Recorded live at Radio Bremen, Germany, in November 2003, Aleatoric EFX is Omar Sosas fourth solo piano recording. It combines Omars free, improvisatory approach to the piano, with his use of a number of electronic effects, also directed live from the piano during the performance. The result is an engaging, multi-dimensional musical experience, with elements of jazz, classical, new music, and electronica. The term aleatoric refers to the chance or random ways in which the subtle electronic elements mesh with the performance both inside the piano and on the keyboard.

From the mysterious, ethereal beginnings of Follow My Shadow, with its bass string drone and yearning melodic figure, to the classical lyricism and haunting beauty of Impromptu in D Minor, the recording opens in a delicate, understated mood. Mute Ostinato in C continues Omars fascination with the bass drone, as in Indian classical music, combined with a series of lilting rhythmic figures, and unique use of the coco shells inside on the piano strings. Throughout these opening improvisations, we see the influence of one of Omars classical music mentors, Eric Satie.

Pentatonic Research reveals some of Omars daring harmonic sense, built on a dialogue of space-age motifs with Eastern overtones. This is followed by a version of Omars signature ballad, Iyawo, with its sweet, romantic melody, sliding, as he often does, into a subtle montuno groove. With Sobre Un Manto en E Minor and Siberian Horses, we continue to find ourselves traversing an aural landscape of longing, urgency and surrender.

Only toward the end of the recording, with Intense Moon in F# Minor and the rousing finale, Muevete en D, another of Omars signature compositions, does he take the energy to a dramatic level. For those who have enjoyed Omars previous solo piano outings, Aleatoric EFX is sure to be an enjoyable addition to the collection. For those who are new to this dimension of Omars musical sensibilities, it is sure to be a good place to start.

Omar Sosa will appear on the A&E Networks Breakfast With The Arts,
with Peabody Award-winning host Elliot Forrest

Sunday, March 7

8-10 AM ET
7-9 AM C
6-8 AM MT
8-10 AM PT (check listings for availability)

Breakfast With The Arts is a Sunday morning series covering the full range of popular, performing and fine arts, with programming ranging from World Premiere In-Studio performances, to documentary specials, to full-length classical performances, to insightful one-on-one interviews with the major artists of our day.

Omar Sosas Breakfast With The Arts appearance on Sunday, March 7 will feature a duo performance with famed French-Caribbean percussionist Mino Cinelu, whose credits include Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, and Stevie Wonder, to mention just a few.

Omars interview with host Elliot Forrest touches on his latest CD release, Pictures of Soul, with world music innovator, percussionist and composer Adam Rudolph. Omar and Adam will celebrate the release of Pictures of Soul with three California concerts in March:

March 17
HEAR Music, Santa Monica, CA
(Los Angeles)

March 18
The Monday Club, San Luis Obispo, CA

March 20
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts,
San Francisco, CA
www.yerbabuenaarts.org

March 22
Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz, CA
www.kuumbwajazz.org

In April, Omar will be joined again by Mino Cinelu in a number of concert dates on the East Coast, including:

April 14
Manuel Artime Theater, Miami, FL

April 15
Joes Pub, New York, NY

April 17
Cape May Jazz Festival, Cape May, NJ

April 18
Southam Hall, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

For more details on these and other Omar Sosa performances, please visit www.melodia.com.

Pictures of Soul is available at your favorite record store, or visit www.melodia.com.

Omar Sosa recently received a BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music nomination in the ‘Americas’ category, along with Ibrahim Ferrer, Caetano Veloso, and Os Tribalistas. Winners will be announced on January 31, 2004, with a special awards ceremony on March 9, 2004 at Usher Hall in Edinburgh, Scotland.

For details, please visit:

www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/world/awards2004/

U.K.-based Union Square Music will release a compilation CD of tracks from each of the nominees on their Manteca label, set for February 23, 2004.

