Roberto Fonseca - ABUC - 2016

There are eight titles recorded in studio by Roberto Fonseca and, at this point, when the last one, ABUC, began filming in 2016, the primacy of this pianist and multi-instrumentalist in jazz music that is now being done in Cuba is hardly debatable. ABUC, which is nothing other than "Cuba" the other way around, becomes a record of true celebration of Cuban music since Fonseca has included a good part of the most popular music on the island: from bolero to jazz, mambo , chachachá and contradanza, a style that arrived in Cuba at the end of the 18th century with French influences throughout Haiti.

Born in Havana in 1975, Roberto Fonseca has shared the stage with Cuban music legends such as Cachaíto López, Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal and Manuel Galbán, playing in various countries around the world in more than 400 concerts. He has lived with music forever; in fact, his mother Mercedes Cortés Alfaro is a singer who was a dancer at the Tropicana Club in Havana (sings in the album Zamazu, 2007), and his father Roberto Fonseca Durades, drummer. The pianist has a master's degree in composition obtained at the Higher Institute of Art of Cuba (ISA), and has been a music teacher. With only 15 years he recorded his first CD, En el Inicio, together with Javier Zalba and the Temperamento group, which was named Best Jazz Album of Cuba in 1999.

Roberto Fonseca made himself known to the world by the hand and voice of Ibrahím Ferrer, with whom he participated in the Buena Vista Social Club project in 2001. Such was Roberto's admiration for Ibrahím, who even produced the posthumous album of this one, my dream. This relationship finds natural prolongation in the fervor that Roberto also felt for the pianist Rubén González.

Both artists illustrated Roberto in the creation of Zamazu's agenda, his true international record debut. A monumental recording, made in 2007, that brought together more than 20 artists and managed to merge integrated elements of their diverse influences: Afro-Cuban, jazz, classical music and traditional Cuban music. Among the musicians in this diverse and ambitious recording are Omara Portuondo, Javier Zalba, Carlinhos Brown, Vicente Amigo, Ramsés "Dynamite" Rodríguez and many others. After the publication of Zamazu, Fonseca had the opportunity to present an intense repertoire in some of the most prestigious festivals in the world in front of bewitched audiences.

ABUC is the title of his new album under the impulse label !, also spectacular. Combining rogue rhythms with strong winds, interwoven with references, memories and contrasts, ABUC is a kaleidoscope where Roberto tells a story: the great and rich compendium of Cuban music, from yesterday to today.

Tracks list:

01. Cubano Chant

02. Afro Mambo

03. Tumbao de La Unidad

04. Contradanza del Espíritu

05. Tierra Santa

06. Sagrado Corazón

07. Family

08. Tierra Santa Santiago de Cuba

09. Habanera

10. Soul Guardians

11. Asere Monina Bonco

12. Después

13. Velas y Flores

14. Cubano Chant (Piano Solo)