Roberto Fonseca La Gran Diversión (Cuba) - Bray Jazz Festival 2026

About this event

Pianist and band leader Roberto Fonseca is one of the defining creative voices of the post- Buena Vista Social Club generation of Cuban jazz.

Recruited in his early 20s to play piano with various Buena Vista Social Club projects –collaborations with Ibrahim Ferrer and Compay Segundo included,  he later became musical director of Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club, and helped to bring the remarkable body of work of that collective of veteran Cuban musicians to audiences worldwide.

With a career that includes solo projects, global collaborations, and Grammy-nominated recordings, Roberto Fonseca today stands at the forefront of a new wave of Afro-Cuban expression—one that both honours the past and pushes fearlessly into the future. 

Gran División is Fonseca’s latest powerhouse ensemble, a group that embodies his vision of Cuban music as a living, evolving conversation. Funk, jazz, rumba, timba and traditional Afro-Cuban rhythms flow seamlessly through the band’s sound and groove, driven by Fonseca’s charismatic leadership at the piano. 

“La Gran Diversión is a tribute to the golden era of Cuban music, shaped by the man who arguably personified the revival of the Cuban sound – Arts Projects Australia

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