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Omar Sosa

Composer-pianist-bandleader Omar Sosa was born in 1965 in Camagüey, Cuba's largest inland city. At age eight, Omar began studying percussion and marimba at the music conservatory in Camagüey; in Havana, as a teenager, he took up piano at the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Música, and completed his formal education at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. Among his influences, Omar cites traditional Afro-Cuban music, European classical composers (including Chopin, Bartok, and Satie), Monk, Coltrane, Parker, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Chucho Valdés, and the pioneering Cuban jazz group Irakere. Moving in 1993 to Ecuador, Omar immersed himself in the folkloric traditions of Esmeraldas, the northwest coast region whose African heritage includes the distinctive marimba tradition. He relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1995, and soon invigorated the Latin jazz scene with his adventurous writing and percussive style.

Annually performing upwards of 100 concerts on six continents, Omar has appeared in venues as diverse as the Blue Note (New York, Milan, and Tokyo), Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Walker Art Center, the Getty Center, London's Barbican and Queen Elizabeth Hall, Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall, and Berlin's Haus der Kulturen der Welt; festivals including Monterey Jazz, JVC Jazz, Montreal Jazz, Marciac Jazz, North Sea Jazz, Helsinki, Grenoble Jazz, Montreux Jazz, Naples Jazz, Ravenna Jazz, Roma Jazz, Spoletto, WOMAD, and Cape Town International Jazz; and universities on several continents, including a visiting artist fellowship at Princeton University in March 2008, and a visiting artist residency at Dartmouth College in April 2008. Omar will return to Dartmouth College for a second artist residency in February 2011.

Mr. Sosa received a lifetime achievement award from the Smithsonian Associates in Washington, DC in 2003 for his contribution to the development of Latin jazz in the United States. He has received two nominations from the BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards, in 2004 and 2006, both in the 'Americas' category. In 2003 Omar Sosa received the Afro-Caribbean Jazz Album of the Year Award from the Jazz Journalists Association in NYC for his recording Sentir; and a nomination from the Jazz Journalists Association for Latin Jazz Album of the Year in 2005 for his recording Mulatos.

Omar Sosa received an orchestral commission from Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and the Oakland Easy Bay Symphony, supported by grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and the MAP Fund (Multi-Arts Production Fund). During 2001-2002, Mr. Sosa composed a 45-minute work in three movements for symphony orchestra entitled, From Our Mother, which received its world premiere in January 2003 by the Oakland East Bay Symphony under the direction of Michael Morgan. In 2009, Mr. Sosa received an orchestral commission from the city of Girona, Spain and the Festival de Músicas Religiosas y del Mundo de Girona. The 20-minute work for symphony orchestra, entitled Oda Africana, received its world premiere in July 2009 by the Jove Orquesta Athenea, conducted by Lluis Caballeria. Also in 2009, Mr. Sosa received a commission from the Barcelona Jazz Festival to present a tribute to Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue recording, featuring Afro-Cuban interpretations of the seminal Davis work on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. The project was performed at L'Auditori in Barcelona in November 2009.

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In Pictures

Scenes from the 2023 DC Jazz Festival

Read "Scenes from the 2023 DC Jazz Festival" reviewed by Matt Hooke


An embassy may seem like an unusual place to kick off the 2023 DC Jazz Festival, but it made for a good indication of the international and collaborative atmosphere fostered by the annual event. The DC Jazz Festival opening night at the House of Sweden, the embassy for Sweden and Iceland, began with a speech by Icelandic ambassador Berdis Ellertsdóttir on the popularity of America's music in the Nordic country. The festival collaborated with other embassies across the ...

2
In Pictures

Omar Sosa & Ernesttico Duo B-Black At Lana Meets Jazz Fest 2023

Read "Omar Sosa & Ernesttico Duo B-Black At Lana Meets Jazz Fest 2023" reviewed by Danilo Codazzi


A collection of photos from the Omar Sosa and Ernesttico Duo B-Black, concert at Lana Meests Jazz Fest, in Lana on June 155, 2023. ...

