Roberto Lopez 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. He has received several nominations (JUNO, ADISQ, GAMIQ, Canadian Folk Music Awards), as well as receiving the prestigious Artiste révélation Radio-Canada Award.

Born in Bogotá, Colombia, he was part of the 90’s wave of musicians responsible for the Rock en Español movement. Along with his band Doble UC, they dominated the local charts between 1991-1993 and are now part of several compilations of the history of Colombian Rock. In 1994 Roberto moved to Montreal, Canada, to pursue his music studies at Concordia University. Involved in many musical projects, Roberto played from Jazz to Salsa, to Brazilian Popular Music to Hip Hop. He composed music for several documentaries, animation films, video games and theatre. He was nominated at the Gemeaux Awards for best original score.

Inspired to pursue his own musical project, he created the Roberto López Project in 2005 with musicians from all the corners of the Americas, with whom he explored Latin grooves in an urban context. He released Que Pasa? (2006) and Soy Panamericano (2009). Won the Artiste Révélation Radio-Canada Award, the FMMJ-Francofolies Award, received several nominations and toured across Canada and Quebec. In 2007 he opened the Francofolies de Montréal alongside main Quebec artists in front of 20 000 people, and filmed for TV.

In an effort to continue his musical explorations and to bridge two of his passions: Jazz and Cumbia, Roberto created the Afro-Colombian Jazz Orchestra in 2011 to pay tribute to some of the greatest Colombian composers and revive the Cumbia big band sound from the 70’s. He released Azul (2012), an album that has an instrumental signature, precise arrangements and features the virtuosity of the musicians. He toured across Canada through the Canadian Jazz Festivals travelling from coast to coast. He opened for mayor acts, such as Macy Gray, David Murray Big Band, and acclaimed Benin guitarist Lionel Loueke (Herbie Hancock, Angelique Kidjo). His show was broadcasted on CBC’s Concerts on demand, and he was part of JAZZ FM’s documentary “Identities”.

In 2015 Roberto teamed with Belizean producer Ivan Duran (Calypso Rose, Manu Chao, Andy Palacio, Aurelio, Garifuna Collective, Kobotown), to create an album with unique sonic explorations of Latin roots and funky grooves: Criollo Electrik (2017). This new work eludes the norms of Latin music and reserves a special place for his instrument: the electric guitar. The album was recorded between Montreal, Canada, and San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia. Official selection to showcase at Mundial Montreal 2017 and at the Bourse RIDEAU in 2018, where Roberto was awarded the ROSEQ/RIDEAU Award for his memorable performance.

For Kaleido strópico (2019) Roberto explores Colombian grooves mixed with Funk and Soul horn lines, Motown inspired bass lines and Latin electric guitar. The unique sound, the mixed grooves and the original sonic landscape around the tunes, is a statement of the many influences in Roberto’s musical career. Kaleido strópico is already nominated for world album of the year at the ADISQ 2019, nominated for world artist of the year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards 2019, and has been on the TOP 10 spots for over 21 weeks (and counting) on Canadian, American and Colombian radios, often on #1 position.