Rubén González Fontanills (26 May 1919 – 8 December 2003) was a Cuban

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

. Together with

Lilí Martínez Luis Martínez Griñán (19 August 1915 – 26 August 1990), better known as Lilí Martínez, was a Cuban pianist, arranger and composer specializing in the son montuno style. He played in the Conjunto de Arsenio Rodríguez and Conjunto Chappo ...

and

Peruchín Pedro Nolasco Jústiz Rodríguez, better known as Peruchín (January 31, 1913 – December 24, 1977), was a Cuban pianist specializing in jazz-influenced Cuban popular music. He was an important figure in the 1950s descarga (jam session) scene ...

he is said to have "forged the style of modern Cuban piano playing in the 1940s". Between the 1940s and his retirement in the 1980s, he played with Cuba's most successful acts, including Paulina Álvarez,

Arsenio Rodríguez Arsenio Rodríguez (born Ignacio Arsenio Travieso Scull; August 31, 1911 – December 30, 1970)Giro, Radamés 2007. ''Diccionario enciclopédico de la música en Cuba''. La Habana, v. 4, p. 45 et seq. was a Cuban musician, composer and bandl ...

, Orquesta América del 55, Orquesta Riverside and Enrique Jorrín. In the 1990s, he came out of retirement to play in the revival ensembles Afro-Cuban All Stars and

Buena Vista Social Club Buena Vista Social Club was a musical ensemble primarily made up of Cuban musicians, formed in 1996. The project was organized by World Circuit (record label), World Circuit executive Nick Gold, produced by American guitarist Ry Cooder and dire ...

, also recording solo material and performing live until 2002.

Biography

Early life and career

González was born in

Santa Clara, Cuba Santa Clara is the capital city of the Cuban province of Villa Clara. It is centrally located in the province and Cuba. Santa Clara is the fifth-most populous Cuban city, with a population of nearly 245,959. History Santa Clara was founde ...

, on 26 May 1919. His family moved to the small village of Encrucijada when he was 6 years old. He took up the piano at age seven and graduated from the

Cienfuegos Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 178,368 in 2022. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, ...

Conservatory at age 15.Lucy Duran. Sleeve notes from ''Introducing... Rubén González'', World Circuit Records WCD 049, 1997. He grew up wanting to be a doctor and studied medicine, thinking music would remain a hobby he could pursue by night. However, he abandoned his studies after four years because music was "in his blood" and also because of all the encouragement he received from people around him.Sleeve notes from Wim Wenders' ''Buena Vista Social Club'' documentary, Road Movies Filmproduktion, Berlin. Licensed by FilmFour Ltd, 1999. Thus, after graduating from high school, he began playing with groups in Cienfuegos and around the country.

From Havana to Venezuela

In 1941, González moved to

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.charanga of danzonete singer Paulina Álvarez, as well as Orquesta Elósegui and the orchestra of the CMQ radio station. He became friends with important pianists such as René Hernández, Anselmo Sacasas, Jesús López and Facundo Rivero. He joined

's conjunto in 1943, replacing Adolfo "Panacea" O'Reilly. Rodríguez advised him to "just play your own style, whatever it is, but don't imitate anyone". Although González's first confirmed recordings with Arsenio's conjunto are dated to 5 July 1945, earlier recordings might feature him, since Panacea's last confirmed recording session took place on 16 November 1943; these recordings were all released by

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

. In 1945, he left the conjunto—and was replaced by

—to go to Panama with the ensemble Estrellas Negras, comprising mostly ex-Rodríguez musicians. With the Estrellas Negras, González toured most of South America—from

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

—and, on his return to Cuba, he joined the Conjunto Kubavana directed by Alberto Ruiz. He also performed with the Orquesta Los Hermanos Castro which, at one time, featured Mongo Santamaría. Between 1948 and the mid-1950s, González played with Ernesto Grenet and Senén Suárez at the Cabaret Tropicana. At the same time, he became a member of René Álvarez y Los Astros and he often played with Orquesta Gris, Orquesta Ideal de Joseíto Valdés, Orquesta Siboney de Armando Pidre, and Los Hermanos Lebatard. In 1954, he backed Rolando Laserie at the Cabaret San Souci. In the mid-1950s, he toured Venezuela with the charanga Orquesta América del 55. He established himself in Venezuela between 1957 and 1962, in the orchestra directed by Luis Alfonso Larraín. He also briefly resided in Argentina, where he played with tango musicians. By the late 1950s, Rubén González was widely known in Cuba and other parts of Latin America.

