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Roberto Fonseca: Afro Mambo
ABUC is the highly anticipated follow up to Yo, Roberto Fonseca’s 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.
ABUC, already released on Impulse! Records on November 11, 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.
YouTube Video – Roberto Fonseca: Afro-Mambo
Born in 1975 in Havana, Cuba, Roberto Fonseca has established himself over the last decade and a half as one of the most gifted — and most popular — pianists of his generation. After making his name with Ibrahim Ferrer in the legendary Buena Vista Social Club, and after his recent Grammy nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album, Roberto Fonseca has come to incarnate the meeting between jazz and the music of Cuba, both of today and yesterday, and also its African roots. The new album ABUC features pianist-percussionist Roberto Fonseca accompanied by Trombone Shorty, Eliades Ochoa, Zé Luis Nascimento, Rafael Lay (Orquesta Aragón) and Manuel ‘Guajiro’ Mirabal, among many others.
“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.”
Relive the magnificent concert of Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés during the 2024 edition of Jazz à Vienne, in the ancient Roman theater [Théatre Antique] of Vienne
When it comes to ivory and ebony keys, competition is fierce in Cuba, but if there is one pianist who stands above the rest, it is the legendary Chucho Valdés, 82 years old, the “Cuban Mozart”, who from the age of 4 let his fingers run over the family piano and reproduced by ear the melodies he heard on the radio. From his youth on his native island, he has always retained an incredible sense of adaptation to all music, as comfortable when it comes to launching into wild jazz improvisations as when making crowds dance.
On July 10, 2024 at the Jazz à Vienne festival Chucho Valdés celebrated the 50th anniversary of Irakere, the group he founded that marked a before and after in Latin jazz. It was an extraordinary evening dedicated to Afro-Cuban music and jazz. Maestro Valdés was accompanied by a group embodying in all its diversity the essence of the popular and classical music of Cuba.
Chucho Valdés: piano, director
Ramón Álvarez: vocals
Luis Beltrán: alto saxophone
Carlos Averhoff Jr.: tenor saxophone
Eddy De Armas Jr.: trumpet
Osvaldo Fleites: trumpet
José Armando Gola: bass
Roberto Jr. Vizcaíno Torre: percussion
Horacio “El Negro” Hernández: drums
Vienne, Théatre Antique, Festival Jazz à Vienne, France – 10 July 2024
Jonathan Powell’s Mambo Jazz Party showcases his 20-year career as a trumpeter in NYC’s salsa and Latin jazz scene. As a former member of Eddie Palmieri’s groups and collaborator with Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Miguel Zenon, Tito Puente Jr., and many others, Powell’s love for the genre is evident. Mambo Jazz Party features top talents, including trombonist Jimmy Bosch, Grammy-nominated pianist Manuel Valera, and flutist Itai Kriss. With members like trombonist Ryan Keberle, drummer Camilo Molina, and bassist Alex Apolo Ayala, the ensemble promises dynamic performances. Their debut self-titled album is set for release on Circle 9 Records on August 9, 2024.
Featuring
Jonathan Powell – Trumpet, bandleader
Itai Kriss – Flute
Jeremy Powell – Tenor sax
Remy Le Boeuf – Alto and baritone sax
Jimmy Bosch – Trombone
Ryan Keberle – Trombone
Manuel Valera – Piano and keyboards
Alex Apolo Ayala – Bass
Camilo Molina – Drums and percussion
Marcos Torres – Congas
Songs
00:40 – Juancito
13:23 – Connection
20:47 – Love Song
31:04 – Outnumbered
38:26 – United
46:30 – Our Life
58:16 – When I’m With You
01:09:32 – Shade of Jade
This performance and new work by Jonathan Powell and Mambo Jazz Party has been made possible with support from Chamber Music America’s New Jazz Works program funded through the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Production
Lead Audio Engineer: Klaus Larson
Video Engineering: Mark Montour-Larson & Alec Kenefick
Hosted by: Geoff Anderson
KUVO Program Director: Shane German
Booking: Domi Edson
Recorded in the Bonfils-Stanton Performance Studio in Denver, CO
“Tatomania” celebrates the brilliance of Roberto Jr. Vizcaíno from the Royal Quartet, the son of master percussionist Roberto Vizcaíno — who represents a new generation of Cuban percussion greats. Known to Valdés as “Tato” since he was a kid — Valdés performed with his father over the decades — Roberto Jr. shines with a fiery symphony of congas alongside Valdés’ melodic comping and air-tight pocket of the band on. Valdés comments, “Every party in Cuba ends with the conga. Once the congas ignite, we all dance together.”
Acclaimed living legend of Afro-Cuban music, seven-time GRAMMY Award winner and six-time Latin GRAMMY Award winner Chucho Valdés celebrates his lauded 60-year recording career with an instant-classic, Cuba & Beyond, set for release on Friday, September 20, 2024. Valdés is the preeminent composer/pianist of modern Afro-Cuban jazz with international acclaim to his name for deftly fusing the music of his homeland with jazz, classical music, dance music, and rock. His renowned career includes seven albums on Blue Note Records (1991-2003), a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, and being an inductee into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame. On Cuba & Beyond, Valdés composes yet another masterpiece featuring his electrifying Royal Quartet as he carries his legacy forward with a world-class catalog of recordings.
With nearly 30 albums, Valdés remains ever-young at heart while composing an array of his greatest works yet. On Cuba & Beyond, Valdés performs with his electrifying Royal Quartet featuring Horacio El Negro Hernández (drums), José Armando Gola (bass), and Roberto Jr. Vizcaíno (percussion).
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