For more information, please visit:

www.unionsquaremusic.co.uk

Artist – Omar Sosa and Adam Rudolph
Title – Pictures of Soul
Catalog # – OTA1012
Label – OTA Records
Release Date – January 13, 2004
UPC Code – 616444101229
File Under – Jazz
U.S. Distribution – harmonia mundi

Pictures of Soul is an improvised music collaboration between Cuban pianist Omar Sosa and Los Angeles-based percussionist Adam Rudolph. These two creative musicians have enjoyed each other’s work at a distance for several years. Both share an appreciation of ritual trance music – music that leads us into altered states of consciousness. In April of 2002, when Sosa and his Septet arrived in Los Angeles for a run at the Jazz Bakery, it was possible for these kindred spirits to meet and make music together. The result is Pictures of Soul, a poignant aural journey into the transcendent realms of the creative music process.

Sosa and Rudolph both experience their art as an interactive spiritual voyage. Their approach in the studio called simply for an openness to explore musical landscapes together – without charts, without rehearsal. In Pictures of Soul we find a wide range of expression, from delicate introspection to fiery dance. Sosa plays mostly acoustic piano, both on the keys and inside the instrument. Rudolph is featured on an array of hand drums, including djembe, tarija, dumbek and tabla.

Sosa has released ten recordings on the Ot label since 1997, including 2002’s GRAMMY-nominated Sentir. He performed recently with his Octet at the opening of Carnegie Hall’s new Zankel Hall, about which Alex Ross of The New Yorker remarked that Sosa has “a ferocious flair for rhythm and a keen musical wit”. Composer John Adams, who curated the opening of Carnegie Hall’s new venue, commented that “Sosa is a deeply creative musician with an extraordinary harmonic sense. His piano playing is sui generis: It has obvious roots in Cuban music, but he’s taken his approach to the keyboard into completely new regions”. And Don Heckman of The Los Angeles Times recently wrote “Sosa’s vision of contemporary jazz reaches across every imaginable boundary”. For more information, please visit www.melodia.com.

Mr. Rudolph, a native of Chicago, is known as one of the early innovators in what is now called “World Music”. In 1977 he co-founded The Mandingo Griot Society with Gambian musician Foday Musa Suso, one of the first bands to combine African and American music. In 1988, he recorded the first fusion of American and Gnawa music with Moroccan sintir player and vocalist Hassan Hakmoun and jazz trumpet great Don Cherry. In the same year, Rudolph began his association with the legendary Yusef Lateef, which continues to this day. Hailed by Down Beat as “a percussion wizard”, he currently leads his own ensemble, Go: Organic Orchestra. For more information on Mr. Rudolph, please visit www.metarecords.com.

Fans of improvised music as well as aficionados of all types of intimate jazz settings will find Pictures of Soul a rewarding listen. For more information, press kit, or interviews, please email pictures@melodia.com.

We are pleased to announce that Omar Sosa has been invited to perform at the opening of Carnegie Hall’s new Zankel Hall, a brand-new performance space located underground at Carnegie Hall. The 650-seat, state-of-the-art facility will open the weekend of September 12-14 with a series of performances curated by composer John Adams, who was recently appointed to The Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall for the next three years, a post previously held by Pierre Boulez.

The Omar Sosa Octet will perform at 10:00 PM on Friday, September 12, 2003. Tickets are $25.00, and are available online by visiting www.carnegiehall.org, or by phone at 212-247-7800.

Mr. Sosa’s ensemble will consist of Martha Galarraga (Cuba), vocals; Gustavo Ovalles (Venezuela), percussion; Geoff Brennan (U.S.A.), acoustic bass; Yassir Chadly (Morocco), vocals; Luis Depestre (Cuba), saxophones; Brutha Los (U.S.A.), hip-hop lyricist/rapper; and Josh Jones (U.S.A.), drums. Omar will be presenting new material developed on tour in Europe this summer, as well as selections from his recent recordings “Sentir” and “Prietos”.

Highlights of Omar Sosa’s concert schedule for Fall 2003 in the United States and Canada include:

Sept 16 African American Art & Culture Complex, San Francisco, CA (Quintet)
Sept 17 Esalen, Big Sur, CA (Quintet)
Sept 18 Cal Poly Theater, San Luis Obispo, CA (Quintet)
Sept 19 Merced Multicultural Arts Center, Merced, CA (Quintet)
Sept 20 Monterey Jazz Festival, Monterey, CA (Quintet)
Sept 25 Equinox Music Festival, Boston, MA (Octet)
Sept 26 Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (Octet)
Sept 27 Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (Octet)
Sept 28 HotHouse, Chicago, IL (Quintet)
Sept 30 Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, Cerritos, CA (Octet)
Oct 5 Theatre on San Pedro Square, San Jose, CA (Quintet)
Oct 6 Outpost, Albuquerque, NM (Quintet)
Oct 8 Le Spectrum, Montreal, Canada (Octet)
Oct 10 Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (Octet)

Advance copies of Omar Sosa’s new solo piano recording, “A New Life”, will soon be available through www.melodia.com. Details to follow in our next newsletter. Official release date is September 9, 2003.

