About Me
..My name is Jalidan Ruiz Castro, I was born December 28th, 1982 in the province of
Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. I started studying for my career as a percussionist at the age of 11 at the Lauro Fuentes Music School. where I studied for four years at the elementary level. Then I continued on to the intermediate level at the Esteban Salas Music Conservatory, where I graduated and got my diploma as a professor in percussion. From a young age I was always involved in many activities, congas and rumbas that were performed in the street in Santiago. I also participated in 3 different percussion competition, where I won the first place. In my last year of study before graduating, I became the drummer of the Sur Caribe Orquestra where we performed in festivals around the country from 2000 to 2003. From then on I joined the Orquestra of the well-known Saxophone player, Cesar Lopez and Havana Ensemble playing timbal, where I participated in many festivals such as Jazz Plaza 2003, Tokyo Jazz festival 2004, Cayo Coco festival 2004, Ottawa Blues festival and more. We also recorded an album in 2005 called, Andante. At the same time that I was a member of Cesar Lopez and Havana Ensemble, I got the opportunity to also join the Elmer Ferrer Band where we also recorded an album in 2005 called, Fango Dance and Filmed the first Jazz DVD ever made in Cuba called, JAZZ CUBA Today.
In between all those things, I had the great opportunity of participating in the first album of the successful Eliel Lazo Linares.I have shared and performed on stages with, Chucho Valdez, Changuito, Tata Guines, Herbie Hancock, Brian Blade, Wayne Shorter, Dianne Reeves, Dave Holland,
Lionel Loueke, Giraldo Piloto and Klimax, German Velasco, Roman Filiu, Pablo Milanes, Julito Padron, Basilio Marquez, Miguelito Valdez, Francisco Mela,
and Canadian Artists Jane Bunnett, and Johannes Linstead.
