"Mesmerizing...Cobo crafted each piece with skill and love. Sometimes fiery, other times sultry, the movements from Brouwer's "El Decameron Negro" were note-perfect essences of beauty."

Los Angeles Times (May 94)
Ambassador Auditorium, Pasadena

"The multiple-prize-winning Colombian musician certainly has a full technical arsenal at his disposal... Cobo offered a wealth of quiet detail, nuance and tone color, in fluent, easygoing readings. His own arrangements of tangos by Piazzolla really sparkled... a stunning show."

Guitar Review
Merkin Hall, Winter 1992

"Cobo exhibits a level of confidence and facility that few guitarists possess. He executes the most difficult passages almost effortlessly, and his lightness and brilliance in fast scale passages and effervescent arpeggios was dazzling. In addition, his sound was powerful and beautiful. He played with such conviction and feeling that one simply heard music - not 'twentieth century' music."

Albuquerque Journal
December 11, 1988

"Cobo Masterful. Powerful...intense...precise...Cobo seems well on his way to becoming one of the major guitarists. [His] closing works raised the expressive ante almost to infinity."

Winston-Salem Journal
November 28, 1990

"Cobo's recital did what guitar recitals, when they are wonderful, do best. [His] expert, sensitive playing created that rare atmosphere in which the guitar's sounds can echo to the very bottom of a listener's being. Cobo showed it is possible to sing on the guitar...his lavish, florid ornamentation, took the breath away."

"Truly remarkable...Cobo's impeccable playing radiated southern warmth and was complemented by an unassuming and engaging stage manner. He is a young artist with all the stuff it takes, and more."

"This young guitarist possesses the enormous capacity to interpret the works of classical and contemporary masters with absolute fidelity, with energy, and with the firm commitment to reach his audience and deliver the true spirit of the composer."

"...beginning with Bach's considerably challenging work, Cobo's commanding abilities and innate sense of musical contour quelled any doubts. His attention to details and refined sound propelled this work. The transparency of the fugue and fluid lyricism of the sarabande were compelling, as was the perfect execution of the difficult gigue."

"Cobo proved to have refined musical sense, a warm concert personality, and solid technical mastery...In his Brouwer, he obtained the purest sonorities, articulated with sheer clarity...In both monumental works (of Ponce and Berkeley), the guitarist displayed his artistic brilliance--fluid fingerings, transparent tones, and subtle color gradations."

"Tonight we heard a guitarist of great stature...the young Colombian is a superb guitarist, very consistent, sure at every moment, with personality..."

El Espectador
Bogota, May 1987

"With a solid technique, a very beautiful sound, warm phrasing, and impeccable execution, Cobo gave us a magnificent version of this well-known (Rodrigo) concerto."

"(In his Bach), which was skillfully executed, Cobo ensured that a polyphonic texture would amaze the listener. Several voices, lushly coming from Cobo's guitar, stood as testimony to the ineffable genius of Bach."

Soundboard Magazine
G.F.A. Miami 1991

"Cobo's tone is velvet, his technique seems to have no limitations, and his guitar can be as big and brassy or as soft and expressive as he wishes."

Savannah News Press
February 22, 1992

"...A Fascinating First...His performance was moving and very expressive. Subtlety, delicacy and refinement prevailed throughout the program. The sizable audience stood in tribute to his inspired performance."

The Blade, Ohio
February 28, 1991

"Fabulous...From the softest strums to the most aggressive twangs, Cobo played with a thorough sense of dramatic effect and mastery of the instrument."

The Rosette, Orange County Guitar Circle

"Cobo played with the poise of a true master. Emotionally vibrant and most satisfying...Cobo's rendition[s] [were] marked by a wonderful balance of bravura and sensitivity."

El Occidente
August, 1989

"Ricardo Cobo's impeccable technique seems to smile from within...This is a joyful performer who is not trapped by his instrument. How marvelous it was to be immersed in an evening of masterful music."

The Phoenix Gazette
October, 1990

"Cobo...is at home with his instrument and frequently at one with it. The clear, full, balanced counterpoint of J.S. Bach's Second Lute Suite - the burnished brass lines, silvery top and plangent middle voices displayed the talents of a musician in total control of his resources."

El Occidente
Colombia, 1988

"An artist who vibrates with his art and loves his guitar intensely. From the first moments we witnessed an artist of an immense and awesome sensitivity."

El Pa’s, Cali, Colombia

"Ricardo Cobo confirmed his high qualities of virtuosity that place him among the most distinguished international artists."

"Guest artist Ricardo Cobo"s superb performance of Joaquin Rodrigo"s famous "Concierto de Aranjuez" shimmered with color... The melancholy passages of the second movement were beautiful beyond belief or the reviewers poor powers of description."

The Evansville Courier
April, 1994

"Ricardo Cobo was magnificent. The concerto's three movements allowed Cobo to demonstrate his artistry. Cobo carresed his instrument gripping the audience with music at once soothing and uplifting for almost half an hour."

"Watching and listening to Cobo play was to witness someone who had an obvious sense of theater, and who was able to mesmerize an audience with his commitment to his art. His consummate technical ability, which was frequently on display, was never used as an end in itself; rather he was able to easily communicate the essence of each number without giving the impression that it was difficult to do."

"His warm sound massaged the ears , the only bite occurring at the specific instructions of the composers. His technique was flawless as he tossed off difficult passages with ease, usually with his eyes closed."

"Performing Piazzolla Tangos in his opening, Cobo established a moody, sultry intimacy that drew the large audience into his personal aura, so beguiling was his playing. Cobo displayed his technical virtuosity and expressive artistry in thrilling performances of Roland Dyens' dazzling Hommages."

"Cobo has fabulous, relaxed technique. The music flowed easily and nothing seemed a strain. Brouwer's "un D’a" was a lovely opening piece, beautifully phrased. Dyens' Fuoco was performed very fast, with a marvelous texture, wide dynamic range and the steady driving rhythm that holds it all together. De La Maza's tremolo was played with great speed and control...his rendition was clearly a crowd-pleaser."

" With a tough sell of his all-contemporary program, Cobo put the tunes in your ear with such ease and confidence that any concerns of technical competence or conceptual form simply went away. Amiable and charming, his stage demeanor is in top form as he freely shares background about the music before playing. There is nothing unusual about his position or playing style except for a wide contrast of tonal colors, big volume, and truly eye-popping efficiency of both hands. Cobo's show at the Diana Wortham Theatre in Asheville was a Blue Chip Act of the first magnitude."