Cuban Fire, Quiet Confidence
A young pianist's Cuban roots and jazz ambitions meet in a record that announced a major talent.
Mi gran pasión arrived in 1991, when Gonzalo Rubalcaba was still early in his career and the wider jazz world was only beginning to take notice of the Cuban pianist. It was not a blockbuster. It circulated mainly among listeners already tuned into Latin jazz and the Cuban scene, and it built its reputation the slow way, through word of mouth and repeated listening rather than a single moment of critical fanfare.
What makes it worth hearing is the balance Rubalcaba strikes between virtuosity and rhythm. His playing is technically fluent, but he rarely uses speed for its own sake. The percussion and the ensemble drive the music forward, and the pianist sits comfortably inside that pulse, moving between lyrical passages and sharper, more propulsive lines. The record leans on the Afro-Cuban foundations that run through so much of the island's music while keeping an open, modern jazz sensibility.
If you are coming to Rubalcaba for the first time, this is a sound introduction to what he does, though it is best appreciated as an early statement of intent rather than the full arc of his later work.
Who's playing
Felipe Cabrerabass
Reynaldo Meliantrumpet
Horacio ‘El Negro’ Hernándezdrums
Roberto Vizcaínopercussion
Rafael Carrascowoodwind
Lazaro Cruz Olmosbrass
Gonzalo Rubalcabakeyboard
