Ruben Gonzalez Playing Solo in the Cuban Gymnasium

[TheMambavenom]

The American government is paranoid!!

[mycompasstv]

Viva Cuba!

[latino7630]

Just can't believe such a talent is gone to the stars .... :)

May God bless you Senor Ruben...

[juan3268]

He is from the same town I was born. I wish I would have had the pleasure to hear him live. What a great musician. I am sure God is learning to dance salsa to his songs.

[sowafu]

@juan3268 i dont understand jazz but i do like ruben gonzales music....

something in there that makes you wanna dance

[cacadow]

Worked as stage manager for ruben many years ago in dublin ,on his comeback before he joined the beuna vista social club-beautiful pianist and a really smart and courteous gentleman,absolute pleasure to watch in whelans in dublin around 1994??

650 people in a 300 capacity bar,but nobody gave out!!

RIP

[cacadow]

Worked as stage manager for ruben many years ago in dublin ,on his comeback before he joined the beuna vista social club-beautiful pianist and a really smart and courteous gentleman,absolute pleasure to watch in whelans in dublin around 1994??

650 people in a 300 capacity bar,but nobody gave out!!

[Josecarlosmartin2007]

quiero saber en que pais es el lugar donde esta tocando el

[compita73]

@Josecarlosmartin2007

Es en cuba en un lugar que hoy lo utilizan para practicar gimnasia.

[blazejowski]

what's the name of the song he's playing at 1:10 ???

could u possibly tell me please?

[VitorVitoriaBaia]

@blazejowski

Is 'Tres Lindas Cubanas' since the beggining

[Citizen110]

¡Chanchullo!

Rubén Gnozález—Uno de los pianistas soneros mas grande de todos los tiempos!

[jennycorgan2006]

Alguien sabe que es lo que toca Ruben aqui al principio? Me encanta, que delicia de musica.

[Robertico1937]

Lo hice anteriormente, pero no fue publicado, maravilloso, conozco el instrumento, lo interpreto, pero desgraciadamente nunca lo podre hacer como Ruben, soy cubano, me siento muy orgulloso, de poder tocar mi musica, como siempre la escuche.

[mia2081]

Rubén será siempre el más grande

[problemchimp2]

beautiful music, beautiful country, beautiful people.

[ubiratansousa]

Ruben Gonzalez foi mt mais q um grande pianista. Foi um gênio no assunto.

[dmcristancho]

En mi opinión, esta es la escena más bonita de todo el documental......y que decir de Rubén González......las palabras se quedan cortas para describirlo....

[neto4346]

exacto!!!!

[pisti881]

whats the name of that fast song? :s

[VitorVitoriaBaia]

fast song? in the beggining? like 0:35? because is the same song in the entire video.

[pisti881]

yes, at 0:35...do you know that songs name, or its just a jam?

[VitorVitoriaBaia]

This is "Tres Lindas Cubanas". He is playing the old piano solo off the song. I have that record, with Ruben Gonzalez playing, but he doesn't play that "fast" part. But I got a "Tres Lindas Cubanas" with Peruchin at the piano, and he plays the part you're talking about...is very hard to find, is from 40's or something...

ps: Ruben have this song in his solo album "Introducing..." but it doesn't have any solo.

[ledesmacarlos]

hay varios videos en venta de ruben gonzalez, con le grupo y solo

[Jhowns96]

en tve lo han puesto ya varias veces, creo q era algo así como Músicos de Cuba

[NiccoloPagannini]

Alguien sabe en que DVD sale la entrevista a Rubén Gonzales, de antemano gracias.

[VitorVitoriaBaia]

el BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB...de Wim Wenders

[NiccoloPagannini]

gracias por la info. saludos

[hootrat1992]

Ruben Gonzalez, extraordinario pianista, un gran maestro de Cuba y del mundo. Simplemente grandioso!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DreamerLaboratory]

great pianist !

[pianistica]

Sin duda, un gran pianista! y magnifico interprete. :)

[tialeetull]

it seems insane that only a small group of people were able to see him play live who live in the U.S. i really, really want to go to Cuba - i also will regret not having the opportunity to see ruben and ibrahim..... ruben is amazing, a cuban version of thelonious monk!

[N0zix420]

i saw ibrahim in arizona in 2003 he was amazing it sucks there dead now

[londonscot1]

A brilliant musician, sadly no longer with us.

It's worth noting that Ry Cooder, the US producer, was recently fined $100,000 and banned from working in Cuba, thanks to the US embargo.

Apparently elderly Cuban musicians are a threat to US national security.

[luckyjohn19]

It's cos The USian Administration has no culture ... and they're extremely insecure.

Fancy feeling frightened of poor little Cuba.

