Gonzalo Rubalcaba: First Meeting

5 PASSION RECORDS (RELEASED JULY 11, 2025)

Jason Olaine, vice president of programming at Jazz at Lincoln Center, has a proven track record for presenting Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba in various settings. When he was artistic director at Yoshi’s in Oakland, California, Olaine arranged a duo session for Rubalcaba and saxophonist Joe Lovano which led to the 1997 release of Flying Colors. Later that year, he paired Rubalcaba with saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Eric Harland for performances at the Monterey and Newport Jazz Festivals. First Meeting presents Olaine’s latest setting for Rubalcaba — a quartet that reunites him with Potter and Harland but with the addition of bassist Larry Grenadier. It may have been the first meeting for this quartet, but the seamless performances captured live at Dizzy’s Club in 2022 sound like a fully mature group. Opening with Chick Corea’s “500 Miles High,” the quartet quickly establishes their own style rather than simply mimicking Return to Forever. The same is true for the quartet’s inspired version of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Con Alma,” a tune Rubalcaba recorded with Gillespie in 1985. Despite the extended length of these tunes (16 to 18 minutes) as well as the other four selections on First Meeting, the arrangements, solos and the musical interaction between band members hold your interest and attention. Each member also contributed an original to the session. Potter takes the lead on soprano for Grenadier’s “State of the Union,” a Spanish-influenced tune which suits Rubalcaba’s playing to a T. A three-minute drum solo opens Harland’s “Eminence,” which evolves into a meditative piece reminiscent of Keith Jarrett’s quartet with Jan Garbarek. Potter takes control on his tune titled “Oba” as he weaves in an out of rhythmic and harmonic interplay of Rubalcaba, Harland and Grenadier. The session concludes with Rubalcaba’s “Santo Canto,” another Latin tune that confirms that this First Meeting was not a “one and done,” but a prelude to a European tour and hopefully more sessions from a group deserving of the moniker “super group.”

BOTTOM LINE: Pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba heeded the advice of Oscar Wilde — “You never get a second chance to make a first impression” — when he took the stage at Dizzy’s Club with saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Eric Harland. This jazz supergroup had one shot to coalesce during a four-night stand in 2022 at this classic New York City venue. First Meeting, which documents their final night, leaves no question that they will not need a second chance to impress serious listeners.