Roberto C. López is a Colombian-Canadian composer, musician and producer from

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, whose style blends Afro-Colombian rhythms such as

cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and Africans during colonial times. Cumbia is said to have com ...

porró A porrón () is a traditional glass wine pitcher, which holds typical of Spain, originating in Catalonia, in northeastern Spain, and eventually spreading to other parts of Spain. This invention allows everyone to drink from the same utensil wi ...

mapalé The Mapalé is an Afro-Colombian style of dance that was imported by slaves. It represented fishermen after a long day of work. Its name comes from the '' Cathorops mapale'' (fish) when they are out of the water. The dance moves are compared with t ...

, chandé,

champeta Champeta, also known as terapia, is a musical genre and dance that originated in the Caribbean coast of Colombia in the early 1980s. It developed from an earlier style termed chalusonga, which originated in Palenque de San Basilio in the mid-197 ...

and currulao with urban styles such as

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and

afrobeat Afrobeat (also known as Afrofunk) is a West African music genre, fusing influences from Nigerian (such as Yoruba) and Ghanaian (such as highlife) music, with American funk, jazz, and soul influences. With a focus on chanted vocals, complex i ...

. He has released albums both under his own name and with the bands Roberto López Project and Roberto López Afro-Colombian Jazz Orchestra.

Biography

His Roberto López Project albums were ''Que Pasa?'' (2006) and ''Soy Panamericano'' (2009), In 2012 he released ''Azul'' with the Roberto López Afro-Colombian Jazz Orchestra. Under his own name he released ''Criollo Electrik'' in 2017, produced by Belizean producer

Ivan Duran Ivan Duran is a Belizean music producer and musician, and the founder and director of Stonetree Records, an independent record label and music recording studio based in Benque Viejo del Carmen in Belize. He has produced over 30 albums featuring th ...

. López has also composed for documentary films, and was nominated at the

Prix Gémeaux The Prix Gémeaux () or Gémeaux Awards honour achievements in Canadian television and digital media that is broadcast in French. It has been sponsored by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television since 1987. Introduced as a French-language eq ...

for best original score for his work on the documentary program ''Esperanza''. He was one of the composers of the music for the MLB Front Office Manager video game.

Awards

He was named a Revelation of the Year in World Music by

Ici Musique Ici Musique (stylized ICI Musique) is the French-language music radio service of Canada's national public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (''Société Radio-Canada''). It is the French equivalent of the English CBC Music, altho ...

in 2011, alongside Alex Nevsky,

Radio Radio "Radio Radio" is a song written by Elvis Costello and performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. The song originated as a Bruce Springsteen-inspired song called "Radio Soul" that Costello had written in 1974. In 1977, Costello reworked t ...

and

Samian Samos (, also ; , ) is a Greece, Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese archipelago, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...

in pop music, Rafael Zaldivar in jazz, Bambara Trans in world music and Jan Lisiecki in classical music. He received a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

nomination for World Music Album of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 2011 The Juno Awards of 2011 honoured Canadian music industry achievements in the latter part of 2009 and in most of 2010. The awards were presented in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, during the weekend of 26 and 27 March 2011. A week of related events bega ...

for ''Soy Panamericano'', a GAMIQ nomination for World Music Album of the Year in 2010 for ''Soy Panamericano'' and in 2012 for ''Azul'', a

Prix Félix Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who ...

nomination for World Music Album of the Year in 2013 for ''Azul'' and in 2018 for ''Criollo Electrik.'' Nominated at the

Canadian Folk Music Award The Canadian Folk Music Awards are an annual music awards ceremony presenting awards in a variety of categories for achievements in both traditional and contemporary folk music, and other roots music genres, by Canadian musicians. The awards pr ...

for World Artist of the Year - Group at the 6th Canadian Folk Music Awards for ''Soy Panamericano'' in 2010 and at the

8th Canadian Folk Music Awards The 8th Canadian Folk Music Awards were presented in Saint John, New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to ...

for ''Azul'' in 2012, and for Best Instrumental Solo Artist at the

13th Canadian Folk Music Awards The 13th Canadian Folk Music Awards were presented in Ottawa, Ontario on November 19, 2017.Brock Thiessen"Canadian Folk Music Awards Reveal 2017 Nominees" ''Exclaim'', September 21, 2017. Nominees and recipients Recipients are listed first and hi ...

in 2017 for ''Criollo Electrik''."Canadian Folk Music Awards Reveal 2017 Nominees"
''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'', September 21, 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Roberto 1968 births Living people Canadian composers Canadian male composers Colombian composers Canadian world music musicians Musicians from Montreal Colombian emigrants to Canada