| David Benoit
25 Jan Brian Bromberg 26 Jul Katerina Brown 01 Nov Greg Byers 19 Jul Lori Carsillo 18 Jan Jim Cattlin 27 Sep Bryan Dyer 13 Dec Champian Fulton 21 Jun | Stacey Hoffman
03 May Darryl Jones 16 Aug Clifford Lamb 26 Apr Gunnar Madsen 15 Mar Eric Mingus 18 Oct Alex Monfort 04 Jan Kassa Overall 09 Aug Konrad Paszkudzki 04 Oct | Ralph Peterson
23 Aug Pamela Rose 29 Mar Carl Saunders 11 Oct Omar Sosa 22 Mar Veronica Swift 08 Nov Claudia Villela 12 Apr E.W. Wainwright 17 May Kalil Wilson 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." | |||