WEEKEND REVIEWS : Jazz : Gonzalo Rubalcaba: More Than Simply Fast

F ast is the word that keeps coming to mind at a Gonzalo Rubalcaba concert. Fast as in fast fingers, fast tempos and fast thinking. This is a pianist whose fingers really do the running, occasionally appearing almost as blurs when he rips his way through rapid-fire arpeggios.

But Rubalcaba--a Cuban making his second U.S. appearance Friday at the Wadsworth Theater in a concert benefiting the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences Foundation--is more than a nonstop virtuoso. His best playing, in fact, took place when he backed off from his powerful technique and took the time for a more pensive look inside the music.

On his opening number, for example, a be-bop tribute to Dizzy Gillespie (one of his first American mentors), the Havana-born pianist tempered his flights across the keyboard with briskly articulated riff-patterned lines. On other works, most drawn from “Rapsodia,” his current Blue Note recording, he showed a rich harmonic vision, one that blended jazz chording with pianistic voicings tinged with traces of Debussy and Ravel.

At other times, Rubalcaba leaned more heavily on his technique, clearly the foundation of his playing. When he did so, however, he usually sacrificed the more attractive elements, from a jazz perspective, of his playing--swing, drive and a sensitivity to the balance between sounds and silences. Spectacular as his sudden bursts of speed may be, they are not what will ultimately define his significance as a jazz artist.

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Rubalcaba’s group--which included trumpeter Reynaldo Melian, bassist Felipe Cabrera and drummer Julio Barreto--was first- rate, offering a superb example of the way in which jazz has truly become a world dialect. Barreto in particular demonstrated a remarkably musical approach to the role of the drums in a jazz ensemble, and Melian’s playing had the bright, burnished sound of Freddie Hubbard’s better work.

Guest artist bassist Charlie Haden (who performed with Rubalcaba on the pianist’s initial recordings) brought a familiar touch of intimate sensitivity to his brief appearance. Haden, always responsive to his musical associates, appeared to have a special interaction with Rubalcaba, replying with strikingly intuitive rapidity to every unexpected twist and turn in the music.

Before the concert, Michael Greene of the foundation told the audience that Rubalcaba’s much-publicized visa problems have been resolved and that he will now be able to appear more often in the United States. It will be fascinating to watch the unfolding career of this talented and potentially influential jazz artist.