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José Valentino
Considered by many to be one of the most trailblazing multi-hyphenates of his generation and a fearless Christian artist, Dr. José Valentino Ruiz is an expert in music & media, television, global outreach & community entrepreneurship, and education industries. To date and within five continents, Dr. Ruiz has performed 1400+ concerts (i.e., regularly hired as a headliner for commercial, jazz, classical, global music, and Christian worship styles); produced 120+ albums (20 albums as an artist); produced 30 nationally-televised film scores & jingles; keynoted empirical research presentations at 50+ universities; and facilitated 40+ mission trips in partnership with numerous organizations (i.e., Boundless Global, World Relief, among others) in Africa, Europe, Asia, North America, and South America. His artistry and scholarship have been featured nationally and internationally in media outlets such as USA Today, Billboard, Yahoo!, ESPN, PBS, Fox, CBS, ABC, Univision, Telemundo, and NBC, to name a few. Among prestigious performance & production opportunities, Dr. Ruiz has headlined as a Featured Artist at Carnegie Hall and Tanglewood Hall and was a former Music Producer for American Idol and X-Factor.
Distinctions in Performance, Production, Composition, Entrepreneurship, & Leadership:
Dr. Ruiz is an EMMY® Award Winning music producer and saxophonist (i.e.: 2018 Best Cultural Documentary); Latin GRAMMY® Award Winning composer and flutist (i.e.: 2020 Best Contemporary Classical Composition); Latin GRAMMY® Award Winning album audio engineer and flutist (i.e.: 2019 Best Christian Album in Spanish Language); Latin GRAMMY® Award Nominated album producer, mastering engineer, and arranger (i.e.: 2016 Best Instrumental Album); Latin GRAMMY® Award Nominated artist, composer, producer, and audio engineer (i.e.: 2015 Best Latin Jazz/Jazz Album); 53-time DOWNBEAT® Music Award Winning performer, bandleader, and audio engineer (i.e.: Dr. Ruiz is the record holder; categories include Jazz Soloist, Small Jazz Group, Blues/Pop/Rock Soloist, Blues/Pop/Rock Group, Latin Group, Studio Engineered Recording, Live Engineered Recording, and Classical Soloist); AVA Digital® Award Winning (Gold Medal) lead music producer, supervisor of music & audio production, and mastering engineer (i.e.: 2021 Best Music Video); DOVE® Award Nominated album recording engineer, saxophonist, and background vocalist (i.e.: Spanish Language Album of the Year); ARPA® Award Winning album recording engineer, saxophonist, and background vocalist (i.e.: 2022 Best Christian Album - Male Vocal category); ARPA® Award Nominated album (i.e.: 2022 Album of the Year); Fast Company's 2022 Top 10 Most Innovative Companies (category: video) for the company, Hayden5, for which Dr. Ruiz is Resident Media Composer.
Moreover, Dr. Ruiz is a 4-time Global Music® Award Winning album producer, featured artist, mixing engineer, & record label executive (i.e.: 2018 Meditation Album; 2018 Album of the Year; 2022 Nuevo Flamenco Album; and 2022 Vocal Jazz Album); International Commissioned Composer® for the 2022 Guitar Foundation of America International Mentorship Program; Parents' Choice® Award Winning Gold Medal Album musician and audio engineer (i.e.: 2017 Best Children's Album); 2021 UF Preeminence Term Professor Nominee (16 out of approximately 5000 professors); a JRME National Doctoral Dissertation Award Nominee; 5-time UK Music Industry® Award Winner (i.e.: 2012-2016 Best Instrumental Product); 2019 Society of Arts Entrepreneurship Research Impact Award Nominee, 2021 Hillsborough County Commendation (Tampa Bay) recipient for Excellence in Cultural Entrepreneurship; 2021 USF Outstanding Young Alumni® Award Winner (6 of 100k alumni); 2-time Big Easy Entertainment® Award Winning featured flute and saxophone artist, producer, and audio engineer (i.e., 2018 and 2019 Best World Music Album); 2017 For Bass Players Only® Magazine Featured Artist of November; and 2006 YAMAHA® Young Performing Artist® Award Winner (Flute).
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José Valentino: The Entrepreneurial Approach To Jazz And Beyond
![Read "José Valentino: The Entrepreneurial Approach To Jazz And Beyond" reviewed by Jane Kozhevnikova](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/2010/57ba170e89270b50b682d197803cd134.jpg)
by Jane Kozhevnikova
May jazz be commercial? Should a musician stick to one career or sustain many passions? What is the best way for musicians to set their rates? How to choose the right opportunities? These questions can raise many debates. José Valentino Ruiz (stage name José Valentino), a Latin Grammy-and Emmy Award-winning producer, composer and performer, answers these questions regularly at the University of Florida as the inaugural professor of music business & entrepreneurship at the School of Music and Co-Chair of ...
read more- "Apart from being an amazing musician with a thousand musical and technical versatilities, he's a super brilliant guy." - Marcos Sanchez (multi-Latin Grammy® Award Winner and 2021 Producer of the Year Nominee; American Idol producer)
- "Because of you, I am where I am today. You believed in me and you taught me so much." - Eduardo "Gualo" Jaramillo (multi-Emmy® Award Winner; NBCUniversal music producer & audio engineer; Netflix series audio and music producer)
- "He is the future flutist!" — Alex Acuña (Grammy® Hall of Fame drummer & JEN Legend Award recipient; Hollywood film drummer/percussionist)