Life in the jazz world's fast lane can take one to the spotlight of a Grammy Awards nomination and the prestige of a Lincoln Center debut. Along the way, if that traveler is Cuba's keyboard wunderkind Gonzalo Rubalcaba, it can also mean an increasingly busy performance schedule and quick dashes to

And, a trip to the auto body repair shop. The thirty-three-year-old virtuoso's residency in Santo Domingo, the sprawling capital city of the Dominican Republic, has brought with it the kind of problems he was unlikely to face in his hometown of Havana.

"I'm sorry, Gonzalo won't be able to make it to the interview," the pianist's personal manager, Jose Forteza, telephoned to inform. "A trip came up. We're leaving for Japan, and he had to rush off to the consulate and got into an accident."

However, the appointment is honored a year later when Rubalcaba, again tempting fate and the chaotic byways of Santo Domingo, arrives at the door of my hotel in his gleaming white Honda Prelude. Soon we're off to visit the city's history-drenched colonial neighborhood for a chat in one of the open-air cafes. Whether he has significantly enhanced his driving skills or the traffic on this breezy June day is more forgiving, Rubalcaba is at ease and in control, talking softly about his life in this colorful metropolis and his ever-more demanding career.

Not surprisingly, his skill behind the wheel quickly reminds me of the qualities of his playing: instantaneous decisions and quick bursts of energy as he gears down and darts around a lumbering delivery truck; a pensive interlude as we skirt a university campus, thick with impetuous pedestrians; intense concentration when we enter the maze of narrow cobblestone streets with their unpredictable twists and turns.

Santo Domingo is currently home for the pianist, his wife Maria, and sons Joao and Joan, as well as manager Forteza, his brother Luis, and their families. With its Spanish and African-derived culture, the country provides an inviting and supportive living environment for the Cubans while facilitating the communications and transportation needs that have become critical to meet the ever-increasing demands of the pianist's international career.

Born in Havana in 1963, the pianist is the son of Guilhermo Rubalcaba, a well-known Cuban musician who played piano in the famed Enrique Jorrin Orchestra. His grandfather, Jacobo Gonzalez Rubalcaba, was a noted composer of danzones. With such a musical environment at home, it is not surprising that the young Rubalcaba began formal piano studies at the age of nine and went on to earn a degree in music composition from Havana's Institute of Fine Arts. While still a teenager, he initiated his career as a recording artist and performed with, among others, the late bebop trumpeter and composer Dizzy Gillespie, who would become one of the Cuban keyboardist's biggest fans.

Seated overlooking Santo Domingo's stately Plaza Espana, with the ornate facade of the sixteenth-century Columbus Palace as a backdrop, we discuss his life in the Dominican Republic, his thoughts about the current explosion of interest in Latin jazz, and future plans.

"The colonial part of Santo Domingo is the most dynamic, spiritual, and architecturally important," he comments, surveying a scene that has changed little since 1498, when Columbus's brother Bartolome established what would become the oldest permanently inhabited European city in the Western Hemisphere and the center of Spanish culture in the New World. "In the colonial city, you can really 'breathe the air' of that time," he adds.

"I also like La Romana, because everything has been built around natural attractions," he says, admitting that a busy performance schedule has allowed him precious little time to savor the many pleasures of his new residence. But one destination in the Dominican Republic, seldom visited by tourists, has really earned his admiration.

"Santiago de los Caballeros [the Dominican Republic's second largest city, located about an hour's drive inland from Puerto Plata in the north-central part of the country] got my attention because it reminds me of the city of Santiago in Cuba, only on a smaller scale," Rubalcaba says. "The Santiagueros are very hospitable. They are very concerned about their neighbors and the people around them, which is something missing in big cities these days. And they are a happy people. Just like in Santiago de Cuba, they are always ready to have a party - any time of the week, night or day!"

With his background in jazz, classical music, and Cuban styles, Rubalcaba is something of an anomaly in the merengue-crazed Dominican Republic. "I haven't recorded any merengue yet because 'I haven't been invited," he says jokingly. But he did receive an invitation to record with the country's best-known pop star, Juan Luis Guerra, and performed on the troubadour's Grammy-winning hit album Bachata Rosa in 1990.

His own brush with Grammy fame in 1995 was another indication of just how smitten a global audience has become with this charming Cuban maestro. "It was definitely a big thing from the standpoint of promotion," he admits pragmatically about his exposure on the Grammy broadcast. "You are seen by an unimaginable number of people around the world. I didn't think of the nomination itself but rather of the performance and the opportunity to promote my work and my image."

Ever cautious about where to invest his time and artistic energy, Rubalcaba discourages attempts to label him as a Latin jazz artist. Indeed, his current album displays the many sides of his artistic personality through a solo performance, work with his Cuban quartet, and one track with his frequent North American jazz collaborators, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Imagine: Gonzalo Rubalcaba in the USA, his seventh album for the legendary Blue Note jazz label, includes his wholly original interpretations of an eclectic program that ranges from John Lennon's "Imagine" to Dizzy Gillespie's bebop anthem "Woody 'n You," the 1930s era bolero "Perfidia" by Alberto Dominguez, and original works recorded live during a recent concert tour of the U.S.

"I don't think it's prudent to frame my career only in the performance of Latin jazz," he says diplomatically. "In the movement now, there is the appearance of new talent that is renovating the original language of the style. Indeed, today we should be thinking of giving it a new name." Somewhat alienated by what he sees as a tendency to commercialize the style, Rubalcaba issues some pointed advice to those who would take up the Latin jazz banner. "It's a serious and profound culture we're working with," he notes. "There are still virgin styles that should be treated as such and not compromised through a highly commercial approach. I really don't like the idea of everybody getting into the Latin jazz mood, of fashioning folkloric music in a jazz manner. It should be done in a more serious way."

Then, in much the same way as his music can take dramatic and spontaneous departures from its anticipated course, he becomes philosophical, underscoring his deep passion for the music to which he has devoted his life. "The new generation should be thinking more about the value of music, should put music first and think less about themselves," he offers. "I don't want our music to become trendy. Even when it's a slow process, the final product should be something that will become permanent, part of history. What is important to me is that we go in that direction."

At the moment, Rubalcaba is intrigued by the idea of producing a classical album. The project may involve two pianos and an orchestra and will include some original compositions he has prepared. "It isn't a new medium for me," he states, reflecting on his early training at Havana's Amadeo Roldan Conservatory. "It's how I was educated. For different reasons, I didn't follow up and practice the style; I decided to be a different type of musician in a more popular form. But that doesn't mean I'm only going to play jazz."

Whether it is in the classical or jazz idiom or in some yet-to-be-defined Afro-Cuban-based, improvisationally shaped hybrid, it is all but certain that Rubalcaba will remain in the vanguard of contemporary keyboard stylists for many years to come. "It depends on the kind of transition I'm going through," he muses. "That will dictate the kind of music I'll be playing."

Mark Holston is a musician and journalist who writes about Latin American music for several publications. He is a regular contributor to Americas.