One of the hottest artists from the Havana music scene will play a concert in Little Havana on July 17, giving Miami audiences a live taste of contemporary music from the island that's been almost completely absent from the city in recent years.

Roberto Carcassés, a pianist, composer and bandleader who is one of the driving forces in a new style of fusion dominating the Havana music scene, is in Miami on a family visa to visit his ex-wife and son.

But he and promoter Ever Chavez, of the nonprofit group Fundarte, are taking advantage of the trip to do this concert.

''It's a privilege to be able to work with [Carcassés] here and to bring this kind of artist to the Miami audience,'' Chavez said. ``There are many artists [in Cuba] now who are having their time, they have the stage in the last five years, and we are not getting any information because it's forbidden here. It's great music, they're doing concerts around the world. But we don't have the opportunity to hear what's going on in Havana nowadays.''

VISA ISSUES

Visa restrictions put in place since 2001 have made it virtually impossible for Cuban musicians to tour the United States, cutting off a steady flow that in the 1990s saw many Cuban artists play Miami for the first time.

Carcassés' show, which will take place at the Manuel Artime Theater, will celebrate the release of his new album, Matizar, which he recorded in his home studio in Havana but plans to pay to have manufactured in South Florida.

Carcasses will not receive any payment for the concert, Chavez said, since U.S. law prohibits Cuban musicians from being paid anything except a small living stipend.

Carcassés, 36, who has toured Europe, says he is thrilled to play in Miami. He did perform here last winter, while on another family visit, in an informal show at the Little Havana club Kimbara Cumbara, but this will be his first publicized show.

''Miami means a lot of things for Cubans,'' Carcassés said.

``What we're going to do is present what I am, where we are at. To do it here is very important, since this is like being in Cuba, but in the U.S. I'm doing this as a cultural exchange. I'm not doing it to make money.''

BLEND OF STYLES

In addition to his solo career, Carcassés heads Interactivo, a 14-piece band that plays a blend of timba, the amped-up Cuban style of salsa, with funk, jazz, R&B, and hip-hop.

Descemer Bueno, a Cuban guitarist and longtime friend of Carcassés who lives in Miami and has worked with Yerba Buena and other U.S. acts, says the pianist is considered one of the best and most creative younger musicians on the island.

''In Cuba right now he is the representative of fusion,'' Bueno said.

``Chucho Valdes did that 20 years ago, but Chucho is not doing that anymore, he's doing the same thing. Roberto is doing something really new, something innovative.''

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