Jacobo González Rubalcaba (1895–1960) was a

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

ian,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...

and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. Born in

Sagua La Grande Sagua la Grande (nicknamed ''La Villa del Undoso'', sometimes shortened in Sagua) is a municipality located on the north coast of the province of Villa Clara in central Cuba, on the Sagua la Grande River. The city is close to Mogotes de Juma ...

, he adopted his mother's maiden name for professional use.Orovio, Helio (2004). ''Cuban Music from A to Z-CL''. Duke University Press Books. .Jacobo González Rubalcaba Biography
(Spanish). ''EcuRedcu.'' Retrieved on July 30, 2015].

Biography

Rubalcaba showed deep interest in music from his early years. When he turned 15 , he received musical training at an academy in his hometown in addition to his work as a

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

. Humble, dignified and courteous, Rubalcaba was a remarkable student and quickly became engrossed in his studies. At eighteen years, he began playing the

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

and

valve trombone A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...

in the brass band of Santa Clara. In 1915, Rubalcaba moved to

Pinar del Río Pinar del Río is the capital city of Pinar del Río Province, Cuba. With a population of 139,336 (2004) in a municipality of 190,332, it is the List of cities in Cuba, 10th-largest city in Cuba. Inhabitants of the area are called ''Pinareños'' ...

, where he joined the local

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the tit ...

. From then on, he became a prominent figure in the field of music education, offering a means for exploring alternative approaches and new ideas. In his pedagogical tasks, Rubalcaba displayed the same devotion to duty, advising his students about the combination and subordination of music-theoretical knowledge to practical activity in the performance of one or more instruments, while playing alone or within an ensemble, as is widely recommended in the present. In between, Rubalcaba founded the first brass band of Pinar del Río, and also established bands in the nearby cities of

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

, San Luis, and

San Juan y Martínez San Juan y Martínez () is a municipality and town in the Pinar del Río Province of Cuba. Overview Its economy is centered mainly on agriculture and the crop of its farmers, the largest of which being tobacco. In Cuba, San Juan y Martinez is kn ...

. In 1918, he became the conductor of his own ''

orquesta típica Orquesta típica, or simply a típica, is a Latin American term for a band which plays popular music. The details vary from country to country. The term tends to be used for groups of medium size (about 8 to 12 musicians) in some well-defined in ...

'', which helped spread the ''

danzón Danzón is the official musical genre and dance of Cuba.Urfé, Odilio 1965. ''El danzón''. La Habana. It is also an active musical form in Mexico and Puerto Rico. Written in time, the danzón is a slow, formal partner dance, requiring se ...

'' around the western region of Cuba. Rubalcaba used

cakewalk The cakewalk was a dance developed from the "prize walks" (dance contests with a cake awarded as the prize) held in the mid-19th century, generally at get-togethers on Black Slavery in the United States, slave plantations before and after End ...

rhythms in many of his songs, creating popular compositions like ''Los pinareños'', ''Linda Mercedes'', ''Ulpiano y su contrabajo'' and ''Hay que echar manteca''. Even though his most significant contribution was the arrangement for his song ''El cadete constitucional'', in which he cleverly included the melody of

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dist ...

's ''

The Stars and Stripes Forever "The Stars and Stripes Forever" is a patriotic American march written and composed by John Philip Sousa in 1896. By a 1987 act of the U.S. Congress, it is the official National March of the United States of America. History In his 1928 autobi ...

'' – a musical thread that was commonly used at the time. According to

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

Ned Sublette Ned Sublette (born 1951 in Lubbock, Texas) is an American composer, musician, record producer, musicologist, historian, and author. Sublette studied Spanish Classical Guitar with Hector Garcia at the University of New Mexico and with Emilio Puj ...

, part of the danzón's success in the early 1900s was its ability to incorporate and absorb all sorts of melodic traditions as the ''

contradanza ''Contradanza'' (also called ''contradanza criolla'', ''danza'', ''danza criolla'', or ''habanera'') is the Spanish and Spanish-American version of the contradanse, which was an internationally popular style of music and dance in the 18th centu ...

'' had previously done. Sublette added that light classics of the nineteenth-century European repertoire were endlessly ''danzonized'', as were popular themes from

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

and a variety of Cuban genres. Rubalcaba was also the founder of one of the greatest musical dynasties in Cuba, as many of his descendants would follow in his footsteps to become directors and instrumentalists. His son, the

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

Guillermo Rubalcaba Guillermo Rubalcaba (January 10, 1927 – September 7, 2015) was a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and orchestrator specialising in danzón and cha-cha-cha music genres.Orovio, Helio (2004). ''Cuban Music from A to Z-CL''. Duke University ...

, was the founder of the legendary Charanga Rubalcaba, while his grandson, the pianist and composer

Gonzalo Rubalcaba Gonzalo Rubalcaba (born May 27, 1963) is an Afro-Cuban jazz pianist and composer. Early life Rubalcaba was born Gonzalo Julio González Fonseca in Havana, Cuba Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The ...

,Rubalcaba, Gonzalo (Gonzalo Julio Gonzalez Fonseca)
. ''Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians.'' Retrieved on July 31, 2015. is one of the most important figures to emerge from

Afro-Cuban jazz Afro-Cuban jazz is the earliest form of Latin jazz. It mixes Afro-Cuban clave-based rhythms with jazz harmonies and techniques of improvisation. Afro-Cuban music has deep roots in African ritual and rhythm.{{cite web, Cuba: Son and Afro-Cuban ...

in the 1990s. Jacobo Rubalcaba died in 1960 in a traffic collision, while he was travelling from Havana to his home of Pinar del Río.

Sources

External links

: * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubalcaba, Jacobo 1895 births 1960 deaths People from Sagua la Grande 20th-century trumpeters 20th-century trombonists Brass band composers Cuban bandleaders Cuban composers Male composers Cuban trumpeters Cuban trombonists Danzón composers Danzón musicians Road incident deaths in Cuba Cuban male musicians