history | Pedro Ruy-Blas oficial web

Born in Madrid on July 7, 1949, he felt a musical calling from a very young age.
At the age of fifteen, he began to form part of some neighborhood groups. The first was called "Los Príncipes".
At the end of 1965, he was the singer of "Los Grimm" for two years, with whom he recorded his first records for the Philips company.
In 1968, he formed the group "Los Canarios" for fourteen months, replacing its singer and leader Teddy Bautista while he was doing his military service.
Later, he recorded his first album as a solo singer with the help of producer Alain Milhaud. On the A side of that single was the song entitled "A los que hirió el amor" which became number one on the sales charts for several weeks in 1970.
Following this album, Pedro Ample chose Ruy-Blas as his stage name, in honor of probably the best play by the immortal french writer Victor Hugo. Between 1970 and 1974 he recorded several albums, some of which were censored and banned for being considered subversive during the dictatorial regime.
In 1975 he recorded his first album as a composer and producer, "Luna Llena" for Polydor Records. The album was released in the United States on the Miami Records label
A year later he recorded a new album entitled "Dolores" in which he participated as a producer, composer, drummer, percussionist and singer.
This is how Dolores was born, the group that marked new horizons for Jazz-Fusion in Spain. The next album, "La puerta abierta" also produced by Pedro, led the group to participate in, among others, the International Jazz Festivals of San Sebastian, Getxo and Vitoria-Gasteiz in 1977, consolidating musically.
This led to the memorable meeting with Paco de Lucía and later with Camarón de la Isla, leading to the gestation of an unusual turning point in the history of Flamenco and Jazz.
At the end of 1979, Pedro concluded his work with the group Dolores to dedicate himself again to his role as a solo singer and composer. From then on, he worked alongside the most important musicians of the moment, forming the super-band "Puente Aéreo" with artists from Madrid and Barcelona.
In 1984 he published a new work, "Madre Ciudad" which he himself produced for the independent label Nuevos Medios of the late Mario Pacheco. That same year he began an outstanding work in the field of Musical Theatre, playing the role of Judas Iscariot in Lloyd Weber's rock opera, "Jesus Christ Superstar" at the Alcala Palace Theatre in Madrid with musical direction by Teddy Bautista and stage direction by Jaime Azpilicueta.

In 1987, Pedro began a new and extensive stage of personal development by starting to work with computers and digital instruments in his Home-Studio.
In 1991 he returned to the San Sebastian Jazz Festival, leading his own group.

