Roberto Fonseca, ‘a musical experience not to be missed’
We interviewed virtuoso Jazz pianist, Roberto Fonseca, in May before his gig at the ICA. Fonseca is back in London for the London Jazz Festival. He will be performing at the Southbank Centre on Sat 14 Nov, sharing the stage with Cape Verdean singer Mayra Andrade. We’re giving you another opportunity to get better acquainted with the Cuban pianist.
On one of London’s warmer spring evenings, the temperature was raised considerably and in the most enthralling way by Roberto Fonseca and his accomplished Cuban band performing live at the ICA on 31st May.
Roberto draws on many traditions, all the way from ‘traditional’ American jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms through to hip hop and beyond, a truly eclectic mix of music styles that he is constantly developing. ‘I am Cuban,’ he says, ‘but with my music I want to show the music world that Cuban music is not all salsa, salsa. I bring a lot of different things together in there. Actually I don’t think of myself as a jazz player, I am much more than that, and it is all there in my music.’ By this he means mainstream jazz, hip hop, soul, and funk, and the Cuban bolero with its distinctive fusion of music and vocals, influences from Brazilian and African musical traditions. He has a particular interest in indigenous folk music and tries to track it down wherever he goes; grist for his composer’s mill. Even classical music has been a feature. ‘I grew up in a very musical home, I was swimming in music, and it was all there, even the classical music, Bach, Mozart, my father liked that music as well. My mother sang church music, so there have been many things that have influenced me.’ What he does so well is transcend musical boundaries, not alone by juxtaposing and intermingling genres, but through the sheer quality of craftsmanship in his music, which is obvious from the very first note.
Fonseca cuts quite a dashing figure in his leather hat by Agnes B, the French designer whom he greatly admires, (he played live for her fashion show in Paris in July 2006, and tells me ‘there’s an important link between fashion and music in today’s world’.) But beneath this stylish exterior is a pianist who has a deeply felt and obvious passion for his music and his instrument. An intense and captivating performer, his connection with his piano made it seem at times as if he would dance across the stage with it, it seemed so literally to be part of him. His music is his life, he eats, breathes and positively exudes it, ‘music is what makes me live’, he says. This concert is to promote his new album, Akokan, and I asked him if he was trying something new with it? ‘I am always trying something new, wherever I go I try to take something and fit it in together with my background.’
His playing style is energetic, almost percussive, and as one might expect from someone with a strong Latino influence, profoundly sensual. Yet, this is music that is also imbued with a spirituality, which glows from under the intricate turbulence of the rhythms and melodies, with a slow burning light.
He wears a red and white beaded bracelet, which he shows me. ‘This is my religion, I am a spiritual person, and that part of my music is very important.’ It is the Yoruba religion, native to Africa, but one that has spread into Cuba. Interestingly it is a complex of songs, histories and stories, and this is what Roberto tries to do, ‘I tell stories about life, nothing more; but life that is close to my heart, like my family.’ One of the central features of the religion is its drumming, and the rhythms and forms of the religion are said to have been fundamental to the development of many forms of African American music from gospel to blues and jazz, as well as to musical forms that feature so strongly in Cuba such as Salsa. So it is not surprising to learn that the drums are Roberto’s first instrument, and that his first gig was as a drummer.
Backed by his band- Javier Zalba on Clarinet and saxophone, Omar Gonzalez on double bass, Ramses Rodriguez on drums and Joel Hierrezuelo on percussion, this is a group of musicians who work incredibly well together. Roberto’s respect for and connection with his fellow musicians is palpable in the way in which he so generously shares the stage, musically and physically with them. The dynamic between him and his drummer in particular, is mesmerizing, it is as if they are connected with an invisible musical umbilical cord, and the band as a whole are tighter than America’s stranglehold on Havana ever was. The all-round highly polished solo spots were tremendous throughout.
He speaks of them with great reverence, ‘they are my family; we have worked together in many places, at many times of my life for the last 12 years.’ All Cubans and living in Cuba, they have nevertheless toured together extensively. Going as far afield as Colombia, Canada and Australia, and receiving acclaim across Europe, from England to France. Is there anywhere he would like to go that he has not been yet? ‘Africa, it is difficult to go there, but Africa would be great.’
Roberto says he wants only to reach out to people, so has he got a particular message for us? ‘No, my music is my message; I want a person to open themselves to find something that is there. Whatever they find there, that’s it.’ My music is my way of getting across what I think without words, ‘they are not necessary to me.’ He loved the London audience, ‘for me I feel that I have succeeded when I reach my audience. With this audience, I felt that I reached them, they were standing for so long and they really identified with my music. That is the most important thing for me.’
The highlights of the evening’s musical offerings for me were the very moving tribute to Orlando ‘Cachaito’ Lopez, the internationally renowned Cuban double-bass player who was involved in his last album, Zamazu, and who passed away earlier this year, a piece which foregrounds a tender intertwining of piano and bass. For Roberto, this was a very important part of the evening’s offering, ‘he was a great person, and a teacher, a man who we will remember forever. I wanted to show what a high position he has, how much I respect him.’
The encore, in which Roberto also played an electronic piano, was a sparkling showcase of a style that is most definitely to keep an ear out for, rounding off an evening that will be long remembered. When this man’s in town again, it will be a musical experience not to be missed.
Roberto Fonseca will be performing at the Southbank Centre on Sat 14 November
