Cuban Pianist Roberto Fonseca And Fatoumata Diawara In Country for Safaricom Jazz Lounge

Admired Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca and special guest star Fatoumata Diawara have arrived in the country ahead of the Safaricom Jazz Lounge concert to be held on Saturday at Uhuru Gardens.

The musician, who made his debut at the Havana International Jazz Festival at age 15 in 1990, is an ingenious composer who draws on a wide range of musical traditions and genres.

Fonseca has release projects such as “Zamazu”, “Akokan” and “Jazz in Marciac” since his debut. In 2015, Fonseca and Diawara released “At Home” álbum which was well-received by music critics.

Fonseca is accompanied by band members Ramses “Dynamite” Rodriguez on drums, Yandy Martinez on bass and Adel Gozalez on percussion.

Kenyan band, Shamsi Band will curtain –raise for the guest stars. Proceeds from all ticket sales will be donated to the Ghetto Classics Music program.

The program has been supported by ticket earnings since inception of the Safaricom International Jazz Festival in 2014.

Safaricom has so far handed over Sh. 19 million to the program. The funds went towards purchase of music instruments for 650 children who are in the community program.

The premier Safaricom International Festival event was held in February 2014 and was headlined by New-York based Cameroonian artist Richard Bona.