Roberto Fonseca

Roberto Fonseca is a Cuban pianist born in Havana whose career I became aware of tracing the paths of influence and collaboration of musicians like his mentor and collaborator, the late great Ibrahim Ferrer, and Omara Portuondo, who appears on one track on the album.

What I found was a pianist with a particularly percussive touch; an ability to play intensely when the setting calls for it, and a respect for and use of space that resonates with my own aeshtetic preferences in the music that Fonseca plays. Certainly, the influence of Ferrer resonates throughout.

Zamazu, his first relase on Enja, a Justintime relative label, is a gem of an album, something I have no problem saying after repeated listenings. It took me a while to warm to his use of vocal unisons (he sings in addition to playing piano on several tracks), but I realized that it was more the production value on the technique that irritated me initially, something that I noticed less and less with more listens. The program is mostly originals with a few traditionals, an Ibdullah Ibrahim tune and some co-written songs with collaborators like Ibrahim Ferrer and Cachaito Lopez. The writing is compelling throughout, and in addition we get some interesting writing from Fonseca in the liner notes that help to contextualize his concept or approach to writing each tune.

His band displays a great range of ability, tackling the forceful driving rhythms with ease and the relaxed pacing of the ballads with ease. The use of clarinet to my hears references Paquito D'Rivera, although I think I prefer the flute and alto sax playing that accompanies some tracks to the clarinet tone wise.

A few stand out tracks:

Llego Cachaito, with legendary bassist Cachaito Lopez who guests on the track in a trio with the drummer on the album, Ramses Rodriguez. A heartfelt ballad with Cachaito's beautiful playing showcased, Llego Cachaito is an exposition of a remarkable quality that I find hard to describe but has something to do with a sense of pulse and motion in ballads that I only hear in "latin" jazz. It's different than the way a traditional jazz ballad moves rhythmically and it lends a sensuality to the listening experience that I find extremely enojyable.

Triste Alegria, another track with Cachaito Lopez finds him bowing the melody to a fantastic effect, starting out as a medium paced ballad and halfway through turning into a more upbeat raucous affair. The solo mid-way through is worth the price of admission alone, and Fonseca does a great job of creating a backdrop for Lopez's voice on the bass before Lopez gives way for Fonseca's own solo.

Zamazamazu is a deep groove with plenty of percussion that would be at home as a sample in a dance floor remix or as it appears here with Javier Zalba on flute taking the melody.

Even where the album stumbles a bit - to my ears, Mil Congojas with the fantastic Omara Portuondo narrowly avoids stepping over the boundary into schmaltz, and Congo Arabe is a bit too literal in referencing "eastern" influences for my taste - there is a sincerity of expression that comes through. In particular, Portuondo's singing on Mil Congojas is remarkable if only for the weathered quality of her voice that can only come with the age and experience her musical career has brought her. My only other critique is on the production end, where the recording sounds a bit dry to my ears, and the way the strings are recorded on Ishmael (the Ibrahim tune) makes them sound more like a synth than real strings, which is a shame.

Zamazu was a bit of a surprise to me in terms of my own enjoyment of it. I've always loved Cuban music though and this is an excellent effort by the young Fonseca, whose talent promises many more excellent releases in the future.