Back in Havana

González returned to Cuba in 1961, joining the famous big band Orquesta Riverside. In 1962, he became the pianist for the Orquesta de Enrique Jorrín, and would continue to play for him for the next 25 years. In 1964, González joined Pucho Escalante's Noneto Cubano de Jazz. In 1975, he recorded his eponymous solo album backed by members of Jorrín's orchestra; the album was released by Areíto as LD-3582.Sleeve notes from ''Rubén González – Indestructible'', EGREM CD 0275, 1997. In 1979, he recorded the album ''Los héroes'' as part of the Estrellas de Areito all-star ensemble. After Jorrín's death in 1987, González briefly took over the role of bandleader, but retired soon after.

Career revival

In 1994,

Raúl Planas Enrique Raúl Planas Fernández (September 18, 1920 – February 28, 2001) was a popular Cuban singer and songwriter. He performed and recorded with many bands and musicians, including Carlos Barbería y su Orquesta Kubavana, Sonora Matancera, C ...

and Radio Progreso announcer Eduardo Rosillo approached González with the idea of recording new versions of ten songs composed by fellow Cuban pianist

.Rosillo, Eduardo (1999). Sleeve notes from ''Son Inconcluso'' (in Spanish). EGREM Records CD0334. (1999). The resulting album, ''Son Inconcluso'', featured a full band including bassist Orlando "Cachaíto" López and Arturo "Alambre dulce" Harvey (ex-'' tresero'' with Conjunto Chappottín), among others, and was released in 1999 by

EGREM EGREM (Empresa de Grabaciones y Ediciones Musicales, Spanish for ''Enterprise of Recordings and Musical Editions'') is the national record label of Cuba. It is headquartered in Centro Habana, where its main record studios (''Estudios Areito'' 101 ...

. In 1995, Nick Gold (head of World Circuit Records) and

Juan de Marcos González Juan de Marcos González (born Juan de Marcos González-Cárdenas; January 29, 1954) is a Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of isl ...

(director and

tres Tres may refer to: * Tres (instrument), a Cuban musical instrument * Tres, Trentino, municipality in Italy * ''Tres'' (2014 film), a Filipino anthology drama film based on short stories * "Tres" (song) by Juanes *"Tres", a song by Líbido from thei ...

player of Sierra Maestra) decided to record a series of

descarga A descarga (literally ''discharge'' in Spanish) is an improvised jam session consisting of variations on Cuban music themes, primarily son montuno, but also guajira, bolero, guaracha and rumba. The genre is strongly influenced by jazz and it w ...

sessions featuring classic Cuban musicians, including Rubén González on piano, together with African virtuosos Toumani Diabate (kora player) and Djelimady Tounkara (guitarist). By early 1996, the Cuban musicians had already been selected and the African musicians were about to leave for Cuba, but could not travel because of difficulties in obtaining visas. Gold then invited

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and h ...

and his son

Joachim Joachim was, according to Sacred tradition, the husband of Saint Anne, the father of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary (mother of Jesus), and the maternal grandfather of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Gospel of James, part of ...

to participate in the sessions; Ry would play guitar and Joachim African percussion."Interview with Ry Cooder in Los Angeles"
by Betty Arcos, host, "The Global Village" Pacifica Radio 27 June 2000. ''Buena Vista Social Club'' site.

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the ...

