Ruben Coca is a jazz drummer, composer, and arranger from Mexico whose music reflects the intensity, the struggles, and the joys so characteristic of New York City, where he has lived for the past 10 years. With his project, The Ruben Coca Quintet, he showcases impeccable technique and soulful renditions of jazz and Latin jazz standards and original compositions, influenced by his upbringing listening to classic rock, funk, and pop, and his experience performing different kinds of music in New York—salsa, son jarocho, surf, indie rock, and many more. The quintet has performed at Lehman College, the annual Drummers' Festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and as part of the Queens Jazz Trail Concert series produced by Kupferberg Center for the Arts and the Louis Armstrong House Museum. 

 

Ruben’s aggressive, yet highly melodic playing has opened doors for him to play with some of the most established jazz musicians today, including Axel Tosca, Xiomara Laugart, John Benitez, Jack Gruber, and Alex Conde and at New York classic jazz venues such as Arthur's Tavern, Minton's, Nublu, and Room 623. 

 

With other projects, such as son jarocho fusion band Juntas Chicas, with the electric salsa project Cheo y los Consentidos de la Casa, with female-fronted Mariachi Flor de Toloache, or with Broadway composer Jaime Lozano, Ruben has performed at Central Park Summer Stage,World Café Live in Philadelphia, Bryant Park, the Live at the Gantries Concert Series, SOB’s, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Kennedy Center, and other such venues. Ruben has taught master classes and performed in jazz festivals across the US, Latin America, and Europe.