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Rubim de Toledo

Award-winning bassist and composer, Rubim de Toledo combines the influences of his Brazilian heritage and his dedication to the jazz tradition, to create an approach to music that is refreshing and uplifting. Boasting a diverse rhythmic palette inspired by world music, jazz, and contemporary music, a lure towards improvisation and a forward-looking traditionalism, Rubim nurtures a commanding sound and style as a bassist, soloist, and composer.

Rubim began his professional career in Edmonton at seventeen, performing with Albertan Jazz legends Tommy Banks, PJ Perry and Clarence “Big” Miller. Since then, he has become a sought-after sideman and a productive bandleader. Rubim is a founding member of renowned Canadian Latin-Jazz group Bomba and has had the honour to accompany jazz artists like Mary Chapin Carpenter, Mulgrew Miller, Terrell Stafford, Wycliffe Gordan, Oliver Jones, and Jason Marsalis.

With his sixth and newest release, “The Dig,” Rubim distinguishes himself as a composer with a unique ability to explore contemporary styles while maintaining a sound that is modern yet inviting. The disc features seven original instrumental compositions influenced by Brazilian, Caribbean, jazz, and groove-based music.

Rubim has worked extensively since 2007 as musical director with Calgary’s prestigious Decidedly Jazz Danceworks. He is also a passionate music educator and the head of the bass department at MacEwan University in Edmonton.

In 2018, Rubim won the Western Canadian Music Award for Jazz Artist of Year and was nominated for a 2018 Edmonton Music Award. In 2019, his Latin-Jazz group Montuno West was nominated as World artist of the year at the Western Canadian Music Award, nominated for several Edmonton Music Awards, and won the Calgary Music Award for World Recording of the Year.

Awards

• Winner of Western Canadian Music Award - Best Jazz Recording with Jim Brenan's January CD(2014) • Solo CD the River, nominated for Western Canadian Music Award - Best Jazz Recording (2009) • nominated for Western Canadian Music Award w Brenan Brothers - Best Jazz Recording (2009) • nominated for Western Canadian Music Award w Bomba - Best World Recording (2010) • nominated for Western Canadian Music Award w Bomba - Best Jazz Recording (2006) • nominated for Canadian Music Week Indie Outstanding Latin Music Award (2005) • CBC Galaxie Rising Star Award recipient with Bomba (2004) • ARIA group of the year award with Maracujah (1998)

Tags

DJD’s Better Get Hit in Your Soul conjures up erratic jazzman — warts and all – Calgary Herald, November 2013 by Stephen Hunt All of it is delivered in a richly satisfying blend of recorded music and a live trio, led by DJD musical director Rubim di Toledo, that reinterprets Mingus’s compositions, transforming the Big Secret — which has been subtly redesigned by Scott Reid — into a 52nd Street jazz club, circa 1958. Decidedly Jazz Danceworks takes to the streets for inspiration - Calgary Herald, April 2013 by Stephen Hunt The band, led by Rubim de Toledo, conjures up one rich layer of funkified jazz after another throughout the night, and you’re liable to spontaneously shout out “Mojitos for all my friends! … de Toledo’s band shines infusing C-Legs — and the rest of the show — with as much of a jazz club feel as a funkified one … After the break, de Toledo’s tunes blend beautifully with Begins’ projected images on Beat Driven Post Wonderment. CD Review from Legacy Magazine, Winter 2009 by Ron Chalmers Bassist and composer Rubim de Toledo must be one of Alberta’s busiest and most accomplished musicians ... De Toledo fuses the rhythmic styles of Latin American music and post-war American jazz evoking, Heitor Villa-Lobos, contemporary salsa, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane – while achieving something entirely fresh ... (jazz scene) abounds in performers with virtuosic technique. The eternal challenge is to innovative material that is thoughtful, challenging, accessible, listenable and enjoyable. Rubim de Toledo’s The River is all of that. On Dance, Creativity and Corporate Teamwork from See magazine, Feb 2010 by Kathleen Bell ... by simply listening to Toledo’s most recent album, the River, you start to understand the importance of that dynamic (teamwork, flexibility and creativity). It’s not about showing off, but creating a seamless dance from idea to idea, measure to measure, note to note. Inspiration Flowed from Flood from the Edmonton Journal, April 2009 by Roger Levesque ... all of that made The River one of the finest Jazz albums of the year ... CD Review from CKUA website, March 2009 by Roger Levesque It knocks me out, first for how de Toledo's writing and arranging sets up tasty harmonies, then for the depth of intuitive playing and the excellent sound that captures it, and finally for some intangible element we'll just call soul. The obvious familiarity between bassist de Toledo, trumpeter Bob Tildesley, pianist Chris Andrew and drummer Tyler Hornby certainly adds to the effortless quality of the performances but I suspect the experience of playing for dancers also helped inspire their buoyant spirits. When he solos you can feel de Toledo tip-toeing or springing around on those strings and the exchanges between them all conjure up even more mental imagery. Light-hearted Dancers in Love gets the party started from Calgary Herald, April 2013 by Stephen Hunt ... in Blue Haze, the full company, dressed in Paul Lavigne’s original black and white costumes, conjure up the jazz era of 1950s New York, with a fat, meaty bass lick laid down by Rubim de Toledo. 2009 a busy year for jazz Musician from Jazz Elements website, Feb 2009 by Cindy McLeod Rubim de Toledo is one of the most sought-after studio and performing artists on Alberta’s jazz scene. The versatile bassist is also considered a Brazilian / Cuban master, and is active on the Rock, R&B and Folk scenes ... The release (The River) is one of three great jazz projects to hit the market in 2009 that Rubim has helped to create all three.

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