Zapato Negro YouTube dive: RIP Gilbertónn
The Cuban-born drummer was best known in Vancouver for playing with Allan Johnston, Andre Carrasquero, and others
Cuban-born drummer Gilberto Moreaux, also known as Gilbertónn, passed away on June 27, 2025 from an aortic dissection. Moreaux was best known during his years in Vancouver for playing in the band Zapato Negro, who released a self-titled album on Cellar that they recorded in 2006 at Cory Weeds' Cellar Jazz Club.
Zapato Negro's de facto founder, bassist Allan Johnston, shared the news on Facebook that day:
"I thought I'd share this sad news any of you jazz fans and musicians who aren't on my friends list - apologies for the repeat post to those of you who are. This is Vancouver Jazz news, too. Today, the world, and this city lost one of the finest musicians who ever called Vancouver home - the great Gilberto "Gilbertónn" Moreaux. Already famous in Cuba through his work with Charanga Habanera and others, Gilberto arrived in Vancouver with the group D'talle in the mid 2000s, and soon began playing with many of Vancouver's Latin and Jazz musicians, including the group we formed together with Andre Carrasquero, Zapato Negro. Gilberto performed at Festival Vancouver, several Vancouver Jazz Festivals and at the 2010 Olympics before moving to Australia 15 years ago. He was a great friend, a positive human being, and an enthusiastic, telepathic musician in any style."
Born 1967 in Cuba, Moreaux moved from Vancouver at some time around 2010 to Perth, Western Australia. He met Johnston during the bassist's travels to Cuba in the late 1990s, according to a Coast Reporter article about a Zapato Negro show on the Sunshine Coast in 2008.
The album appears on some streaming apps under the title Zapato Negro Live at The Cellar. It came out of two nights at the club almost 20 years ago: July 14 and 15, 2006. The lineup on record was Johnston, Moreaux, pianist André Carrasquero, trumpeter Miguelito Valdés who has been based in Victoria for a while, and percussionist Iván Soto.
Other musicians who have played with the band include Chris Davis, Myles Bigelow, and Jack Duncan. Carrasquero, Johnston, and Duncan kept the band alive, sometimes with my onetime CapU classmate Juan Encinales on percussion, through Wednesday night presentations at Frankie's (during the Coastal-Frankie's era!) in the late 2010s.
I never did hear Zapato Negro play live, but I picked up their album on CD as part of a collection of Cellar titles available for purchase at early-2010s shows. Their version of "Caravan", which closes the album, felt alive with possibility for me as a young player. In the spirit of Johnston's tribute to Moreaux, here are my three favourite Zapato Negro videos that I picked from searching YouTube.
"Caminando"
"Caminando" is the track on Zapato Negro that Moreaux composed. Check out the first part of this YouTube upload sequences to hear a mid-thirties Cory Weeds introduce their jazzfest set at the Cellar, a year after they recorded the album there.
"Jazz Tumbao Thing"
Composed by Johnston, "Jazz Tumbao Thing" is the album opener. This video is apparently from the live dates at the Cellar that led to the album, but it doesn't seem to be the same performance that shows up on track one. Maybe a rendition from the next night made the record.
"Segundo Recreo"
A trio version of the band with just Carrasquero, Johnston, and Moreaux play track three on the album in the summer of 2008. The caption says Zocalo Restaurant, which looks like it might have been in Mount Pleasant. Moreaux plays vigorously for a restaurant gig, like we all want to.
