Rubén Valtierra (born December 26, 1954) is a

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instru ...

best known for recording and touring with

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...

. The two met at the

Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...

20th Anniversary special in October 1991, and shortly after Valtierra joined his band.

Biography

Valtierra began classical studies at the age of ten. After playing in his high school orchestra, he attended the

University of California at Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located in Monterey Bay, ...

, and later was a member of the award-winning Cabrillo College Big Band. Upon graduation from UCSC in 1978, Valtierra led the popular Santa Cruz jazz/funk fusion group, Rush Hour, until moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

where he began playing and touring with groups such as

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Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

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Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to prominence in the mid-1970s, with the release of her debut ...

Tower of Power Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. The band has had a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted ...

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain (instrumental), Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

, and

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...

. Valtierra also toured with Glenn Hughes/

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

in 1995 and

Charlie Musselwhite Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American blues harmonica player and bandleader who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal figure in helping to revive the Chicago ...

in 1997. Valtierra also writes and produces, and leads his band Valtierra Latin Orchestra (VLO).

Discography

With "Weird Al" Yankovic

*''

Off the Deep End ''Off the Deep End'' is the seventh studio album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, released in 1992. This album was the first album self-produced by Yankovic, after six albums with Rick Derringer. Recorded between June 1990 and ...

'' *''

Alapalooza ''Alapalooza'' is the Weird Al Yankovic discography, eighth studio album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, released in 1993 in music, 1993. By the completion of his previous album, ''Off the Deep End'', Yankovic had already wr ...

'' *''

Bad Hair Day ''Bad Hair Day'' is the ninth studio album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on March 12, 1996. It was Yankovic's last studio album for the Scotti Brothers label before it was purchased by Volcano Entertainment in 19 ...

'' *'' Running with Scissors'' *''

Poodle Hat ''Poodle Hat'' is the eleventh studio album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on May 20, 2003. It was the fifth studio album self-produced by Yankovic. The musical styles on the album are built around parodies and past ...

'' *''

Straight Outta Lynwood ''Straight Outta Lynwood'' is the twelfth studio album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on September 26, 2006, the title drawing inspiration from hip hop group N.W.A's ''Straight Outta Compton''. It was the sixth stu ...

'' *''

Alpocalypse ''Alpocalypse'' is the thirteenth studio album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on June 21, 2011. It was the seventh studio album self-produced by Yankovic. The musical styles on the album are built around parodies and ...

'' *''

Mandatory Fun ''Mandatory Fun'' is the fourteenth and possible final studio album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic. The self-produced album was released by RCA Records in the United States on July 15, 2014. Yankovic had previously released '' ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valtierra, Ruben 20th-century American keyboardists "Weird Al" Yankovic University of California, Santa Cruz alumni Living people Musicians from San Rafael, California 1954 births 21st-century American keyboardists