonzalo Rubalcaba)
2017: PLATINUM AWARD UNIVERSAL MUSIC presents Gonzalo Rubalcaba for the sales of the album "MINIONE". (Anna Maria Jopek and Gonzalo Rubalcaba)
2018: EMPIK BESTSELLERS - "Minione" - Third place - Best-selling albums of 2017

GRAMMY NOMINATIONS:
1995: "RAPSODIA" - Best jazz instrumental performance, individual or group
1997: "AGUA DE BEBER" - Best Solo Jazz Instrumental
2001: "ANTIGUO" - Best Latin jazz performance
2001: "INNER VOYAGE" - Best jazz instrumental performance, individual or group
2002: "SUPERNOVA" - Best Latin Jazz Album
2002: "NOCTURNO" - Best Latin Album (Charlie Haden) Gonzalo Rubalcaba Producer
2002: "EN LA ORILLA DEL MUNDO" - Best instrumental arrangement
2002: "OREN" - Best instrumental composition
2004: "LAND OF THE SUN" - Best Latin jazz album (Charlie Haden) Gonzalo Rubalcaba Producer
2015: "SUITE CAMINOS" - Best Latin Jazz Album

LATIN GRAMMY NOMINATIONS:
2002: "SUPERNOVA" - Best Jazz Performance
2005: "PASEO" - Best Latin Jazz Album
2006: "SOLO" - Best Latin Jazz Album
2007: "CON EL PERMISO DE BOLA" - Best Traditional Tropical Album (Francisco Cespedes)
2008: "AVATAR" - Best Instrumental Album

BESTSELLERS:
2017: "MINIONE" - Best-selling album of 2017

As a reflection of his interest in music education, Rubalcaba joined the faculty of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in 2015.