This is one beautiful album, Gonzalo is a master! Howard Mandel-President Jazz Journalists Association   http://www.mainlypiano.com/2011_Reviews/Rubalcaba-Fe…Faith.html Jazz pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba has appeared as leader on more than twenty-five critically acclaimed albums, butFe … Faithis his first release on his own 5Passion label. The album features fifteen piano solos that range from introspective musings to flamboyant bursts of pianistic energy. The [...]

                    Gonzalo Rubalcaba releases “XXI Century”, his second offering for 5Passion . “XXI” finds Gonzalo in an ensemble setting, featuring Marcus Gilmore on Drums, Matt Brewer on Upright and Electric Bass, Lionel Leouke on Guitar, Pedro Martinez on Percussion and Voice, and Ignacio Berroa on Drums. Over 120 minutes of fantastic [...]

The positive energy input of conceiving, writing, organizing, playing, recording, editing, mixing, mastering the album “XXI Century” is contained on this tiny USB Memory Stick….   

This is one beautiful album, Gonzalo is a master! Howard Mandel-President Jazz Journalists Association http://www.mainlypiano.com/2011_Reviews/Rubalcaba-Fe…Faith.html Jazz pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba has appeared as leader on more than twenty-five critically acclaimed albums, butFe … Faithis his first release on his own 5Passion label. The album features fifteen piano solos that range from introspective musings to flamboyant bursts of pianistic energy. The sound quality of this [...]

EJAZZNEWS More often than not, jazz musicians move from youthful irreverence to spirituality as they mature. Examples abound, from Dizzy Gillespie to John Patitucci, from Duke Ellington to Wayne Shorter, from Randy Weston to Pete Malinverni, from Mary Lou Williams to Cyrus Chestnut. The fact that jazz can accommodate profound personal growth throughout a lifetime is a testament to its [...]

Ignacio Berroa has been recognized by many as one of the greatest drummers of our times. His numerous contributions to the American music scene have earned him a place among a selected group of artists known to have set new musical trends for the 20th century. Jazz Legend Dizzy Gillespie best defined Ignacio as: “… the only Latin drummer in [...]

(From Left to Right)  Mario Garcia Haya, Pedro Martinez, Jim Anderson, Gary Galimidi, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Alessandro Perrotta, Matt Brewer, Lionel Leuke, Marcus Gilmore….sadly, Ignacio Berroa was not available for this foto…. This photo was taken toward the end of one of the last sessions at Bennett Studios in New Jersey, which subsequently closed down for good in September of 2011. [...]

Marcus Gilmore Marcus Gilmore, 22, is the grandson of Roy Haynes, jazz’s most important living drummer, but he has proved his own virtues quickly. Around the winter of 2004-5 he created that pleasant citywide buzz when someone new and special blows through New York clubs and jam sessions. Now you can hear him regularly, playing with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Nicholas Payton, [...]

Since arriving in the United States at the end of the 1990s, the Cuban percussionist Pedro Martinez has been all over the place, putting rumba and guaguancó into the weave of all kinds of groups. But when his drums, singing and writing are the focus – as is the case in his new band– he’s an incomparable performer. – Ben [...]