~

[tialeetull]

are you kidding? fined - because of going over there? that is INSANE! if not for him, i would not have been exposed and enlightened to these musicians and the authentic Cuban music - not rikki ricardo

[Soroaman]

Dear @londonscot1

The fact is that the Cuban regime benefitted from Ry Cooder's work in Cuba. Who do you think got the revenue from the sales of the Buena Vista rebirth...? The musicians..? HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH!!!!! LOL...!!!!

[londonscot1]

@Soroaman - I imagine, like most joint ventures in Cuba, that the royalties were shared between the Cuban government and World Circuit, the foreign producers. Anyway, please explain how elderly Cuban musicians are a threat to US national security. The point is the US government's HYPOCRISY in blockading Cuba, on "human rights" grounds, whilst it happily trades (and indeed depends upon) the likes of China, Saudi Arabia etc.

[mmedefarge]

@londonscot1 Unbelievable! Was this during the Bushie years? That stupid embargo needs to go, long overdue; it only hurts the common people, not the big wig Communists. Years ago when a friend's brother, a primary school teacher, went with some other teachers for a teacher's symposium there, my phone was tapped. I suppose that they thought that primary school teachers were going to give away "state secrets". Idiotic.

[londonscot1]

@mmedefarge - It was during the Bush years. But unfortunately the Obama regime has kept the US embargo in place, including (as per your friend's brother's experience) severe curbs on the American people's liberty to travel to Cuba and see for themselves. I respectfully suggest that you look at the Cuba Solidarity Campaign's website, and its explanation of the impact of the blockade. Cuba is far from perfect but it deserves a lot better than Cold War-era sanctions.

Regards,

LS

[edwardoalvarez22]

@mmedefarge Cuba is a True Legend and a Country that attracts people from all over the world. Specially, the Music and it's Food. Rose con Frijoles. who can resist that.

[mmedefarge]

@edwardoalvarez22 My father & uncle immigrated to Cuba after the Fascists took over in Spain in 1939. They were there until the late 40's when they came to the U.S.. They recalled their time their fondly, when they waited tables in Havana & got to hear some of the best music at the clubs there. I've never been there of course, I don't even speak Spanish but there is just something about Cuban music that stands out. I love to listen to it.

[edwardoalvarez22]

@mmedefarge Bast on what I have heard and what I have seen on youtube , It seems that Cuba has a way to attract people from all over the World. For a Communist country it has the highest tourist attraction in all of Latin America Brazil is second in the tourist attraction and it's just a small island and a Third World Country. Never the less, I am very pround to be Cuban.

[edwardoalvarez22]

@londonscot1 Thats not a Cuban Gymnasion. That looks more like a Spanish Manion build by the Spanards in the 1800. Very beautiful building.

[londonscot1]

@edwardoalvarez22 - Thanks for clarifying. It certainly looks like a colonial-era building - beautifully ornate. It's good that a wonderful place like this is now open to the people, and communally-owned, as opposed to a private mansion enjoyed by very few.

[edwardoalvarez22]

@londonscot1 It's ashame that Cuba has a lot of buildings that go's back to the 17 and 1800s and they don't have the resource to re-model them. Cuba has a lot of googd history.

[londonscot1]

@edwardoalvarez22 - I agree. But they've refurbished some areas in the old town, such as the district around the old Spanish Captain-General's mansion, which used to be a red-light / violent place.... before the Revolution. This is of course mainly driven by the tourism industry, and the need to earn foreign currency (which is fair enough), but the Cubans also seem genuinely keen to preserve their history. The Hemingway house is another fantastic time-capsule, well worth a visit.

[Utubestir]

@londonscot1 Wow that so sucks!

[londonscot1]

@Utubestir - You said it! Lobby your Congressman and tell him (or her) that the Cold War is over. Time to forgive and forget and join the other 185 UN states in supporting Cuba's rights as a sovereign independent country with great character, culture, healthcare, education and, by the way, SMOKIN' HOT girls! The British author Graham Greene described Havana as "a conveyor belt of human beauty". That was in the 1950s but nothing has changed in that respect! Get yourself to Cuba by all means!

[Soroaman]

@londonscot1 you need to be educated in curent events and history of Cuba! Why don't you advocate for the tiranny to be over? and the castros to die or get the hell out? Why do you focus on what the US needs to do with respect to Cuba? The tyranny is like the nazis, or the fascists in Spain...52 years and couting! and the earnings from all transactions with anyone on that island go straight to the opressors.  Please don't support the enslavement of the cuban people!! Libertad para Biscet!!!!!

