| Ravi Abcarian
24 Aug Nicolas Bearde 19 Oct Dee Bell 23 Mar Dave Bendigkeit 06 Jul Steven Bernstein 30 Mar Wil Blades 25 May Terence Blanchard 10 Aug Larry Coryell 22 Jun William Dement 14 Dec Pete Escovedo 21 Dec Kenny G 20 Apr | Sunna Gunnlaugs
29 Jun Lorca Hart 16 Mar Hiromi 06 Apr Veronica Klaus 17 Aug Julian Lage 27 Jul Hubert Laws 24 Feb Delfeayo Marsalis 12 Oct Roy McCurdy 13 Apr Nika Rejto 16 Nov Renee Rosnes 26 Oct Poncho Sanchez 09 Nov | Judi Silvano
13 Jul Lonnie Liston Smith 02 Nov Tyshawn Sorey 02 Mar Terell Stafford 03 Aug Victoria Theodore 07 Dec Emil Viklický 15 Jun Cedar Walton 27 Apr Peter Williams 01 Jun Victor Wooten 20 Jul Peter Zak 08 Jun |
| 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." | |||