Ivan "Melón" González

Name:  Iván González Lewis
Place of birth: CUBA

A legendary figure of Cuban Timba music who revolutionized the way of playing the salsa piano.

Gonzalez graduated at the most prestigous university of Cuba, “The National School of Art” where he got a broad training in classical music. He started his professional career at the age of 20 in the ensemble of Isaac Delgado. Together they embarked on international tours and Melón played timba in 3 albums of Isaac Delgado: "El año que viene", "Otra idea", and the world famous "Exclusivo para Cuba"

Gonzalez was a member of Afro-Cuban All Stars, which is a unique multi-generational orchestra using all the heritages of Cuban music. Many of the band’s musicians became international stars, like Rubén González and Ibrahim Ferrer.

In the last decade Gonzalez have been living in Spain and performs at important jazz festivals around the world, sharing the stage with stars like Mulgrew Miller, John Hicks and Gonzalo Rubalcaba. Since 2003 he has been leading his own jazz quintet, performing throughout Europe.

Discography:
With Isaac Delgado
1995    El Año Que Viene
1997    Otra Idea
2000    Grandes Éxitos de Isaac Delgado


by Zsuzsa Melkvi
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About the Author: Zsuzsa Melkvi is a salsa dancer and teacher, having competed in Latin-American and Standard dances from 1995-1998. She is also the founder of Baila Cuba (www.bailacuba.hu), a Dance company focused on giving exclusively pure Afro-Cuban workshops in Hungary. Zsuzsa holds a BA degree in Economics from the University of Hertfordshire.