via Uk Jazz News
The following is an interview between jazz journalist Morgan Enos and pianist and composer Gonzalo Rubalcaba. His new album, First Meeting: Live at Dizzy’s Club, a collaboration with saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Eric Harland, was released 11 July via 5Passion Records. Links to purchase the album and to Gonzalo’s website can be found at the end of this article.
On its face, the title First Meeting is technically true: Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter, Larry Grenadier, and Eric Harland had never shared the stage together before, and this disc captures the final set of their first four-night run at Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center. But what transpired over those nights – and what’s preserved on this recording – goes well beyond a first encounter.
In brief, the idea came from Jason Olaine, longtime Vice President of Programming at Jazz at Lincoln Center, who had championed Rubalcaba’s work for decades. Years earlier, he’d presented the three-time GRAMMY-winning Cuban pianist in various lineups, including a short-lived quartet with Potter, Harland, and Dave Holland at Monterey and Newport. This time, he proposed a new configuration, bringing in bassist Grenadier – a first-time collaborator for Rubalcaba – to complete the rhythm section.
With just one rehearsal ahead of the run in August 2022, the quartet assembled a setlist of originals: Grenadier’s ‘State of the Union’, Harland’s ‘Eminence’, Potter’s ‘Oba’, and Rubalcaba’s ‘Santo Canto’. They rounded it out with two jazz landmarks: Chick Corea’s ‘500 Miles High’ and Dizzy Gillespie’s ‘Con Alma’.
For Rubalcaba, these weren’t just nods to the tradition; they were threads from his own musical life. ‘500 Miles High’ was one of the first Corea tunes he encountered in Cuba, passed from musician to musician like contraband scripture. ‘Con Alma’ was the piece he proposed to Dizzy Gillespie when the trumpeter unexpectedly invited him to perform at the 1984 Havana Jazz Festival, a moment that changed the course of his career.
UK Jazz News: First Meeting was decades in the making, with these relationships developing over time and in different ways. How did it come together from your perspective?
Gonzalo Rubalcaba: First, I should say that Eric, Chris, and I played together years ago as part of the Monterey Quartet with Dave Holland. Also, Eric recorded with me on one of my trio albums [2022’s Turning Point, with Matt Brewer on bass]. That’s actually the reason we’re touring together now. Playing with Larry was a first – definitely a new experience. I have to thank all of them; I’m honoured to be part of these projects.
This recording was made about three, maybe three and a half years ago, and honestly, after I make a record, the first six months are always difficult for me. I’m never fully comfortable with it.
UKJN: Why’s that?
GR: Well, I believe this is something that many musicians feel, because we are always running around, doing things with different people, involved in different projects, and trying to develop our language and the way we think about music every day. But in this case, I felt very happy with how the live recording came out.
We did a little tour about a month ago that included Italy, France, and England, and there was a chance to develop together after that first meeting. It was all great – the interaction, the communication between every member of the band. I feel very blessed that we had that chance. We’re looking forward to doing more and more concerts, which I think will help us explore different ways of developing this music.
UKJN: How’s it been discovering your connection with Larry?
GR: Of course, I knew his career and his playing, especially all those years of him playing with Brad Mehldau. But it’s different when you’re already on the city stage, trying to put together the music. We had to open ourselves up, first to listen, and then to play.
I think everybody, including Larry, was very clear about the goal. The goal was to create music together, to listen to each other, to pick the walls and windows to offer this music.
UKJN: Can you speak to the significance of ‘500 Miles High’?
GR: Chick’s music was very much in tune with the climate of Cuba in the ’70s, but especially in the ’80s. Back then, it was difficult to stay updated on what was happening musically in the United States, due to the political situation.
Somehow, Chick’s music made its way in. 1976’s My Spanish Heart, and all those albums from that era – especially that piece – became hugely popular among musicians in Cuba. Everybody tried to emulate what Chick was doing: his solos, his sound. Same with Stanley Clarke, Lenny White, Steve Gadd, and others.
When I play Chick’s music now, I’m trying to reconnect with that memory, even though, of course, it’s not exactly how it felt when I was 15. Still, I try to enjoy that moment, that memory of hearing Corea for the first time, and at the same time, offer my own vision to the music – with total respect.
I had the privilege of playing with Chick many times, and I feel like I got pretty close to understanding not just his musical language, but the way he thought about music; his personality through sound. That helped me a lot in shaping my own approach.
UKJN: Then, of course, ‘Con Alma’. You had a history with Dizzy Gillespie.
GR: Dizzy Gillespie was also incredibly important to me. He came to Cuba about four times. The first time was in 1977 or ’78, then again in 1984, and I think in ’85 or ’86, and finally in 1989. I played with him during the 1984 visit.
I’ve told this story before: I was playing a gig at a club inside the Hotel Nacional in Havana, one of the most iconic places in the city. I didn’t know Dizzy was staying at the hotel, or that he was in the audience that night. He was there to open the Havana Jazz Festival the next day. I was the last of several bands to perform that night, and when I finished, he came backstage and asked me to play with him the next day.
I thought he was joking – Dizzy had a great sense of humour, a very charismatic energy – but it turned out to be true. I was extremely nervous. He asked, “What could we play tomorrow?”, and I suggested ‘Con Alma’.
The story behind that is, a friend of mine had gotten hold of a Real Book – I don’t even know how – and it was passed around among the musicians. I only had it for a few days, but that’s when I discovered ‘Con Alma’, and I completely fell in love with it. I learned it by heart, and that’s the piece I proposed to Dizzy.
That experience marked a completely new chapter in my life. Dizzy did a lot, not only for me, but for many musicians around the world. After that, I began travelling to festivals and countries I’d never been to, because Dizzy had been talking about me to promoters everywhere.
I really appreciate the opportunity he gave me, and the lesson. I spent two days with him, and even though I couldn’t fully understand everything he said, I felt the spirit, the energy – and it changed my life. So when I suggested to Eric, Chris, and Larry that we play ‘Con Alma’, nobody questioned it. Everyone just said, “Let’s do it.”
And of course, we were playing at Dizzy’s Club – so everything was connected.