Roberto Fonseca
Zamazu
Enja/Justin Time


Former pianist of the Buena Vista Social Club, Roberto Fonseca has put out a thrilling release that takes Afro Cuban music to it’s next logical step. Showing fiery fingerwork mixed with deep in the soul romance on tunes like “Tierra En Mano” and “El Niejo”, Fonseca expands the musical horizon by adding North African elements to the music. On Abdullah Ibrahim’s “Ishmael” rhapsodic Middle Eastern strings augment the intoxicating percussion, creating a virtual Bedouin caravan dance. “Congo Arabe” combines swirling soprano work by Javier Zalba with Vincent Amigo’s flamenco guitar that could charm the most recalcitrant snake. Straightahead latin pieces like the title piece and “Triste Alegria” will have you raising your arms and dancing on the floor in no time. There are many thrilling moments on this creative release, and it is refreshing to hear new ideas coming out of a well entrenched idiom.


-George W. Harris