Roberto López releases his 6th album: “Ritual”

Ritual promises to mix the rich tones of Colombian guitars with funk and Latin soul sounds

Roberto López is a Colombian-Canadian musician and composer who pushes the boundaries of modern Latin music with hip arrangements. Under Colombian grooves he unabashedly adds jazz, funk and electronic music to the mix. His projects have been presented on tours across Canada, Chile and Mexico. Roberto has received several nominations (JUNO, ADISQ, GAMIQ, Canadian Folk Music Awards), as well as receiving the prestigious Artiste révélation Radio-Canada Award.

On his latest album, Ritual (2022), Roberto decided to come back to the guitar quartet but this time to include the voice as an instrument doubling some of the guitar lines. The “coros” also became more prominent compared to his three previous recordings, giving this album a new sonic exploration in Roberto’s career. The tunes detach from traditional form and navigate in a more contemporary context mixing many styles. Ritual is a statement of the many influences in Roberto’s musical journey.

Roberto has made a name for himself with his innovative arrangements and this album is no exception. On this album Roberto uses the voice as an accomplice instrument of the guitar. And we are talking about some great collaborations here: the Brazilian singer Flavia Nascimento and the Cuban singer Adán de Dios (Klimax) lend their magnificent voices to this sixth album. Afro-Colombian (porro and cumbia) and Afro-Cuban (guajira, son and descarga) rhythms meet Motown-reminiscent basslines, getting close to jazz and grooving on Latin electric guitars. The many varied rhythms are the work of Sacha Daoud on drums, while Kullak Viger-Rojas and Juan Sebastian Quirós share the congas, timbal, quijada, shekere, campanas, alegre, llamador, tambora and maracas. For his part, Roberto plays electric, acoustic, Colombian (the tiple) guitars, bass (on the synthesizer) and percussion (shakers, triangle, claves).

The recipe is complex, but the result is simple: an album full of catchy, tropical and modern songs that will certainly make the crowds dance, a ritual to which Roberto has accustomed us since he started.

_{YouTube Video – Roberto López: Sonera}

^{Source content: Dog Ranch Music PR}