roberto fonseca canarias jazz mas 2026

Roberto Fonseca brings Cuban golden age to Canary Islands

Roberto Fonseca brings the golden age of Cuban music to the Canary Islands

Cuban pianist, singer, multi-instrumentalist, writer and producer Roberto Fonseca has music in his blood. Not surprisingly, his mother, Mercedes Cortes Alfaro, was a legendary dancer at the Tropicana Club, and his father, Roberto Fonseca Senior, was a drummer. Now 51, with a dozen solo albums to his name alongside numerous collective projects throughout his career, he has been nominated several times for the Grammy Awards.

He is now presenting La Gran Diversion, a tribute to the golden age of Cuban music from the 1930s. The show arrives in the Canary Islands this week as part of the 35th edition of the Canarias Jazz&Más International Festival. Fonseca will give concerts in Puerto de la Cruz on Thursday 23 July, and a day later in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

‘The Canary Islands feel like home’

“We are coming to the Canary Islands with a series of very special concerts, full of Cuban music, passion and spirituality,” says Fonseca. “There are places that have a very special magic and make you feel as if you were at home. I think the Canary Islands are definitely one of them.”

The show combines deep tradition with modern musical codes. “I have always liked to create a connection between tradition and modernity,” he explains. “La Gran Diversion evokes a very important period in the history of Cuban culture. The creation of this project responds to a very personal desire I have for that specific moment to be recognised through these sounds, which in turn form part of the identity and desire of Cuban culture. At the same time, this project has allowed me to showcase the richness of our traditional culture.”

Nostalgia as the driving force

“Nostalgia in my music is the starting point. It is the engine that drives the creation of every melody and every soundscape in each and every one of my songs. The staging is very important for some projects. In this particular project, it is very important that the audience feels as if they were in Cuba, in some way. Each song has a specific intention and a story to tell. We have taken great care with the staging, together with the energy we must deliver to the audience.”

Musically speaking, Fonseca sees the world as an incredible source of sounds and atmospheres. “I am a person who is always in search of new musical experiences, which are what keep my music alive. That is why I will always be looking for new collaborations with different artists from different genres.”

A lifelong musical journey

“I always wanted to have my own voice in music. Thanks to my family, I listened to all kinds of music from a very young age, because songs of every type were played in our home. I always wondered what it would be like to unite all those rhythms and soundscapes in a single musical expression, and from a very early age I began to experiment and take risks. My motivation is life and, for me, my music is my life and my life is my music.”

On the future of the genre, he reflects: “Afro-Cuban jazz will always have its moment. It depends on the coming generations to keep it at the very high level it is at right now. There are traditional sounds from different countries that fascinate me, and I just have to find the right moment to go into the studio with new and different musicians and create new musical vibrations. The list is very long, including both young promises and established colleagues from different styles. But there are two people who are no longer with us that I would have liked to have seen at just one of their concerts: Arsenio Rodriguez and Miles Davis.”

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