RUBÉN GONZÁLEZ (EN)

When the Cuban pianist Rubén González recorded his first solo album in Havana in 1996 he was 77 years old. Released on World Circuit the following year, along with the Grammy-winning Buena Vista Social Club on which he also played, it led to a remarkable late flowering of his career that lasted until his death in 2003, as he toured the world and was revealed as one of the timeless legends of Cuban music. Recorded in two days immediately following the completion of Buena Vista Social Club with many of the same musicians, Introducing Rubén González now gets a welcome reissue on 180 g vinyl and casebound CD. Mastered from the original mix tapes by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road, several tracks are now heard in unedited, full length form for the first time with the addition of a further track that has never previously been released : « Descarga Ruben Y Cachaito », an improvisation between Rubén González and Cachaito Lopez.

Accompanied by a hand-picked band playing a selection of Cuban classics ‘live’ in the studio, Rubén González delivered one of the all-time classic Cuban piano albums.