Live Review

Lana Meets Jazz - XI Edizione

Read "Lana Meets Jazz - XI Edizione" reviewed by Paolo Peviani


Lana Meets Jazz--XI Edizione Lana Meets Jazz Lana (BZ) 13--18.6.2023 Un bell'esempio di piccolo festival. È questa, in sintesi, l'essenza del Lana Meets Jazz. Nel corso degli anni, siamo ormai all'undicesima edizione, gli organizzatori Helga Plankensteiner e Michael Lösch hanno infatti saputo dare a questa manifestazione una connotazione chiara e precisa, fatta di elementi ben amalgamati e coerenti. Un programma musicale fruibile ma molto attento alla qualità. Sedi dei concerti sempre suggestive ed in linea ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Omar Sosa, Southern Energy Ens., Dominique Fils-Aimé, Keith Brown - Mixtape

Read "Omar Sosa, Southern Energy Ens., Dominique Fils-Aimé, Keith Brown - Mixtape" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


Two hours are so quick to fill and one has to often leave out several tracks that would deserve attention but, for a reason or another (length, similarities to other selections, need for variety and flow etc.), don't find the right spot in the playlist... To partially remedy this situation we have a “companion mixtape" series when it's necessary to share great music in addition to that which is included in our regular show.Happy listening!Playlist Southern ...

8
Album Review

Omar Sosa: An East African Journey

Read "An East African Journey" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Back in 2009, Omar Sosa took part in an eight-stop trio tour of East Africa. Serving multiple purposes, it gave the pianist a chance to work with Senegalese singer Mola Sylla and Mozambican bassist Childo Tomas while connecting with the people, operated as the subject for a French-funded documentary and provided an opportunity for cross-cultural collaborations to blossom in the field. Every time Sosa touched down in a new spot his hosts with Alliance Française helped him connect with local ...

5
In Pictures

Omar Sosa, Yilian Cañizares, Gustavo Ovalles at Fano Jazz By The Sea 2019

Read "Omar Sosa, Yilian Cañizares, Gustavo Ovalles at Fano Jazz By The Sea 2019" reviewed by Andrea Rotili


Photos from Fano Jazz By The Sea 2019 on July 26, 2019. Performers included Omar Sosa (piano), Yilian Cañizares (voice and violin), and Gustavo Ovalles (percussion). Congratulations to one of the longest running festivals from Marche, Italy! ...

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Profile

Omar Sosa: Building Bridges Not Walls

Read "Omar Sosa: Building Bridges Not Walls" reviewed by Duncan Heining


Cuban-born pianist, Omar Sosa is a passionate man. Music, religion, family, his relationship to the planet—all these are inseparable to an artist whose musical world is steeped in the Afro-Cuban heritage that he draws upon so personally and individually in his work. Spinning culinary metaphors to describe the processes of music-making, he sings the praises of the musicians from so many different cultures with whom he collaborates. But most of all, he is passionate in his concern for the environment ...

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Omar Sosa's birthday today!

Composer-pianist-bandleader Omar Sosa was born in 1965 in Camagüey, Cuba's largest inland city. At age eight, Omar began studying percussion and marimba at the music conservatory in Camagüey; in Havana, as a teenager, he took up piano at the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Música, and completed his formal education at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. Among his influences, Omar cites traditional Afro-Cuban music, European classical composers (including Chopin, Bartok, ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Omar Sosa's birthday today!

Composer-pianist-bandleader Omar Sosa was born in 1965 in Camagüey, Cuba's largest inland city. At age eight, Omar began studying percussion and marimba at the music conservatory in Camagüey; in Havana, as a teenager, he took up piano at the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Música, and completed his formal education at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. Among his influences, Omar cites traditional Afro-Cuban music, European classical composers (including Chopin, Bartok, ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Omar Sosa's birthday today!

