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Roberto Fonseca

ABUC

Impulse!

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Teaser
Roberto Fonseca - Afro Mambo
1 Cubano Chant  
2 Afro Mambo  
3 Tumbao De La Unidad  
4 Contradanza Del Espiritu  
5 Tierra Santa  
6 Sagrado Corazon  
7 Family  
8 Tierra Santa Santiago De Cuba  
9 Habanera  
10 Soul Guardians  
11 Asere Monina Bonco  
12 Despues  
13 Velas Y Flores  
14 Cubano Chant  
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For nearly two decades, Grammy nominated pianist Roberto Fonseca has been exploring and celebrating the music of his native Cuba. As a composer, producer, solo artist and collaborator with other Latin American music luminaries, he has served as a musical ambassador to his American neighbors to the north and to the rest of the world with his richly melodic compositions and recordings that capture the irrepressible Cuban sound and its rich musical history.

ABUC,his new album set for release on Impulse! Records on October 28, 2016, is just what the title suggests – a look backward at the evolution of Cuban jazz. Although nearly all 14 of the tracks on the album were written or co-written by Fonseca, the project as a whole overall feels like a retrospective of various musical styles and sources spanning several decades.

ABUCis the highly anticipated follow up to Yo, his 2012 recording that scored a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album. Aided by more than thirty highly talented players, Fonseca infuses this new album with styles that are sometimes traditional, sometimes contemporary, but always distinctively Cuban.

"The idea was to show a different Cuba, perhaps from a different direction" says Fonseca. "That's why the album title is Cuba spelled backward. I wanted to review the Cuban music history – not only the styles that have influenced me most, but in a broader sense, so people could have a better idea of how the orchestras used to sound in those times."

  • 'La Gran Diversion' is a thrilling album that confirms Roberto Fonseca's prowess in a range of styles / SOUNDS and COLORS
    Posted At: December 6, 2023 12:00 AM
    SOUNDS and COLORS writes….And so to the most recent release, Roberto Fonseca’s ‘great fun’. And how right the title is. Fonseca is someone who revels in “the classic rhythms from long ago, rumba and conga and so on.” More than any other of these keyboard virtuosi, he is the pianist whose style seems most reminiscent of the illustrious Bebo Valdés, father of the equally illustrious Chucho. Having served his ...
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  • Roberto Fonseca says 'Jazz Plaza' is the Festival that Cuba deserves / World Nation News Q&A
    Posted At: November 1, 2023 12:00 AM
    Since the beginning of his musical career in the early 1990s, Cuban-born multi-instrumentalist Roberto Fonseca has stated his mission clearly: "I want my music to reach people who don't know me, and I dream of one day becoming a point of reference for my audience." Although still very young – by the standards of jazz, hip-hop, world music or any other genre – Fonseca has maintained a sharp focus on his miss...
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  • Roberto Fonseca discusses new album and tour with France24
    Posted At: January 17, 2020 12:00 AM

    Roberto Fonseca has been enchanting jazz fans in Havana since he was 15. As the prodigious pianist once again heads a list of stars at the 35th edition of the Havana Jazz Festival, he spoke to AFP about his new -- and ninth -- album. "Music is like water: it's indispensible for life," Fonseca said as he took a break from practicing in a cramped appartement in Havana. "Aggua" -- a misspelled word mean...
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  • Havana night is set with Roberto Fonseca for Akra Jazz Festival / DAILY SABAH
    Posted At: June 12, 2019 12:00 AM

    Famous for his unique interpretations, wonderful improvisations in performances and imaginative use of different instruments, Cuban jazz pianist Roberto Fonseca will perform in Antalya on June 20. The performance will be part of the 2nd International Akra Jazz Festival. Having made his debut at the Havana International Jazz Festival in 1990 at the age of 15, Fonseca is one of the rising pianists of ...
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  • Roberto Fonseca set for Ronnie Scott's International Piano Trio Festival
    Posted At: July 25, 2018 12:00 AM

    The dazzling musician The New York Times called "a charismatic spark plug of a pianist from Cuba" - Roberto Fonseca made his debut at the Havana International Jazz Festival in 1990 when he was 15. Ten years and several solo albums later, the rousing young jazz pianist joined the internationally acclaimed orchestra of charismatic sonero Ibrahim Ferrer, touring the world and recording and producing hi...
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  • Roberto Fonseca, set for CSUN's La Nueva Cuba!, speaks with 90.7KPFK
    Posted At: April 16, 2018 12:00 AM

    The island nation's musical traditions explode on Sat., April 21, as three next-gen jazz artists converge for the first time on The Soraya stage. Afro-Latin percussionist-singer Pedrito Martinez brings his lightning-fast drumming skills, vocalist Daymé Arocena lets loose a powerful voice that breaks free like a cry from Havana, and Roberto Fonseca demonstrates why The New York Times called him "a ...
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  • Roberto Fonseca to Tour North America in April / billboard
    Posted At: February 20, 2018 12:00 AM

    Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca is set to tour the United States and Canada in April. Known to international audiences for his past appearances with Buena Vista Social Club and Omara Portuondo, Fonseca will appear with his trio, which features Yandy Martínez on bass and Michel Castellanos on drums. Fonseca became the first solo Cuban artist to release an album on the storied jazz label Impulse! with...
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  • Roberto Fonseca - ABUC makes Transglobal 'Best Albums of 2017'
    Posted At: December 11, 2017 12:00 AM

    For nearly two decades, Grammy nominated pianist Roberto Fonseca has been exploring and celebrating the music of his native Cuba. As a composer, producer, solo artist and collaborator with other Latin American music luminaries, he has served as a musical ambassador to his American neighbors to the north and to the rest of the world with his richly melodic compositions and recordings that captur...
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  • Roberto Fonseca - ABUC featured on Voice of America - Jazz America
    Posted At: June 27, 2017 12:00 AM

    On the next JAZZ AMERICA program from the Voice of America, SHOWS #1869-1870...24-25 JUNE 2017, join Russ Davis as he talks with Andre Menard & Alain Menard, the founders of the Montreal Jazz Festival that celebrates its 38th year in 2017. We'll talk to these two visionaries and hear music from some of the artists who'll play the festival this year including Diana Krall, Stanley Cla...
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  • Exhilarating concert by Roberto Fonseca band at Howard Assembly Room / The Reviews Hub
    Posted At: March 13, 2017 12:00 AM

    This exhilarating concert by Roberto Fonseca was the first in a short UK leg of a European tour – and how lucky we were to get it when only the Midlands and London, apart from Yorkshire, were able to hear this wonderful band. Roberto Fonseca is best known in Europe for being the pianist with the Buena Vista Social Club on international tours, but his current album, ABUC, from which he too...
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  • Roberto Fonseca - ABUC makes Global Village, March: Top 40
    Posted At: March 13, 2017 12:00 AM

    For nearly two decades, Grammy nominated pianist Roberto Fonseca has been exploring and celebrating the music of his native Cuba. As a composer, producer, solo artist and collaborator with other Latin American music luminaries, he has served as a musical ambassador to his American neighbors to the north and to the rest of the world with his richly melodic compositions and recordings that captur...
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  • Roberto Fonseca's 'ABUC' is a broad, tightly fused and an incandescently delivered vision / theguardian review
    Posted At: March 9, 2017 12:00 AM

    No prizes for divining that the title of Roberto Fonseca's first album for the illustrious jazz label Impulse! is Cuba backwards, or that the enthralling former Buena Vista pianist intends it to describe a trip back through his homeland's musical history. Fonseca is a famously eclectic artist, his playing steeped in American jazz and African music as much as the rhythms of bolero and son, but even by his...
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  • Roberto Fonseca set for 'Howard Assembly Room' in Leeds / Yorkshire Post
    Posted At: March 5, 2017 12:00 AM

    Jazz pianist Roberto Fonseca's playing has long been steeped in the music of his homeland, Cuba. The son of a drummer and professional singer, as a young man he toured with the hugely popular Buena Social Club before going on to act as musical director for Gilles Peterson's Havana Cultura project. His eighth solo album, ABUC, embraces sounds from the Caribbean island's past and present. "For me it's very...
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  • On ABUC - Roberto Fonseca takes fans on a journey through Cuban music culture / The Voice Online
    Posted At: March 1, 2017 12:00 AM

    Roberto Fonseca has promised to take fans on a "journey throughout the Cuban music culture" when he takes to the stage next month to perform his new album ABUC on tour in the UK. Fonseca, 41, is a pianist, composer and producer whose foray into the world of music started with an innocent interest in all types of genres. Much like most children he would tune into the local radio, and by his own ...
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  • Roberto Fonseca - ABUC / The Australian review
    Posted At: December 10, 2016 12:00 AM

    Roberto Fonseca is a charismatic Cuban revivalist and revisionist whose work carries the seal of revolutionary zeal. While he has made a significant contribution to his country's music continuum, including a stint with Buena Vista Social Club, the industrious piano maestro takes that exploration to a new peak with ABUC. Fonseca's ninth album and his first release for Impulse, one of America's premie...
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  • Roberto Fonseca - ABUC makes 'TransGlobal Top 10' for December
    Posted At: December 2, 2016 12:00 AM

    For nearly two decades, Grammy nominated pianist Roberto Fonseca has been exploring and celebrating the music of his native Cuba. As a composer, producer, solo artist and collaborator with other Latin American music luminaries, he has served as a musical ambassador to his American neighbors to the north and to the rest of the world with his richly melodic compositions and recordings that captur...
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