Omar Sosa - Isolanos 2008

Multi-instrumentalist Omar Sosa was born on April 10, 1965, in Camaguey, Cuba. At the age of five, Sosa began studying music at the Escuela Provincial de Musica in Camaguey, which led to his intense study of drums and percussion at two other schools during the late '70s/early '80s: Cuba's Escuela Nacional de Musica and Instituto Superior de Arte.Sosa then began to teach percussion to children before he created the group Tributo in 1986, for which Sosa penned and oversaw the material for two of their albums, and toured. This was followed up by Sosa's work with Cuban vocalistVicente Feliú (1988's Arteporética), the group XL Talla Extrawith Cuban vocalist Xiomara Laugart, the jazz fusion outfit Entrenoz, the Afro-Ecuadorian band Koral y Esmeralda, and playing keyboards in the band Koan Fussion. And in the late '90s, Sosa began issuing solo albums: the 1996 solo piano showcase Omar Omar, 1997's ensemble-based Free Roots, 1998's Inside, 1999's Spirit of Roots and Bembon, and 2000's Prietos. In addition, Sosa has also produced recordings for Ricardo Williams, Leo Mass, and Vino y Miel. Two years later, Sosaissued the eccentric jazz album Sentir. It was later nominated for a Latin Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album in fall 2002. AMG.

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Omar Sosa - Prietos 2001

Pianist Omar Sosa and his band fuse divergent musical influences on the CD Prietos. Sounds from Morocco, Ecuador, Venezuela, Ivory Coast, Brazil, the United States, and Burkina Faso coalesce with musical sensibilities from Sosa's homeland of Cuba. Especially striking onPrietos is the intertwining of hip-hop verse with traditional sounding Yoruban lyrics and Afro-Cuban rhythms. Though the contrast between the urban U.S. art form and the time-honored Cuban tradition may appear to be bit incongruous, Sosa and his crew of talented musicians make it flow on such tunes as "Takes a Second." A bevy of instruments -- including Moroccan qarqabas and bendirs, Venezuelan tambor redondos and quitiplas, and Brazilian berimbaus -- add layers of ear-catching textures to the standard Latin big-band sound. Prietos, which means "dark" in Spanish, is a coherent CD that combines music from Africa and the Africa Diaspora without coming across as contrived or forced. It's a testament to the African experience in the New World, and a product of Sosa's creative approach to music making. AMG.
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Omar Sosa - Afreecanos 2008

With every passing year, pianist Omar Sosa continues to define what contemporary world music can be. Each effort is quite different than the previous one, while the bright colors, timbres, and elements of his Cuban-based music are elevated higher and higher. In his restlessness to find further truth and beauty, there's a calm serenity and unabashed confidence in his vision and personal musicianship. For Afreecanos, Sosa uses artists from every portion of the globe except Australia and Canada, though some have lived there, too. They include fellow Cubans Orestes Vilató on timbales and flutist/saxophonist Leandro Saint-Hill; trumpeters Bill Ortiz (U.S.A.) and Stephane Belmondo (France); Africans Mola Sylla, Fanta and Baba Sissoko, and (from Morocco) violinist Mohamed Soulimane -- as well as Brazilian vocalists and the American-based bata player Michael Spiro. As you can imagine, this melting pot of rhythmic, vocal, and instrumental sound blends into a potpourri that makes refreshingly new music within ritual and traditional frameworks. There are many highlights: the heavy staccato-laden worldbeat groove blues of "Ollú," the jazz-oriented horn charts and singsong or harder-edged but lighthearted "D'Son" and "Tres Negroes," the effortless and funky African-derived "Tumborum," the flute-fronted oceanic-cum-Yoruban "Light in the Sky," and the sorrowful, more question than answer-oriented "Why Anga?," for the late conga player Miguel "Angá" Diaz, who played with Sosa up until his untimely passing. You'll hear straight African chants, spirit songs, and a ballad or two, the 21-stringed kora featured on the entirely beautiful "Iyade," and an occasional piano interlude from Sosa. As time goes by, with his music featuring fully developed progress-oriented themes, you notice less of Sosa as an individual voice and more in an image as a team player or village chieftain. In fact, the group singing is more prevalent than his individual playing. Omar Sosa continues to make brilliant music where the natural and spiritual meet the contemporary. He continues to set the bar further up into the stratosphere, and one can only imagine how far he's going to reach. This is a major artist on the international scene who all should be paying close attention to. AMG.
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