Release date for Omar’s new recording with percussionist Adam Rudolph is set for January 13, 2004.

Omar Sosa – Summer Concert Schedule 2003

May 22 Arrecife Jazz, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain – TRIO

May 23 Matosinho Jazz Festival, Porto, Portugal – SEPTET

May 24 Dunya Festival, Rotterdam, The Netherlands – SEPTET
FREE concert in Euromast Park, 11:15 PM, www.dunya.nl

June 13 Jazz en Franche Comte, Aspro Jazz, Besancon, France – TRIO

June 19 Salle Nougaro, Toulouse, France – DUO

June 21 Rencontres Internationales de Jazz, Nevers, France – SEPTET

June 23 Festival Rio Garonne, Toulouse, France – SEPTET

June 27 Verona Jazz Festival, Verona, Italy – SEPTET

June 28 Festival del Mediterraneo, Genova, Italy – Trio (tbc)

July 2 Monument National, Montreal Jazz Festival, Montreal, Canada – SOLO
Double bill with Hilton Ruiz

July 10 Lugano Jazz Festival, Lugano, Switzerland – SEPTET

July 12 North Sea Jazz Festival, Den Haag, The Netherlands – DUO
Celebrating Omar’s current CD “Ayaguna”
with percussionist Gustavo Ovalles

July 15 Universijazz, Valladolid, Spain – SEXTET

July 31 Blue Note, Tokyo, Japan – OCTET
Aug 1 Blue Note, Tokyo, Japan – OCTET

Aug 3 Esperanhza, Namur, Belgium – OCTET

Aug 6 Fiesta Latina, Sete (near Montpellier), France – OCTET

Aug 7 Hot Metronome, Spoletto, Italy – OCTET

Aug 8 Jazz on the Coast, Minori, Italy – OCTET

Aug 9 Italy – OCTET

Aug 10 Italy – OCTET

Aug 23 Aste Negusia, Bilbao, Spain – OCTET

To schedule an interview please email omar@melodia.com or for more information please visit www.melodia.com or call 510-339-3389 (USA).

Two new Omar Sosa recordings with release dates later this year:

Omar’s third solo piano recording, entitled “A New Life” (OTA1011), and a new duo recording with percussionist Adam Rudolph entitled “Pictures Of Soul” (OTA1012). For more information on these recordings, please email cds@melodia.com

THE OMAR SOSA TRIO
LATIN JAZZ WITH A TWIST

Cuban pianist Omar Sosa made his Boston-area debut at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center a week ago Thursday with a set of infectiously joyful Afro-Cuban jazz. Unlike a lot of Latin jazz, however, the music played by Sosa and his trio was exploratory. The folkloric traditions that root Latin jazz in its danceable rhythms and give it its folksy appeal also have a tendency to make the style formulaic. But though it’s clear that Sosa, percussionist Gustavo Ovalles and alto-saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa know those formulas well, they never let orthodoxy stand in the way of their pursuit of freedom. In the first of the trio’s two sets, Sosa enlivened the mix of jazz, blues, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms with electronics, and he played the inside of the piano with brushes and other objects. Tempos were fluid and the mood changed freely. In the end, the performance was doubly exhilarating: Sosa’s trio took full advantage of Latin jazz’s fun and funky grooves while adding experimental touches to keep listeners on their toes.

Sosa and Ovalles are the heart of the trio; the mixture of respect and playfulness that they bring to Afro-Cuban rhythms set the tone for the concert, as it does on their new duo CD, Ayaguna (Ot). The opening ” Eleggua ” combined the ritualistic beat of bata drums (which are used in santera religious ceremonies) with Sosa’s restless piano. Sosa played a teasing, episodic solo – a Puckish improvisation in keeping with the trickster personality of the santera deity after whom the tune is named. It ranged widely and jump-cut from motif to motif, but there was little of the surface flash and technical dazzle usually heard in Cuban jazz.