[londonscot1]

@Soroaman - Because I don't see Cuba as an unmitigated "Nazi" hellhole. Certain aspects of Cuban society are extremely good. I focus on the US government because they are the ones keeping in place a 51-year old blockade that is cruel, vindictive, anachronistic and hypocritical. 180+ countries vote every year to lift the Blockade; the US government ignores them then lectures Cuba about "democracy". 

You should join the majority, the 180+ countries, who want the USA to drop its Embargo!

[manoeuvre89]

@londonscot1 hey - they've got oil.... just watch how quickly things are gonna change for cuba.

[londonscot1]

@manoeuvre89 - Oil certainly adds a new incentive for the US government to lift the economic blockade. But if Obama, the most liberal President in decades, can't bring himself to propose to Congress that the blockade be ended, what chance is there of Mitt Romney or (God help us) Sarah Palin doing so? Hardline Cuban-Americans seem to be calling the shots, with a new generation (e.g. Rubio in Florida) only slightly more conciliatory than the old diehards.

My guess is that China will help Cuba.

[TheGothAvenger]

@Soroaman

Tyranny you say. The tyranny was of Batista, come Che Guevara and Fidel and the cuban people have the same life expectancy as the US, the highest literacy rate in Latin America, free health service, cheap travel and rents and low unemployment. We threw off the opressors, and a man a good man like Ry Cooder, is criminalized for helping a bunch of fine musicians get together, the US should give him a medal.

[TheGothAvenger]

@londonscot1

Perhaps Ry should have crossed into Canada and become a Canadian, where they practice a more civilized and humane attitude.

[londonscot1]

@TheGothAvenger - I agree. It is sad because it now appears that a majority of Americans are in favour of lifting the US embargo against Cuba but a determined minority of hardcore Cuban-Americans, led by a senator in Florida, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who is actually RELATED to the Castro family (via Fidel's first, dissolved marriage), is hellbent on enforcing it. Even though the annual UN vote once again showed that the vast majority of world opinion is against the USA......

[TheGothAvenger]

@londonscot1

The USA's loss, in possible trade and world respect is lost then because of a vocal minority, probably with vested interests, whilst the majority of Americans/UN vote say otherwise. It becomes Canada's gain since they DO trade and have very good relations with Cuba, as does Western Europe.

[londonscot1]

@TheGothAvenger - I couldn't agree more. Canada has oil corporations that can participate in Cuba's quite sizeable oil reserves (there was an article on the BBC website in November 2011 on this very subject). US oil corporations currently cannot do so, because of the politically-motivated US blockade; but no doubt they will be lobbying their friends in Washington to obtain a "carve-out" similar to the very limited ones that allow some US food and medicine to be exported to Cuba.

[TheGothAvenger]

@londonscot1

Expect an invasion pretty soon then, the U.S. seems to want to own all the worlds oil reserves.

Sigh...

[londonscot1]

@TheGothAvenger - I sincerely hope that your dire prediction - wholly understandable given US historical precedent - does not come to pass and that Cuba remains an independent sovereign state.

[TheGothAvenger]

@londonscot1

Well, you know, when Soviet Union helped us the U.S. stayed away, but of course they interfered in Chile, Grenada (without telling Thatcher), Nicaragua and countless other countries.

Isn't the USA big enough without wanting other countries endlessly ?

[londonscot1]

@TheGothAvenger - Fortunately, times have changed. It's no longer the 1950s and the USA can no longer throw its weight around with such reckless disregard for global opinion.

[TheGothAvenger]

@londonscot1

I hope you are right, I really do, and I hope that same applies to Israel.

[TheGothAvenger]

@londonscot1

BTW will add re the Israel comment, I am not anti semetic in any way whatsoever, more anti Zionist.

[goldenearringsgeorge]

arriba, arriba ...fulminant Ruben at the Tasten ---- :)

the son was so good musik-styl: somebody nows a aktuelle band: which play sun/son musik

I like to know

[VitorVitoriaBaia]

don't waist time with another thing that's not Buena Vista Social Club, Afro-Cuban All Stars, Sierra Maestra...

[newgatito2007]

ruben, was simple the best,master of the keys.

his music will live forever.

[violinbloke]

This is etched on my memory!! It is SO beautiful to find all that talent in what was a hidden place. Well done to Ry Cooder for unlocking this culture!! Thanks for posting this gem.

[33949]

como puede ser que un hombre tenga la capacidad de hacer esto, es hermoso ojala todos fueramos como fue Ruben, gracias por la musica es un regalo que nos dejo

[goldeneye00756]

Do you have the segment where he plays "Como Siento Yo?"

[babataher]

Rubennnn!!!! Rubeeeennnn!!! Come back again!

[telmapio]

Rubén, MAESTROOO!!!

[lahabana2006]

Muy bueno, gracias.

Thanks.