Ray Holman & Guillermo Rubalcaba - Voz Rubalcaba Plenty Lovin'
Sanch Electronix Limited
Published on Nov 6, 2015
PLENTY LOVIN’ - A REFLECTIVE RAY RUMINATES RUEFULLY ON RUBALCABA
Rubalcaba - Welcome to Cuba, I’ve been expecting you. Long before you were born, I knew that Sanch would bring you and your music to my homeland. My name is Guillermo Rubalcaba but please call me Charanga; that’s what I like my friends to call me.
Ray - Charanga seems like a title bestowed on you by the gods; what does it mean?
Rubalcaba - A Charanga is a small ensemble of musicians who mainly play Danzón, an irresistible genre that blends European classical music, Afro-Cuban and many other rhythms. My instrument is the piano but sometimes I play the violin. Charanga Rubalcaba is the name of my band that I formed in 1962.
Ray - My name is Ray Holman; I’m from Trinidad & Tobago. My friends call me Ray and that’s what I’d like you to call me.
Rubalcaba - So what did you bring?
Ray - I brought The Steelpan from My Country with Plenty Lovin’
Rubalcaba - Then it’s time we head for the studio to start a conversation…
Unfortunately that conversation never took place except in the virtual reality of my mind. Fortunately however, the CD Charanga Meets Ray will be integrated into the Signature Event One Caribbean Voice Cuba, carded for Port of Spain at the end of April, 2016. One of the songs on the CD, Concierto de Aranguez is the soundtrack for the Sanch Infomercial La Isla.
In tribute to Rubalcaba, Ray Holman has composed Balada para Rubalcaba which is the final track on the album. Not being a musician, I’d like to share my first impressions of Rubalcaba from the launch of CubaDisco 2014 held at the National Theatre, Covarrubias Hall on Sunday May 18th 2014 under the distinguished patronage of the Cuban Minister of Culture, Julián González Toledo. This led to a friendship that ended prematurely by his untimely passing on September 06th 2015.
“Conductor Enrique Pérez Mesa emerged accompanying a sprightly octogenarian. He was resplendent, the quintessence or rather the exponent (to the power of ten) of sartorial elegance. This gentleman’s Andy Capp cap was perched at an angle suggesting that he was a resolute individual whose upbringing encompassed a rare blend of aristocracy, tradition and defiance.
“His shiny bluish-grey suit adorned him even more exquisitely than The Emperor’s New Clothes. His matching alligator-skin shoes and bolt-upright gait ensured that he made light work of the trek from behind the curtain to the piano stool.
“The magical moment occurred exactly at the time when the legendary Cuban virtuoso began to caress the Steinway so effortlessly as to suggest that the instrument was but an extension of the man.”
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Ray Holman & Guillermo Rubalcaba - Voz Rubalcaba Plenty Lovin'
Sanch Electronix Limited
Published on Nov 6, 2015
PLENTY LOVIN’ - A REFLECTIVE RAY RUMINATES RUEFULLY ON RUBALCABA
Rubalcaba - Welcome to Cuba, I’ve been expecting you. Long before you were born, I knew that Sanch would bring you and your music to my homeland. My name is Guillermo Rubalcaba but please call me Charanga; that’s what I like my friends to call me.
Ray - Charanga seems like a title bestowed on you by the gods; what does it mean?
Rubalcaba - A Charanga is a small ensemble of musicians who mainly play Danzón, an irresistible genre that blends European classical music, Afro-Cuban and many other rhythms. My instrument is the piano but sometimes I play the violin. Charanga Rubalcaba is the name of my band that I formed in 1962.
Ray - My name is Ray Holman; I’m from Trinidad & Tobago. My friends call me Ray and that’s what I’d like you to call me.
Rubalcaba - So what did you bring?
Ray - I brought The Steelpan from My Country with Plenty Lovin’
Rubalcaba - Then it’s time we head for the studio to start a conversation…
Unfortunately that conversation never took place except in the virtual reality of my mind. Fortunately however, the CD Charanga Meets Ray will be integrated into the Signature Event One Caribbean Voice Cuba, carded for Port of Spain at the end of April, 2016. One of the songs on the CD, Concierto de Aranguez is the soundtrack for the Sanch Infomercial La Isla.
In tribute to Rubalcaba, Ray Holman has composed Balada para Rubalcaba which is the final track on the album. Not being a musician, I’d like to share my first impressions of Rubalcaba from the launch of CubaDisco 2014 held at the National Theatre, Covarrubias Hall on Sunday May 18th 2014 under the distinguished patronage of the Cuban Minister of Culture, Julián González Toledo. This led to a friendship that ended prematurely by his untimely passing on September 06th 2015.
“Conductor Enrique Pérez Mesa emerged accompanying a sprightly octogenarian. He was resplendent, the quintessence or rather the exponent (to the power of ten) of sartorial elegance. This gentleman’s Andy Capp cap was perched at an angle suggesting that he was a resolute individual whose upbringing encompassed a rare blend of aristocracy, tradition and defiance.
“His shiny bluish-grey suit adorned him even more exquisitely than The Emperor’s New Clothes. His matching alligator-skin shoes and bolt-upright gait ensured that he made light work of the trek from behind the curtain to the piano stool.
“The magical moment occurred exactly at the time when the legendary Cuban virtuoso began to caress the Steinway so effortlessly as to suggest that the instrument was but an extension of the man.”
Story Time with Mr. Sanch
06.11.15