When Roberto Fonseca suddenly switches from European classical piano playing to staccato Cuban jazz, his keyboard resembles a typewriter. From left to right he whips quick sentences from the keys, supported by his drummer who seems to punch the letters into the ear with fierce claps. About one hundred and fifty strokes per minute. At the end of the measure, there is a pause for half a beat as the top of the typewriter rolls back to the beginning of a new line. And there he goes again, slowing down, speeding up, telling.
Fonseca is a very versatile pianist. Had he really been a writer, he would write a small oeuvre together on Thursday evening in the Bimhuis in Amsterdam – wearing hat and body warmer. The songs, mostly from his latest album yesun, became short stories, poems, film scripts, readymades, shopping lists. Always with an earthy swinging undertone.
The Cuban knows how to placate his audience with sing-along mambos, but also to surprise with virtuoso piano playing or synthesizers that are reminiscent of the distorted cassette tapes of Syrian wedding music.
On the romantic ‘por ti’ claims bassist Yandy Martinez the lead role. He exchanges his six-string bass guitar for the double bass and strikes a captivating solo which he then picks up rhythmically. Drummer Ruly Herrera fills in by playing the drum kit subtly with his hands, like congas. It is a relief compared to his rather present playing on a number of other pieces. Then he seems to refuse to play the same bar twice. Yet even that busy drumming gets more structure at times and it intertwines like a jazzy breakbeat.
The three visibly enjoy each other’s game. When Fonseca on ‘La Llamada’ ends up in a long solo, the other two keep quiet. Bassist Martinez can only watch in admiration, sometimes nodding encouragingly, then shaking his head in surprise. Until the trio on Fonseca’s sign reunites in a slightly different rhythm. As if they have barely finished one sheet of paper and have already started a new poem.
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