Roberto Fonseca

Roberto Fonseca

Roberto Fonseca is a Cuban jazz and Latin pianist, composer, arranger and professor of piano, from La Habana, Cuba, born in 1975. He grows up in a family with musical tradition and begins his musical interest at the age of four through percussion instruments. He starts piano studies at eight at the Guillermo Tomás school, where he completes elementary-level basic piano training.

Early development and training

By the age of twelve, Fonseca is interested in pop music, Afro-Cuban music and jazz. At fourteen, he writes his first Afro-Cuban jazz compositions. While still an adolescent, he forms a pop group in which he plays drums, and later creates an Afro-Cuban jazz group, taking on the roles of director, composer, pianist and arranger. He appears in school cultural events and advanced classes with Chucho Valdés. From 1990, he takes part in the Havana Jazz Seat international festival as pianist with school groups from Amadeo Roldán and the National School of Music (E.N.A.), where he completes his piano, teaching and ensemble studies. He also forms the groups Jazz Aries and Pure Agua, and later studies composition at the Superior Institute of Art (I.S.A.).

Recordings and projects

Fonseca makes his first major recording appearance in When I Am Great with singer Augusto Enríquez, working as pianist, keyboard player, arranger, musical director and co-producer. The recording wins a prize for best pop album at a Cubadisco edition. In 1998, with Temperament, he records In the Beginning, which wins the prize for best jazz album at Cubadisco 1999; on this release he acts as producer, pianist, musical director, arranger and composer. In 1999 he releases his first solo album, Déjate Caer, with Temperament accompanying him and with Maria Helena Mendiola as co-producer. The track “So that you do not speak” wins a prize in the Cuban pop category in the Trimalca aid organised by UNESCO in March 2000. His second solo album, No Limit, follows in 2000 and places jazz alongside Afro-Cuban elements.

Collaborations and wider work

Fonseca also works on Una Carga de Cosas with the group Obsession, as producer, arranger, musical director, orchestrator and composer. His work extends to many recordings with Cuban and international musicians, and he writes music for the film Black by the French artist P. Maraval. His style is described through a recurring blend of Afro-Cuban roots, jazz and other contemporary forms, supported by broad musical training.

With Ibrahim Ferrer and international touring

In 2001, Fonseca joins Ibrahim Ferrer and Orchestra, touring widely and performing more than 300 shows with Ibrahim Ferrer. During this period he also performs with figures including Rubén González, Omara Portuondo, Guajiro Mirabal and Cachaito López. In 2002, he appears as guest on Omara Portuondo’s European tour and at the Tokyo Festival, sharing a stage with musicians including Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker and Wayne Shorter. In 2003, he continues touring with Ibrahim Ferrer on the Buena Vista Social Club project, visiting the United States, Europe and Asia in more than 80 shows. Temperament opens Ferrer’s European shows in venues including Frankfurt’s Alte Oper, the Palais des Congrès in Paris and London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Later career

By 2004, Fonseca is touring with Ibrahim Ferrer in Eastern Europe and South America, including Brazil, Argentina and Peru, while also preparing another solo recording after several years and after his involvement with the Buena Vista Social Club project. Contemporary reviews note his fluid and modern piano style, especially in work with Ferrer, and describe his playing as energetic and jazz-oriented.