(PBS). Retrieved on 13 September 2014. The sessions, all of which featured Rubén González on piano, took place in March 1996 in Havana's

studios. The first set of recordings was meant to revive the 1950s Cuban big band sound. This material yielded the album ''

A Toda Cuba le Gusta A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

'' credited to the Afro-Cuban All Stars and produced by Gold and Juan de Marcos, who also played tres. It again featured Orlando "Cachaíto" López on bass along with vocalists

Ibrahim Ferrer Ibrahim Ferrer (20 February 1927 – 6 August 2005) was a Cuban singer who played with the group Los Bocucos for nearly forty years. He also performed with Conjunto Sorpresa, Chepín y su Orquesta Oriental, and Mario Patterson. After his re ...

Pío Leyva Pío Leiva (May 5, 1917 – March 22, 2006) was a Cuban singer and the author of the guaracha ''El Mentiroso'' ("The Liar"). Leyva was part of the Buena Vista Social Club, and composed some of Cuba's best known standards. Biography Leyva was b ...

, Manuel "Puntillita" Licea,

Félix Baloy Félix Baloy (born November, 12, in 1944 in Mayari, Holguín, Cuba) is a Cubans, Cuban singer, sonero, and percussionist. He has a Havana urban accent. He has been a vocalist with many groups, including Chappotin y Sus Estrellas, Revé, and Ada ...

and José Antonio "Maceo" Rodríguez.Sleeve notes from ''A Toda Cuba le Gusta – Afro-Cuban All Stars'', World Circuit Records WCD 047, 1997. Cooder also played slide guitar on

's famous son "Alto Songo". In the sleeve notes, Juan de Marcos wrote: "This album is dedicated to Rubén González, genius of Cuban piano". The second set of recordings were meant to revive the acoustic sound of the 1940s Cuban

trova ''Trova'' is a style of Music of Cuba, Cuban popular music originating in the 19th century. Trova was created by itinerant musicians known as ''trovadores'' who travelled around Cuba's Oriente Province, Oriente province, especially Santiago de Cu ...

and filin movements. It yielded the critically acclaimed ''

'' album. Gold was credited as executive producer, Juan de Marcos as A & R consultant and Cooder as producer.Sleeve notes from ''Buena Vista Social Club'', World Circuit Records WCD 050, 1997. Here Rubén González on piano and Cachaíto on bass accompanied singers

Compay Segundo Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz Telles (18 November 1907 – 13 July 2003), known professionally as "Compay Segundo", was a Cuban trova guitarist, singer and composer. Biography Compay (meaning ''compadre'') Segundo, so called because he was a ...

Omara Portuondo Omara Portuondo Peláez (born 29 October 1930) is a Cuban singer and dancer. A founding member of the popular vocal group Cuarteto d'Aida, Portuondo has collaborated with many important Cuban musicians during her long career, including Julio G ...

and

Eliades Ochoa Eliades Ochoa Bustamante (born 22 June 1946) is a Cuban guitarist and singer from Loma de la Avispa, Songo La Maya in the east of the country near Santiago de Cuba. He began playing the guitar when he was six and in 1978 he was invited to joi ...

.Nigel Williamson. Sleeve notes from Wim Wenders' ''Buena Vista Social Club'' documentary, Road Movies Filmproduktion, Berlin. Licensed by FilmFour Ltd, 1999. Cooder played guitar on all but one track. In April 1996, and using left over studio time after the sessions that had produced the previous two albums, the solo album '' Introducing...Rubén González'' was recorded in just two days, live with no overdubs.Nigel Williamson. Sleeve notes from ''Introducing...Rubén González'', World Circuit Records WCD 049, 1997. All three albums were released on Nick Gold's World Circuit Records in 1997. In early 1998,

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker and photographer, who is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among the honors he has received are prizes from the Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, Venice International Film ...

filmed a documentary entitled ''

'', and González and his colleagues became famous worldwide.

Later years and death

Between 1997 and 2000, González recorded his next album, '' Chanchullo'', at EGREM Studios in Havana and Angel Recording Studios in London.Sleeve notes from ''Chanchullo'', World Circuit Records WCD 060, 1997. Some recordings he made in September 1999 at EGREM studios were released by EGREM as ''Rubén González and Friends'' in 2000. His last public appearances took place in Mexico and Cuba in 2002. In the morning of 8 December 2003, Rubén González died at his home in Havana after a long illness which had prevented him from walking and eventually led to renal and respiratory problems. He was survived by his wife, Eneida Lima, and is buried in Havana's Cristóbal Colón Cemetery.

