Gonzalo Rubalcaba

Early life

Rubalcaba was born Gonzalo Julio González Fonseca in Havana, Cuba 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).

Later life and career

With Orquesta Aragón, Rubalcaba toured France and Africa in 1983. He formed his own Grupo Projecto in 1985.

He has won three Grammy Awards and received twelve nominations.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

• Mi Gran Pasion (Connector/Timba, 1987)
• Live in Havana (Pimienta, 1989)
• Giraldilla (Pimienta, 1990)
• Discovery: Live at Montreux (Blue Note, 1990)
• Gonzalo Rubalcaba Trio at Montreux (Somethin' Else, 1990)
• The Blessing (Blue Note, 1991)
• Images (Blue Note, 1992)
• At Montreux (Artex, 1993)
• Suite 4 Y 20 (Blue Note, 1993)
• Diz (Blue Note, 1993)
• Rapsodia (Blue Note, 1994)
• Imagine: Live in America (Blue Note, 1994)
• Concatenacion (Egrem, 1995)
• Concierto Negro (Egrem, 1995)
• Flying Colors (Blue Note, 1997)
• Romantic (EMI, 1998)
• Gonzalo Rubalcaba (Max, 1998)
• Antiguo (Blue Note, 1998)
• Inner Voyage (Blue Note/EMI, 1999)
• Inicio (Egrem, 2001)
• Supernova (Blue Note, 2001)
• Straight Ahead (Yemaya, 2003)
• Soneros de Verdad Present Rubalcaba Pasado y Presente (Universal Music Latino/Pimienta, 2003)
• Paseo (Blue Note, 2004)
• The Trio (Angel, 2005)
• Solo (Blue Note, 2005)
• Avatar (Angel, 2008)
• Faith (5Passion, 2010)
• XXI Century (5Passion, 2011)
• Live Faith (5Passion, 2014)
• Suite Caminos (5Passion, 2015)
• Tokyo Adagio with Charlie Haden (Impulse!, 2015) - Recorded in 2005
• Charlie (5Passion, 2015)
• ** with Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette (5Passion, 2021)
• Pédron Rubalcaba with Pierrick Pédron (mars 2023)
• Borrowed Roses (Top Stop, 2023)
• A Tribute to Benny Moré and Nat King Cole with Yainer Horta, Joey Calveiro (Calveiro Entertainment, 2025)

As sideman

With Ignacio Berroa

• Codes (Blue Note, 2006)

With Ron Carter

• Mr. Bow-tie (Somethin' Else, 1995)

With Juan Luis Guerra

• Bachata Rosa (Karen, 1990)

With Francisco Céspedes

• Con el Permiso de Bola (Warner Music Mexico, 2006)

With Chick Corea

• Rendezvous in New York (Stretch, 2003)

With Dave Holland

• The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival, 2009)

With Al Di Meola

• Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody (Concord, 2011)
• Flesh on Flesh (Telarc, 2022)

With Richard Galliano

• Love Day (Milan, 2008)

With Charlie Haden

• 1989: The Montreal Tapes: with Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Paul Motian (Verve, 1997)
• 2000: Nocturne (Verve, 2001)
• 2003: Land of the Sun (Verve, 2004)
• 2005: Tokyo Adagio (Impulse!, 2015) – live at The Blue Note, Tokyo, Japan

With Katia Labèque

• Shape of My Heart (KML, 2009)

With Tony Martinez

• Habana Vive
• Mafarefun

With Pat Martino

• Think Tank

**With Strat Andriotis **

• Night Manager (2018) Song 21

Awards

Grammy Awards

|- | 1995 |Rapsodia | Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or Group | |- | 1997 | "Agua de Beber" | Best Jazz Instrumental Solo | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | 2016 | Suite Caminos | Best Latin Jazz Album | |- | 2021 | Viento y Tiempo - Live at Blue Note Tokyo | Best Latin Jazz Album | |- | 2022 | Skyline | Best Jazz Instrumental Album |

|- | 2026 | A Tribute to Benny Moré and Nat King Cole | Best Latin Jazz Album |

Billboard Music Awards

|- | |- | |-

Latin Grammy Awards

|- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |-

References

References

1. "Gonzalo Rubalcaba".
2. Bouchard, Fred. (April 1996). "Gonzalo Rubalcaba: Imagine". JazzTimes.
3. [http://www.jazz.com/encyclopedia/rubacalba-gonzalo-gonzalo-julio-gonzalez-fonseca Rubalcaba, Gonzalo (Gonzalo Julio Gonzalez Fonseca)] {{webarchive. link. (2015-09-05 . ''Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians.'' Retrieved on July 31, 2015.)
4. "Gonzalo Rubalcaba {{!}} Artist {{!}} GRAMMY.com".
5. "Gonzalo Rubalcaba".
6. "Skyline".
7. McDonough, John. (December 2023). "Gonzalo Rubalcaba: Borrowed Roses".
8. (24 August 2025). "A Tribute to Benny Moré and Nat King Cole released".
9. "Grammy Award Results for Gonzalo Rubalcaba".
10. (January 8, 1997). "The Complete List of Nominees". Los Angeles Times.
11. (January 5, 2000). "The Nominees for the Grammy Awards". [[San Francisco Chronicle]].
12. (January 4, 2002). "Complete List Of Grammy Nominees". [[CBS News]].
13. (February 28, 2002). "The 2002 Grammy winners". [[San Francisco Chronicle]].
14. McDermott, Tricia. (February 13, 2005). "2005 Grammy Award Winners". [[CBS News]].
15. (February 15, 2016). "Grammy Awards: Complete Winners List".
16. (November 24, 2020). "2021 GRAMMYs: Complete Nominees List".
17. (April 4, 2022). "2022 GRAMMYs: Complete Nominees List".
18. (November 7, 2025). "2026 GRAMMYS: See The Full Nominations List".
19. (2002). "2002 Billboard Latin Music Awards". [[Prometheus Global Media]].
20. (2007). "2007 Billboard Latin Music Awards Finalists". [[Prometheus Global Media]].
21. (September 19, 2002). "The List of Winners". [[Los Angeles Times]].
22. (November 2, 2005). "Complete list of 6th annual Latin Grammy nominations". [[Gannett Company]].
23. (November 3, 2006). "Latin Grammy awards Thursday". [[Gannett Company]].
24. (September 10, 2007). "9th Annual Latin Grammy Awards". Los Angeles Times.
25. (November 17, 2022). "2022 Annual Latin Grammy awards". [[Grammy Academy Company]].