| Claudia Acuña
08 Jul Bruce Barth 12 Aug Dave Bass 06 May Ray Brown 25 Feb John Calloway 28 Oct Ndugu Chancler 29 Jul Rana Farhan 30 Sep Marque Gilmore 04 Nov Scott Hamilton 18 Feb Charles Hamilton 24 Jun | Jimmy Heath
22 Jul Dave LeFebvre 08 Apr Ivan Lins 02 Sep Bruno Louchouarn 21 Oct Joe Lovano 05 Aug George Mesterhazy 11 Mar Jason Moran 04 Mar Bodil Niska 01 Apr Jeff Oster 21 Jan Eddie Palmieri 02 Dec | Kat Parra
26 Aug Gene Perla 03 Jun Rudy Ramirez 29 Apr Putter Smith 10 Jun Rory Snyder 25 Mar Zan Stewart 19 Aug Keith Terry 18 Nov Kenny Washington 09 Dec Bruce Williamson 18 Mar Deanna Witkowski 01 Jul |
| Roberto Fonseca (2020) | |
|---|---|
| Pianist-composer Roberto Fonseca was born in Havana, Cuba, where he still lives.
From birth, he was surrounded by music: his father, also Roberto, is a drummer; his mother, Mercedes, is a professional singer; and his two older half-brothers from his mother's marriage to Chucho Valdéz are drummer Emilio pianist Chiquito Valdéz. Roberto earned his master's degree in composition at Cuba’s Instituto Superior de Arte. In 1999 his first album “En el Comienzo” was awarded Cuba's “Best Jazz Album of the Year”. Roberto toured the world with the Buena Vista Social Club in 2001, cementing friendship and mentorships with the likes of Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portuondo. Roberto loves fusing Afro-Cuban music and rhythms, jazz and classical music. With him, it's really about collaboration—family on the bandstand: that seems to be the source of his truest inspiration. |
| Pick | Artist | Album | Song | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # 1 | Salif Keita | Soro | Wamba | Mango |
| # 2 | Elis Regina and Antonio Carlos Jobim | Elis and Tom | Waters of March | Verve |
| # 3 | Stevie Wonder | Talking Book | Superstition | Motown |
| # 4 | Arsenio Rodriguez | El Sentimiento de Arsenio Rodriguez | No Me Llores | RCA |
| # 5 | Cannoball Adderley | Presenting Cannonball | Autumn Leaves | Blue Note |
| # 6 | Led Zeppelin | Led Zeppelin IV | Stairway to Heaven | Atlantic |
| # 7 | Roberto Fonseca | Yesun | Mambo pa la Niña | Wagram |
| Book | Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, "El Principito" | |||
| Luxury Item | "Rice and beans, Cuban-style, with fried bananas." | |||