Style and legacy

Rubén González is considered an innovator of the son cubano piano style. The genre's early ensembles (''sextetos'' and ''septetos'') lacked pianos, and these were introduced in the late 1930s by the first three

conjunto The term ''conjunto'' (, literally 'group', 'ensemble') refers to several types of small musical ensembles present in different Latin American musical traditions, mainly in Mexico and Cuba. While Mexican conjuntos play styles such as '' norteño' ...

s: Arsenio Rodríguez's conjunto, Alberto Ruiz's Conjunto Kubavana, and Conjunto Casino. González played in the former two, which made him a pioneer in the genre. Apart from the son, González had a profound knowledge of the

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

and his improvisations are characterized by harmonic subtleties. His style has been described as "romantic and angular", possessing "strong lyricism" with characteristic "swirling arpeggios". Like his contemporary

, González was influenced by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, particularly by

Bud Powell Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was an American jazz pianist and composer. A pioneer in the development of bebop and its associated contributions to jazz theory,Grove Powell's application of complex phrasing to ...

and

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...

, which made him one of the grandfathers of Afro-Cuban jazz. His style has influenced

Eddie Palmieri Eddie Palmieri (born December 15, 1936) is an American Grammy Award-winning pianist, bandleader, musician, and composer of Corsican and Puerto Rican ancestry. He is the founder of the bands La Perfecta, La Perfecta II, and Harlem River Drive. ...

, amongst others.

Discography

As principal artist

* '' Rubén González'' ( Areito, 1975) * '' Introducing...Rubén González'' (World Circuit, 1997) * '' Chanchullo'' (World Circuit, 2000)

As sideman

;With Noneto Cubano de Jazz * ''Jazz Cuba'' (Areito/Palma, 1964) ;With Estrellas de Areito * ''Los héroes'' (Areito, 1979) ;With Afro-Cuban All Stars * ''

'' (World Circuit, 1997) ;With Buena Vista Social Club * ''

'' (World Circuit, 1997) * '' Buena Vista Social Club at Carnegie Hall'' (World Circuit, 2008) * ''

Lost and Found A lost and found (American English) or lost property (British English), or lost articles (also Canadian English) is an office in a public building or area where people can go to retrieve Lost, mislaid, and abandoned property, lost articles th ...

'' (World Circuit, 2015) ;With Raúl Planas * ''Son Inconcluso'' (EGREM, 1999) – Recorded in 1994; reissued as ''Trilogía De Boleros'' in 2002 on the Exotica labelSleeve notes from ''Trilogía De Boleros'' Exotica, EXTC018. (2002). * ''Dos Grandes – Con la Orquesta Jorrín'' (EGREM, 2000) – Recorded in 1989Sleeve notes from ''Dos Grandes – Raúl Planas & Rubén González'', EGREM CD 0392. (2000).

Compilations

* ''Rubén González and Friends'' (EGREM, 2000) * ''Todo sentimiento'' (Yemayá, 2004) * ''The Essential Rubén González'' (Manteca, 2006)

Filmography

;With Buena Vista Social Club * ''Buena Vista Social Club'' DVD (Road Movies/Sony VCD0040, 1999) – Directed by Wim Wenders ;With Afro-Cuban All Stars * ''Afro-Cuban Legends'' DVD (Warner Music Vision 8573-88531-2, 2001) – Directed by Tony Knox

Notes

References

External links

Rubén González discography
at allmusic.com
Rubén González discography
at

discogs.com Discogs ( ; short for "discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''The N ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez, Ruben 1919 births 2003 deaths People from Santa Clara, Cuba Buena Vista Social Club World Circuit (record label) artists Nonesuch Records artists 20th-century Cuban pianists Orquesta Riverside members