Rebeca Mauleón ~ Bio

Rumbeca Music

Contact: Manolo Santana

Rebeca Mauleón has been at the forefront of Latin and World music for over twenty-five years. A prolific pianist, composer, arranger as well as author and educator, Mauleón has performed with luminaries in the Latin, Pop and World music scenes, including Carlos Santana, Mickey Hart, Tito Puente, Steve Winwood, Israel “Cachao” López, Giovanni Hidalgo, Carlos Patato Valdez, Joe Henderson and others. Her performing and arranging credits include GRAMMY® winners and nominees Tito Puente (Goza Mi Timbal), Steve Windood (Junction Seven) and Carlos Patato Valdez (Ritmo y Candela).

In the 90s she recorded and toured with Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum as the group’s Musical Director, including appearances at Woodstock ‘99, the Conan O’Brien show, and the Regis and Kathy Lee Show. As a producer, Mauleón’s solo releases Round Trip and Latin Fire have garnered international critical acclaim, earning top-ten status on the Latin Beat Hit Parade for seven consecutive months, including number one. Her latest critically-acclaimed recording, Descarga en California (Universal), features some of Latin music's legendary figures, including Armando Peraza, Orestes Vilató and Giovanni Hidalgo, and explodes with the passion and energy of the classic Cuban descarga.

As the leader of her own ensemble, Rebeca has appeared at numerous renowned music festivals, including the Kennedy Center’s Women in Jazz festival in 1999, the Monterey Jazz Festival and San Francisco and San José Jazz Festivals. In 2001 she was the recipient of the prestigious Meet The Composer New Residencies Award, for a three-year residency at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Rebeca is also much in-demand as a teacher and clinician throughout the U.S. and Europe, specializing in Latin music performance and history, combining hands-on master classes with high-energy performances by her ensemble. She is the author of several texts on Latin music technique, including the highly acclaimed Salsa Guidebook (© Sher Music, 1993), the Latin Real Book (© Sher Music, 1997), 101 Montunos (© Sher Music, 1999) and Muy Caliente (© Sher Music, 2000). She has also published articles for several top industry magazines, including JazzTimes, Keyboard, Grammy Gateway, Modern Drummer, Mix en Español and Bass Player, and serves as musicological consultant and writer for National Geographic. Rebeca is a tenured professor of Latin American Music at City College of San Francisco, a guest lecturer at U.C. Berkeley, a member of the Recording Academy as well as the Latin Recording Academy, and is a member of the Board of Governors of the Recording Academy's San Francisco Chapter.

Discography ~

Rebeca Mauleón, Descarga en California, Universal, 2006

Carlos Santana, All That I Am, Arista, 2005

Rebeca Mauleón, Latin Fire, Rumbeca Music, 2004

Mickey Hart, Spirit Into Sound, Grateful Dead Records, 2000

Mickey Hart, Planet Drum: Supralingua, Ryco Disc, 1999

Rebeca Mauleón, Round Trip, Bembe Records, 1999

Steve Winwood, Junction Seven, Virgin Records, 1997

José Luis Quintana “Changuito,” The History of Songo, DCI/Warner, 1996 (Video)

Patato, Changuito, Orestes, Ritmo y Candela, Redwood, 1995

Karl Perazzo & Raul Rekow, From Afro-Cuban to Rock, LP, 1995 (Video)

The Machete Ensemble, Machete, Xenophile, 1995

Tito Puente, Royal “T”, Concord Picante, 1993

Carlos Santana, Milagro, Polydor, 1992

Tito Puente, Goza Mi Timbal, Concord Picante, 1990

Ray Obiedo, Iguana, Windham Hill Jazz, 1990

Ray Obiedo, Perfect Crime, Windham Hill Jazz, 1989

Tito Puente, Salsa Meets Jazz, Concord Picante, 1988

Pete Escovedo, Mister E, Crossover, 1988

Tito Puente, Un Poco Loco, Concord Picante, 1987

Tito Puente, Sheila E, Pete Escovedo, Latin Familia, Lorimar, 1986 (Video)