Cuban Pianist and Composer Roberto Fonseca Announces 'Yesun'

GRAMMY®-nominated Cuban pianist, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and bandleader Roberto Fonseca is set for the release of his new album, Yesun, October 18 via Mack Avenue Records.

Combining jazz sensibility and deep roots in the Afro-Cuban tradition, Yesun is the Havana-born artist's ninth solo album. The record delves into the music of Fonseca's homeland of Cuba while keeping its sights set firmly on the future, weaving in electronic beats, spoken word, retro-modern keyboards, Fonseca's vocals and more.

"Yesun is the album I've always wanted to make," says Fonseca of a record that combines everything from jazz and classical music to rap, funk, reggaeton and electronic music. "All my influences are here. All the sounds and vibes that make me who I am."

In celebration of the upcoming release, JazzTimes is premiering the album track "Aggua" alongside a new music video directed by Joseph Ros.

"This tune felt very natural to write," says Fonseca of "Aggua," on which he plays grand piano, analog keyboards and percussion, as well as contributing bossa-nova style vocals. "I wanted to represent my Cuban roots with a tumbao"-the core rhythm that nourishes salsa, mambo and Latin jazz-"and I wanted to shake up some stuff."

Fonseca will tour the U.S. this coming spring in support of the album, with upcoming shows set for New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Washington, DC, Seattle and Portland.

Yesun is a trio album whose 13 original tracks are bolstered by Fonseca's regular bandmates, drummer Raúl Herrera and longtime double bassist Yandy Martínez Rodriguez. Guests include Grammy-winning American saxophonist Joe Lovano, lauded French-Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf, Grammy-nominated Cuban rapper/singer Danay Suárez, famed Cuban bolero diva Mercedes Cortés and a capella group Gema 4.

Yesun follows 2016's ABUC, praised for its "incandescent Cuban contrasts" by The Guardian. That same year, Fonseca served as Artistic Director of the inaugural Jazz Plaza Festival in Santiago de Cuba. Most recently, he received the prestigious Ordre des Arts Letters (Order of Arts and Letters) from the French Ministry of Culture.

ROBERTO FONSECA, YESUN

1. La Llamada (feat. Gema 4)
2. Kachucha (feat. Ibrahim Maalouf)
3. Cadenas (feat. Danay Suárez)
4. Por Ti
5. Aggua
6. Motown
7. Stone of Hope
8. Vivo (feat. Joe Lovano)
9. OO
10. Mambo pa la Niña (feat. Gema 4)
11. Ocha
12. No Soy de Esos
13. Clave