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the world music professionals directoryDantas Rubem
Rubem Dantas (Salvador de Bahía, Brasil). Percussionist.
Rubem Dantas was born in Salvador de Bahía, craddle of some of the greatest names in the world of music. There, he started to study the piano with his mother and later focusing his interest on percussions, an art in which he is now considered as one of the greatest 'maestros'. His first steps were with Vahindo do Gantois, whom Rubem always considered as his master. At the beginning of his carrier, he performed in the most important festivals in Brazil, with bands such as Sangue y Raça and Machina Naturalle. In 1977, Rubem came to Madrid, where he participates in a movement of renewal the flamenco music. Invited by Pedro Rui Blas, he joins the band Dolores, along with other musicians, such as Jesús Pardo, Álvaro Yébenes and Jorge Pardo. At the same time, he met the guitar legend Paco de Lucía and it started one of the most daring and creative proyects of the flamenco music scene: to form a flamenco band along with other Flamenco legends like Ramón de Algeciras, Pepe Perera and Jorge Pardo. This band, with some changes from its initial formation, was until 2003 a sextet (Paco de Lucía, Ramón de Algeciras, Carles Benavent, Duquende, Joaquín Grilo, Jorge Pardo, José María Bandera and Rubem Dantas). They toured all over the world, performing in the most prestigious concert theatres (Scala of Milan, Olympia of Paris, Carnegie Hall of New York…), reaping great success among the public and the press.
Rubem Dantas is the artist who has managed in the best possible way to introduce percussion into flamenco music. During a tour in Latin America, he discovered the 'cajón' (box drum) in Peru and thought it would be a great percussion instrument for flamenco art. After he brought it back to Spain, the 'cajón' became one of the central instruments of this musical gender. Rubem Dantas has plunged his musical roots in many different grounds and has worked with many important artists such as Enrique Morente, Camarón de la Isla, El Potito, Ketama, Juan Ramírez, Manuel Soler, La Susi, Chick Corea, Paquito D'Rivera, Eddie Louis, Christian Escude, Jon Balke, Arif Marden, Vince Mendoza, María Creuza, Gilberto Gil, Bonga, Milton Nascmiento, Nana Caymi, Wagner Tirso, Carlos Carli, Luis Pastor, Pablo Milanés…
Rubem Dantas has participated in flamenco recordings such as 'Calle Real', 'Viviré' and 'Como el agua' by Camarón; 'Siroco', 'Live in America' and 'Sólo quiero caminar' by Paco de Lucía; 'Las cigarras son quizá sordas', 'Veloz hacia su sino' and '2332' by Jorge Pardo; 'Aigua' and 'Fénix' by Carles Benavent; 'A Mandeli' by Pepe Habichuela; 'Imán' by Chano Domínguez, 'Jazzpaña'...
Although his work as a composer is not very well known, his fans are used to apreciate his creative ability. As a composer, Ruben likes to mix all the influences he has collected and play with a huge musical variety. In the Percpan Percussion Festival in Brazil (San Paulo and Salador de Bahia, April 2000), Ruben presented his band Flamenco Native Ensemble, where he played along with guitarists, percussionists, a flamenco dancer and a vocalist. The success was incredible. Rubem Dantas has performed in the most important festivals all over the world, such as Montreux Jazz Festival, Vitoria Jazz Festival, Istambul Jazz festival, Paris Jazz festival, Las Minas de La Unión Flamenco Festival, Jazz Vossa (Norway), Puri Jazz Festival, Life on the sky (Japan), Lisbon Flamenco Guitar Jazz Festival…