A duet with Mahanthappa found Sosa using an echo effect in the same way dub reggae producers do: when he hit a chord, the pulsing echo added an extra rhythmic layer to the groove. Mahanthappa dove right in with a dark reedy tone and driving lines that thrust themselves over and around Sosa’s chords. When they built the tension to a fever pitch, Ovalles slid in with a medium funk groove that sent the band off into a prolonged three-way jam.

Traditional montuno piano vamps set the stage for the trio’s version of ” Remember Monk. ” But it wasn’t long before Sosa was stretching the song’s Cuban roots to the snapping point. At one point, he got the audience to snap their fingers in time as Mahanthappa started soloing. Then he began to scrape the piano strings with a brush, creating scratching shimmering sounds. With Sosa playing both the piano strings and the keyboard in synch with Ovalles’s congas, Mahanthappa’s chromatic lines knotted their way into the percussive weave in one of his best solos of the night.

There were more sonic surprises in store. On ” In a Dream, ” Ovalles twirled a plastic tube over his head to create a ghostly humming melody that complemented Sosa’s hushed gospel chords and Mahanthappa’s tender alto playing. On ” Karanbao en D, ” Sosa tossed a clump of shells onto the piano strings while Ovalles played the berimbau (a Brazilian one-stringed percussion instrument). It was a mark of Sosa’s progressive conception of pan-Latin jazz that the most melodically abstract moment of the night was also the funkiest. The final ” Iyawo ” showed Sosa at his most delicate and lyrical, and it reminded us that as far and wide as this trio were willing to range, the basic jazz building blocks of melody and rhythm remain the spiritual and emotional bedrock on which all their music rests.

BY ED HAZELL
Issue Date: May 2 – 8, 2003

Saturday, May 3, 8:00 PM
Dimensions Dance Theater
30 Year Anniversary Celebration
Calvins Simmons Theater
10 Tenth Street
Oakland, California

Tickets $25.00 general admission, $20.00 students & seniors
Visit ticketweb.com or call 415-901-0210 or at the door

On Saturday, May 3, Dimensions Dance Theater (DDT) will celebrate 30 years of dance with the production of “From Africa to America: Legacies” at Calvin Simmons Theater in Oakland. This new large-scale, multi-disciplinary work is choreographed by artistic director Deborah Vaughan in collaboration with Cuban composer and pianist Omar Sosa. “Legacies” will explore the artistic traditions of the African Diaspora via “backwards mapping”, from Oakland to the Caribbean, to the African interior and the centuries-old tribes of Zimbabwe.

“Legacies” began in June 1998 when Dimensions Dance Theater was awarded an INROADS grant. Since then, various parts of the work have been developed through a series of local and international residencies. The first phase of the choreography, “Between Shores”, was developed in 2000, during the company’s residency in Cuba. This section of “Legacies” was later workshopped during DDT’s 2001 home season. The second phase of the work, “In The Shadows Of Our Ancestors, Mudzimu” (2002), was initiated with the company’s residency in Zimbabwe in 2001. This section focused on the mythology central to Zimbabwean life, the role of art in social change, and the many voices of Africa.

For more infomation, please call 510-465-3363.

EXCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENTS: Paris & San Francisco

Always one for stretching boundaries and experimenting, Cuban composer and pianist Omar Sosa brings an entirely new, multi-media concept to Paris and San Francisco this Spring. Working in collaboration with London-based video artists Marc Silver and Nick Hillel, collectively known as YEAST, Omar will present four concerts that fuse new digital video technology with live performances by the Omar Sosa Duo, featuring master Venezuelan percussionist Gustavo Ovalles. The VJs will sample, mix and project images, illuminating the venues in synchronization with the live musical performance. The content is both personal and political, with messages that enter first the realm of the emotions.

