– THE PEACEFUL PROTEST –

Cuban piano genius Roberto Fonseca returns with an energetic, elegant little number from his new album; the follow up to Grammy-nominated record Yo and a live album with Fatoumata Diawara.

Aggua sees Fonseca feeling remarkably at home while also – as is his wont – stretching his sound to incorporate disparate influences from around the world.

” I wanted to represent my Cuban roots with a tumbao, and I wanted to shake up some stuff…” he says. “We have a little mambo and rumba, some reggaeton and hip-hop. I’m combining all these elements to make something tender but also powerful and spiritual.”

And ‘powerful’ it most definitely is. I love the way the bass line doubles up on Fonseca’s lead part at one point; I love the drama of the classical elements; and, of course, there’s rich and diverse drums and percussion underpinning it all.

Water comes in many forms, of course, but this form of Aggua is a set of raging rapids; Fonseca is dangerous when wet.

New album YESUN will be available from 18 October.

MORE FROM THIS WEEK’S MIX

JULIEN CHANG: OF THE PAST
SNARKY PUPPY: EMBOSSED
DAYMÉ AROCENA: PARA EL AMOR: CANTAR!
KEVIN HAYS & LIONEL LOUEKE: AZIZA

P.S. You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the 45 RPM Playlist on Spotify itself.

If you like what you hear (or even if you don’t), please engage in dialogue with me @45rpm_Reviews on Twitter. And, if you’d like to receive updates weekly, please subscribe to the email list to get these recommendations sent to your inbox weekly.

– SV –