In 1992 he prepared his participation as the lead in the musical "Les Misérables", with which he achieved extraordinary success, directed by the british Ken Caswell and David White, stage and musical directors respectively.
Pedro played the lead role of Jean Valjean in 564 performances. The recording of this work is also released in its first world version in Spanish. On several "Les Mis" websites, he is considered the best interpreter in a non-english language.
In 1992 he received recognition from the TVE program presented by Juan Claudio Cifuentes, "Jazz among friends" which awarded him the prize for the best group of the year, which was made up of Jorge Pardo, Pedro Sarmiento, Dave Thomas and Jose Antonio Galicia.
After finishing his work on "Les Miserables" in 1995, he took part in a musical again, this time with Ana Belén, playing the role of Menelaus in "La Bella Helena", an adaptation of the Offenbach opera, under the direction of Jose Carlos Plaza and Mariano Díaz, which premiered at the Mérida Classical Theatre Festival, for its subsequent performance at the Albéniz Theatre in Madrid and in several Spanish cities.
In mid-1996, he was chosen to play the role of Francisco de Goya in the musical written by Vicente Escrivá and Fernando Arbex "La Maja De Goya" directed by Vicente Fuentes, obtaining great success with critics and the public, and recording an album with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Shortly after, he worked under the direction of the ill-fated theatre producer Luis Ramirez, in the first stage of "The Magic of Broadway" at the Teatro Lara in Madrid.
In 1999 he recorded a new album "Teatro, Circo y Variedades" in which he performed his own songs. He collaborated with Ana Belén on one of them entitled: "Batuque Bebé".
He performed the Castillian version of the soundtrack of the first Dreamworks animated film "The Prince of Egypt", performing the song "La Mirada celestial"
In 2000 he starred in the musical anthology "Memory" on tour throughout Spain, then stayed for several months at the Teatro Alcázar in Madrid.
2001 He recorded the song "Mundo Perfecto" composed by Sting for the Castilian version of the Disney film, "The Emperor and his Madness"
On May 6, 2003, he presented a new album entitled "De todo corazón" (From the Heart). A tribute to our to the collective memory of several generations in the key of Vocal Jazz, which had the mastery of the pianist Horacio Icasto.
He performed in the Plaza Mayor of Madrid with his group during the San Isidro 2003 festivities.
"De todo corazón" was nominated in the Music Awards of that year as a finalist for the best Jazz album.
Since December 2003 he began working on the Lloyd Weber musical, "Cats" at the Coliseum Theatre on Madrid's Gran Vía.
In 2005 he received the award for a lifetime achievement from the Viajazz International Jazz Festival in Villalba, which was presented to him by the prestigious North American singer Dianne Reeves.
That same year Pedro played his first role in a film, "Cándida", the debut film by director Guillermo Fesser.
In 2006 he became a member of the board of directors of the Society of Artists of Spain -AiE-.
2008 May, new album, "Ample", with ten songs composed and produced by himself with the participation of Horacio Icasto, Jorge Pardo, Antonio Serrano, Rubem Dantas, Noah Shaye, Reinier Elizarde "Negrón", Nono García and Israel Sandoval, recorded at the C.A.T.A. studios in Madrid.
Recording of the Tele 5 program "Fusión Sonora" with his quartet.
He is invited by the Choir of the Carlos III University, as a soloist in several concerts.
He joins the Big-Band of the New York saxophonist Bob Sands to carry out a tribute concert in memory of Frank Sinatra on the tenth anniversary of his death, touring various cities in Spain entitled "A su manera", while performing concerts with his own group while composing new music.
2009. "Ample" is nominated as a finalist for best Jazz album of the year at the Spanish Music Awards. It is the second time he has been nominated.
Concerts at the Terrassa Jazz Festival and at the Jamboree in Barcelona.
Throughout 2009 Pedro joins the great Catalan Jazz singer Laura Simó to perform "Sueño Inmaterial", a series of concerts in several cities; Teatro Español in Madrid, Palau de la Música in Barcelona, Zankel Hall (Carnegie Hall) in New York and Lake Place in Zurich, together with an orchestra of 35 musicians directed by Joan Albert Amargós.
2013, end of December. Recording of a new album, "El Americano".
2014 will mark his 50th anniversary in the music world.
2015. Pedro Ruy-Blas conducts a series of Master Classes at the Liceo Conservatory in Barcelona, AIE in Madrid, University of Seville, School of Modern Music in Antequera EMMA-Málaga and Conservatory of La Coruña.
2015 November Pedro returns to the Madrid International Jazz Festival with his quartet.
2016. The CD/DVD is released with the recording of the concert "Sueño Inmaterial" performed at the Palau de la Música Catalana in 2009 by Pedro Ruy-Blas and Laura Simó.
2018 New album. "Homo Ludens".
2019. The Finland record label "Jazzagresion" releases in various countries a vinyl with instrumental tracks recorded entirely by Pedro in his personal studio entitled "Cyber-Dolores".
2021. December. New album entitled, "Back to Soul", which is presented in concert at the Fernando de Rojas Theater of the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, together with his quartet.
2022. New album entitled, "Ave Maria 35" which includes a new version of "A los que hirió el amor" for piano and string quartet. (you can listen to it on the home page of this website).
2023. October. With the support of Teddy Bautista (musician), Luís Lapuente (music journalist and author of the prologue) and Javier De Castro (editor), the book published by Milenio Ediciones, entitled "Pedro Ruy-Blas. Memoirs of the 20th Century" written by Pedro Ample Candel (Pedro Ruy-Blas if you prefer). (To be continued)