Dayramir Gonzalez

Dayramir Gonzalez Vicet is a Cuban pianist, composer, arranger, and producer.

Dayramir Gonzalez
Birth nameDayramir Gonzalez Vicet
BornHavana, Cuba
GenresAfro-Cuban jazz, jazz, contemporary Cuban
Occupation(s)Musician, composer, arranger, producer
InstrumentsPiano
LabelsColibrí
Associated actsDayramir & Habana enTRANCE, Klimax, Habana d'Primera
Websitedayramirgonzalez.com

Life

He was born in Havana, Cuba. Growing up in the neighborhood of Cerro, Gonzalez attended the Paulita Concepcion Elementary School of Music and later the National High School for the Arts (ENA).

Gonzalez began his professional career at 16 when he was invited by Oscar Valdes of Irakere, to be part of Valdes' Diakara as a pianist and composer/arranger. He then in 2004, formed his own project Dayramir & Habana enTRANCé, which has performed internationally since its inception.[1][2]

From 2005 to 2010 he was the pianist for Giraldo Piloto and Klimax, and in 2009 became a founding member of the popular Timba group Alexander Abreu & Habana d'Primera.

While still attending Berklee College of Music, in 2012, he was selected by Chucho Valdes, a mentor to Gonzalez, to be part of Carnegie Hall's Voices of Latin America series, where he represented, along with Aldo Lopez-Gavilan the young generation of Afro-Cuban jazz pianists.[3] According to his website, he now lives in the South Bronx.

Awards and recognition

At the Jojazz Festival in 2004, he won 1st place in the performance category. He again in 2005 took 1st place in composition.[4]

After recording his self-titled début album Dayramir & Habana enTRANCé in 2007 with the Colibri label, he won three Cubadisco Awards in the categories Best Jazz Album, Best Debut Album, and Best Recording.

In 2010, he was awarded the Berklee College of Music Presidential Scholarship, making him "The first Cuban national to receive this award in the school's history".[5] It was also at this time that his tremendous compositional talents were first recognized by the A&R team of the student-founded Jazz Revelation Records, who signed him to a deal to record Mabel's Cha, a song to be released on the label's 8th offering, OCTAVE.

In 2013 he received the Wayne Shorter Award for Berklee's most outstanding composer of the year.

Featured in the award-winning book Danzón: Circum-Caribbean Dialogues in Music and Dance, he is considered a main proponent of continuing the tradition of Cuban music as he combines "formal elements of standard jazz practice...with elements of the danzón."[6] He is among the few Cuban jazz artists rescuing the danzón and "reinventing the genre on the basis of diverse constructions of identity."[7]

Film credits

The 2014 Hollywood film Cantinflas features Gonzalez's arrangement and performance with Spanish rock artist Enrique Bunbury of the classic standard "Vete de Mi", popularized by Bola de Nieve. He was also the musical director for the Italian/Cuban film Havana's Heart and Beats written, produced, and directed by Claudio del Punta.

Discography
  • 2007: Dayramir & Habana enTRANCE (Colibrí Productions)
  • 2008: Solo tu y yo - Giraldo Piloto & Klimax (EGREM)
  • 2009: Todo Esta Bien - Giraldo Piloto & Klimax (Bis Music)
  • 2011: Octave (Jazz Revelation Records)
  • 2018: The Grand Concourse (Machat Records)

References
  1. "Dayramir Gonzalez y Habana enTRANCE". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  2. "Dayramir and Habana enTRANCE Aldo López-Gavilán Quartet". Carnegie Hall. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  3. Blumenfeld, Larry "Cuban Exports Fill the Hall". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  4. Ejazz NEws
  5. "Berklee Presidential Scholar: Dayramir Gonzalez". Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  6. Madrid, Alejandro L. and Moore, Robin D. (2013). Danzón: Circum-Caribbean Dialogues in Music and Dance, p. 241. OUP USA, New York. ISBN 978-0199965823.
  7. Shepherd, John and Horn, David (2014). Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 9, p. 276. Bloomsbury Academic, New York. ISBN 1441141979.
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