PARIS
Tuesday, March 18 and Wednesday, March 19
Studio de L’Ermitage
8, rue de L’Ermitage
75020 Paris
For tickets please call 01 40 09 64 66 or FNAC locations

SAN FRANCISCO
Friday, April 18 and Saturday, April 19
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
701 Mission Street at 3rd Street
San Francisco
Tickets $18.00 regular; $15.00 adance, seniors, students; $10.00 members
Call 415-978-2787 or visit www.YerbaBuenaArts.org

Joining the Duo as special guests in San Francisco will be Moroccan vocalist Yassir Chadly, didjeridu master Stephen Kent, and hip-hop lyricist/rapper Brutha Los.

Gustavo Ovalles plays a number of traditional Venezuelan percussion instruments, including quitiplas and culo’e puya, as well as congas, bongo, maracas, guiro, snare and cymbals. In February 2003, Omar Sosa and Gustavo Ovalles released a live Duo recording entitled “Ayaguna” (OTA1010). Writing in the February 22 issue of Billboard, Philip Van Vleck notes that “the entire album is simply transcendent. Sosa is shaping a new synthesis of Latin and American Jazz”.

For more information and complete tour schedule, please visit www.melodia.com or email OTA Records at duo@melodia.com.

OMAR SOSA NEWSLETTER
OTA Records * Number 20
Oakland, CA * February 20, 2003
www.melodia.com

Omar Sosa tour schedule in Europe and the United States:

February 21 Croydon Clock Tower, London, U.K.

February 27 Espace Senghor, Brussels, Belgium

March 6 & 7 Sala Clamores, Madrid, Spain

March 11 Salle Nougaro, Toulouse, France

March 14 Theatre Municipal, Fontenay Le Comte, France

March 18 & 19 L’Ermitage, Paris, France

March 22 L’Art-Chipel, Basse Terre, Guadaloupe

March 29 Les Swing de Mars, Dreux, France

April 10 Jazz a Commercy, Commercy, France

April 18 & 19 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco

April 20 Theater on High Street, Moorpark (Los Angeles), CA

April 21 & 22 Dakota Bar & Grill, St. Paul, MN

April 23 Christ Church Cathedral, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

April 24 Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, Cambridge, MA

April 25 Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT

April 26 Joe’s Pub, New York City

May 3 Calvin Simmons Theater, Oakland, CA

For show times and ticket prices, check www.melodia.com.

Omar’s latest CD, “Ayaguna”, a live recording with Venezuelan percussionist Gustavo Ovalles, is now available in stores worldwide. For distribution information, please email dist@melodia.com.

OMAR SOSA GRAMMY NOMINATION

Omar Sosa’s 2002 CD release, “Sentir”, received last week a GRAMMY nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. The recording combines traditional vocals and rhythms from Cuba, Venezuela and Morocco with contemporary jazz harmonies and spoken word. It brings together the guembri, a traditional stringed instrument from the Gnawa culture of North Africa, with bata drums, and several Afro-Venezuelan percussion instruments, including quitiplas and culo’e puya. Writing for “The BEAT” magazine, Robert Leaver comments that “Sentir is a truly groundbreaking recording that fuses Afro-Cuban and Moroccan folklore with jazz attitude and a rap overlay”. Also receiving nominations in the Best Latin Jazz Album category are recordings by Jane Bunnett, Caribbean Jazz Project, Duduka Da Fonseca, and John Santos & the Machete Ensemble. The 45th Annual GRAMMY winners will be announced in New York City on February 23, 2003.

NEW OMAR SOSA CD RELEASE

Omar’s next CD release, “Ayaguna”, is due in stores in the U.S. on February 11, 2003. Recorded live in Japan at Motion Blue Yokohama with Venezuelan percussionist Gustavo Ovalles, “Ayaguna” features Omar moving freely from intensive groove patterns to very delicate modes of expression. Mr. Ovalles provides a steady foundation for the aural feast with several Afro-Venezuelan percussion instruments, including quitiplas and culo’e puya, as well as congas, bongo, maracas, and guiro. “Ayaguna” includes an enhanced CD bonus track version of the ballad, “Iyawo”, with multi-media visual production by London-based VJs Marc Silver and Nick Hillel. The bonus track offers an engaging glimpse of one of Omar’s new directions for live performance, in which the VJs sample, mix and project images onto a large screen in synchronization with the music. Omar Sosa and his VJ Ensemble will perform at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco on April 18 and April 19, 2003.

