Since emerging on the international scene in the late 1980s, pianist, composer, and bandleader Gonzalo Rubalcaba has plotted several divergent strands of Cuban jazz in the modern era, whether pushing wildly virtuosic strains of fusion or colliding his improvisational fluency with the structural rigor of classical music. Born in Havana in 1963, Rubalcaba benefited from his homeland’s sophisticated musical education tradition, learning classical music in school while absorbing the complex richness of Cuban music through a kind of osmosis, taking in the sounds that pulsed all around him. He moved to the Dominican Republic in 1991 before settling in the U.S. in 1996. From the start of his international career he toggled between collaborative projects with some of America’s greatest improvisers (including bassist Charlie Haden, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and saxophonist Joe Lovano) and purely Cuban-oriented projects, including expansive solo recitals and technically dazzling small-group Cuban jazz excursions. Skyline, his 2021 trio recording with DeJohnette and bassist Ron Carter, and a newer combo with younger-generation players Matt Brewer and Eric Harland, have reinforced his impeccable commitment to jazz history.