This evening we are fortunate to be in the company of pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba and his Trio d’Eté [Summer Trio], which includes bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Eric Harland. It’s an honor to present this esteemed artist who, through talent, hard work and vision, has earned three Grammy and four Latin Grammy Awards. To give an indication of Mr. Rubalcaba’s stature, he was the only pianist Chick Corea chose to perform duets with during his 23-musician, three-week-long, 60th birthday retrospective at the Blue Note in New York.

Rubalcaba’s impeccable piano technique, his harmonic depth, and his ability to transmit emotional content without being saccharine place him as one of the top pianists in all of jazz. Critic Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune claimed that “… Gonzalo Rubalcaba ranks among the most accomplished jazz pianists in the world today and perhaps stands at the top of that elite group, thanks to a colossal technique and an unfettered musical imagination.”

For his Vermont Jazz Center concert, Rubalcaba will demonstrate his deep commitment to jazz music, especially the development of the North American construct of the jazz piano trio (i.e., Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett). Rubalcaba has recorded in the trio format ever since his “discovery” in Cuba by the legendary bassist, Charlie Haden, in 1986. Since then, he has pursued trios with renowned drummers: Jack DeJohnette, Paul Motian, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Marcus Gilmore and Ignacio Berroa; and bassists: Ron Carter, John Patitucci, Carlos Henríquez and Larry Grenadier. The concert at the Jazz Center will be a deep dive revealing Rubalcaba’s molding of the piano trio into his personal vision.

Along with his mentorship with bassist Charlie Haden, it is important to recognize the significance of the legendary trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie on Gonzalo Rubalcaba’s trajectory. The two first met in 1985 when Gillespie was in Havana to perform at the Havana Jazz Festival. The festival organizers invited Gillespie to the hotel where Rubalcaba was playing to see and hear the local talent. Gillespie was so impressed that he asked Rubalcaba to join him on stage the next day in his headlining performance at the Havana Jazz Festival. A Cuban recording company captured this concert, which can be heard on Gillespie en Vivo. There is a beautiful video of the twenty-two-year-old Rubalcaba playing a duet with Gillespie on Dizzy’s classic composition, “Con Alma.”

At the Jazz Center, Rubalcaba will play in the context of the piano jazz trio. He will be joined by Matt Brewer (acoustic bass), and Eric Harland (drums). This group began performing live around May 2019 at Blue Note Milano and has toured extensively. This is not a Latin jazz trio per se, but their repertoire demonstrates the ensemble’s tightly knit rhythmical ensemble lines that often use Latin vocabulary as an undercurrent. Trio d’Eté is an unabashedly creative jazz ensemble that focuses on original music. Their repertoire features complex melodies and unexpected, tricky forms playable only by virtuosos. The trio’s command of their instruments and their communicative skills defy belief, yet there is a certain humility in their breathtaking technical skills. Although their virtuosity is astounding, it is not self-serving – each phrase feels like it is being channeled from above and conveys heartfelt and infectious joy along with intense introspection.

In the promo for their trio album, Turning Point, Rubalcaba said, “I put my faith in Eric [Harland] and Matt [Brewer]. I wanted them to participate in this trio like this is their music, too. They’re both serious about being up-to-date and informed about everything happening now, not only here, but at different points around the world.” Matt Brewer, the bassist, was born into a musical family in Albuquerque, N.M. He attended Juilliard but chose to leave after two years to tour, perform and record with Lee Konitz, Greg Osby, Steve Coleman and others. In 2009, Brewer took third place in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Bass Competition. A first-call New York-based musician, Brewer’s discography includes five albums as a leader, five recordings with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and about 60 albums as a sideman.

Drummer Eric Harland is yet another “who’s who” in the jazz world. His credentials include seven albums as a leader and enduring associations with SFJazz Collective, Charles Lloyd, Chris Potter, Ravi Coltrane, Aaron Goldberg, Terence Blanchard, Billy Childs, Lionel Loueke, and Dave Holland (to name a few). Harland grew up in Houston, where he attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. At Wynton Marsalis’s suggestion, he moved to NYC to attend the Manhattan School of Music. In New York, he worked with Marsalis, Joe Henderson, and vocalist Betty Carter, whom he accompanied until her passing in 1998. Harland played in an all-star quartet with McCoy Tyner and Bobby Hutcherson and formed a collective group with Joshua Redman called James Farm.

When asked why he chose Harland, Rubalcaba replied: “I wanted to do a trio record of original music, based in the language of jazz, not completely straight ahead, but bringing in other elements that are part of my musical memory and my personality as a musician. I thought that Eric could help me rhythmically – his background is not only straight ahead, but also from R&B – he plays drums in a very modern way, which is what I was looking for.”

In a review of one of Rubalcaba’s concerts, Ben Ratliff of the New York Times wrote that Gonzalo Rubalcaba is “a pianist of almost supernatural abilities…Sit close, because he tends to load the music with tension by playing complex passages quietly, using dark, dense harmony; the delicacy of his touch makes it seem as if he were pulling notes out of the piano rather than pushing them in.” Listen closely and enjoy! — Eugene Uman