Ruy López-Nussa Lekszycki is a prominent Cuban drummer and professor at the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) (1110 Calle 120 between 9th and 13th, Cubanacán, Playa, Havana). He was born in 1957. He comes from one of the most important families in Cuban culture. He is one of the most prominent Cuban jazz musicians of today.

From a very young age, Ruy has worked in rock bands, short-lived projects, jazz groups, and smaller ensembles, varying between drums, bongos, and anything else he can play that can be struck.

With an intense and valuable thirty-year career in teaching and performing, he was a key player in the electric jazz scene in the 1990s with Estado de Ánimo, and for a time, he also supported singer-songwriter Santiago Feliú.

Ruy López-Nussa’s style can be perfectly placed between the power of rock and the complexity and rhythmic acuity of jazz, while also incorporating the essence of the ritualistic beats of African-rooted drumming.

This important drummer has appeared on both albums and in concerts with a wide range of artists, including Postrova, Gema and Pável, Yusa, William Vivanco, Gerardo Alfonso and Pedro Luis Ferrer, Lucía Huergo, José María Vitier, Ramón Valle, Felipe Cabrera, Elmer Ferrer, and the British artist Guy Pratt. He immersed himself in the turbulence of free jazz with Stream X, alongside pianists Ingvo Clauder and Aldo López-Gavilán, and also played the timpani with a danzón-like feel. He also joined the Interactivo troupe for some concerts and was a member of Temperamento for several years.

In 2004, he published his book “Ritmos de Cuba: Percusión y tambor” (Cuban Rhythms: Percussion and Drums) with the Fundación Autor publishing house. The book outlines the technical and expressive foundations for the assimilation and performance of Cuban folk and popular music and also offers useful examples for exploring the foundations of Latin jazz. It is intended as a reference text for students and those sensitive to this topic.