Composer-pianist-bandleader Omar Sosa was born in 1965 in Camagüey, Cuba's largest inland city. At age eight, Omar began studying percussion and marimba at the music conservatory in Camagüey; in Havana, as a teenager, he took up piano at the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Música, and completed his formal education at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. Among his influences, Omar cites traditional Afro-Cuban music, European classical composers (including Chopin, Bartok, ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Omar Sosa's birthday today!

Composer-pianist-bandleader Omar Sosa was born in 1965 in Camagüey, Cuba's largest inland city. At age eight, Omar began studying percussion and marimba at the music conservatory in Camagüey; in Havana, as a teenager, he took up piano at the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Música, and completed his formal education at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. Among his influences, Omar cites traditional Afro-Cuban music, European classical composers (including Chopin, Bartok, ...

1

Video / DVD

Omar Sosa & Yilian Cañizares Music Video "Oshun" From The CD Aguas

Omar Sosa & Yilian Cañizares Music Video "Oshun" From The CD Aguas

Source: Omar Sosa

Following the October 2018 release of their acclaimed CD, Aguas, Omar Sosa & Yilian Cañizares are set to showcase their third music video, “Oshun," in support of the recording. Aguas is a beautiful and very personal album, reflecting the perspectives of two generations of Cuban artists living outside their homeland, interpreting their Afro-traditions in unique and subtle ways. The album is dedicated to water, and especially to Oshun, the Goddess of Love and Mistress of Rivers in the Lucumí tradition ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Omar Sosa's birthday today!

Composer-pianist-bandleader Omar Sosa was born in 1965 in Camagüey, Cuba\'s largest inland city. At age eight, Omar began studying percussion and marimba at the music conservatory in Camagüey; in Havana, as a teenager, he took up piano at the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Música, and completed his formal education at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. Among his influences, Omar cites traditional Afro-Cuban music... Read more.

Place our Musician of ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Omar Sosa's birthday today!

Composer-pianist-bandleader Omar Sosa was born in 1965 in Camagüey, Cuba\'s largest inland city. At age eight, Omar began studying percussion and marimba at the music conservatory in Camagüey; in Havana, as a teenager, he took up piano at the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Música, and completed his formal education at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. Among his influences, Omar cites traditional Afro-Cuban music... Read more.

Place our Musician of ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Omar Sosa's birthday today!

Omar Sosa\'s music is a unique style of Afro-Cuban jazz, and while it is rooted in the folkloric traditions of the African Diaspora, he always takes an exploratory approach- never one to let orthodoxy stand in the way of his pursuit of freedom. Sosa offers a joyful mix of jazz and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, combining percussive forays inside the piano and a series of electronic effects with his inspired, passionate playing at ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Omar Sosa's birthday today!

Omar Sosa\'s music is a unique style of Afro-Cuban jazz, and while it is rooted in the folkloric traditions of the African Diaspora, he always takes an exploratory approach- never one to let orthodoxy stand in the way of his pursuit of freedom. Sosa offers a joyful mix of jazz and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, combining percussive forays inside the piano and a series of electronic effects with his inspired, passionate playing at ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Jazz Musician of the Day: Omar Sosa

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Omar Sosa's birthday today! Omar Sosa\'s music is a unique style of Afro-Cuban jazz, and while it is rooted in the folkloric traditions of the African Diaspora, he always takes an exploratory approach - never one to let orthodoxy stand in the way of his pursuit of freedom. Sosa offers a joyful mix of jazz and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, combining percussive forays inside the piano and a series of electronic effects with his inspired, passionate playing ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

An East African...

Ota Records
2021

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Es:sensual

Ota Records
2018

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Aguas

Ota Records
2018

buy

JOG

Ota Records
2016

buy

Eros

Ota Records
2016

buy

Transparent Water

World Village
2016

buy

Videos

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