Rafael Zaldivar

Cuban pianist, composer, artistic director, and educator Dr. Rafael Zaldivar has made an exceptional contribution to jazz music, receiving great acclaim from Berklee College of Music, JazzTimes and Downbeat magazine along the way. With his  new album RUMBA, Zaldivar continues to build upon his previous work, combining the holistic vibe and rhythmic circularity of Afro-Cuban music with a jazz sound. Zaldivar’s spirituality illuminates RUMBA, opening new doors to an endlessly expressive musical universe. The orchestral lyricism, intricate Afro-Cuban rhythms, and twentieth-century musical textures reveal Zaldivar’s reflective approach as the center of his compositional discourse. 

The term RUMBA refers to the social gatherings of the black community in Havana, Cuba. At the beginning of the twentieth century, these groups met to celebrate and praise the deceased in ceremonies full of song and dance. RUMBApromotes social interaction, cultural exchange, and the transmission of Africanism, all of which feeds into the sound of this album. Zaldivar performs his RUMBA with a world-class ensemble comprised of many of jazz and Afro-Cuban music’s leading lights, including Grammy winning and nominated artists Terri Lyne Carrington, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Miguel Zenón, Ingrid Jensen, and Amado Dedeu Garcias, alongside  many other Cuban, Canadian, and American greats.

01. Ellegua

02. A Pray 

03. Interlude

04. Baila mi changüi 

05. Guajiro

06. Two Words

07. Short Blues

08. Dolor de amar 

09. Alma

10. Crying for Cuba

11. Tiempos de amar 

12. Obbatala