AFRO-SYMPHONIC WORLD PREMIERE - GUEST ARTISTS

Guest artists for the world premiere of Omar Sosa’s work for symphony orchestra, “From Our Mother”, at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California on Friday, January 24 include Lazaro Galarraga, Stephen Kent, Maria Marquez, Benigno Medina, Hafez Modirzadeh, Jackeline Rago, and Michael Spiro. The evening will begin at 7:05 PM with a pre-concert lecture by Omar Sosa, hosted by Jesse “Chuy” Varela, music director of Bay Area jazz station KCSM. Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, the Paramount Box Office (no service charge), or www.oebs.org. For more information please call 510-444-0801.

One of the great Cuban percussion masters, Lazaro Galarraga is currently based in Los Angeles. He is a native of Havana, founding member of the Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba, and world-renowned teacher, performing artist, choreographer and writer of Afro-Cuban music. Mr. Galarraga is the musical director for Caribbean Crew and for the Percussion Artists Workshop’s (PAWS) Afro-Cuban Folklore Ensemble in Los Angeles.

Composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and master didjeridu player Stephen Kent was born in England and raised in both East Africa and the U.K. He has performed around the world with many prominent artists, including Airto Moreira, Zakir Hussain, and Herbie Hancock. Mr. Kent is also well-known in the Bay Area for his weekly world music show on KPFA.

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, vocalist Maria Marquez is a graduate of Berklee College of Music (Boston) and has been living, recording and performing in the Bay Area for the past 18 years. Her first self-produced recording as a solo artist, “Eleven Love Stores” (Palm Pictures/2001), received national and international acclaim. Ms. Marquez’ next CD is due out later this year.

Benigno Medina is a master Afro-Venezuelan percussionist from Caracas, specializing in the ritual music of the Bata drums. He has been a member of the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Caracas since 1997, and is a founder of the Cedra Libre de Percusion in Caracas. Mr. Medina has recorded with Orlando Poleo, Alfredo Naranjo, and Adrenalina Caribe.

Saxophonist and composer Hafez Modirzadeh has recorded for dozens of jazz and world music releases over the past two decades, including Don Cherry, Peter Apfelbaum, Steve Lacy, and Zakir Hussein. Mr. Modirzadeh received a doctorate in music from Wesleyan University. He is the recipient of two NEA Jazz Fellowships, and is currently a professor of music at San Francisco State University.

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Jackeline Rago is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, producer and educator specializing in the cuatro (the national string instrument of Venezuela) and Afro-Venezuelan percussion instruments. She is currently a CAC Artist in Residence, and musical director of The Venezuelan Music Project (a Venezuelan folk music ensemble). Ms. Rago has recorded and toured nationally for over fifteen years.

Michael Spiro is an internationally recognized percussionist, recording artist, and educator, known particularly for his work in the Latin music field. He has performed on hundreds of records, co-produced several instructional videos for Warner Bros. Publications, and produced seminal recordings for Orquesta Batachanga, Grupo Bata-Ketu, and Grupo Ilu-Ana.

Omar’s complete touring schedule can be found at www.melodia.com.

Omar Sosa Stands at the Head of this Piano Class

January 19, 2003

By Don Heckman
Special to The Los Angeles Times

The relationship between jazz and Cuban music has been a virtual love
feast since the ‘40s, when Mario Bauza, Machito, Dizzy Gillespie and
Chano Pozo sat down at the same musical table.

The close connection continued through succeeding decades, enhanced by
groups such as Irakere since the ‘70s, and by the ‘80s defection to
the U.S. of trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and woodwind specialist Paquito
D’Rivera.

More recently players such as pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba have further
affirmed the persistence of the intimate relationship between the two
musical forms.

A new phase in the jazz and Cuban music linkage is being unveiled by
gifted pianist Omar Sosa. Previous blendings of the two genres have
tended to emphasize the powerful energies of Afro-Cuban rhythms in
combination with the harmonic structures and improvisational qualities
of jazz. Sosa, however, has moved beyond the parallelism of musical
elements into a kind of natural, organic expressiveness in which the
musics’ separate identities are replaced by a seamless, creative
mutuality.

In his latest release, “Ayaguna” (****, Ota Records), he teams up in a
live duo concert with Venezuelan percussionist Gustavo Ovalles. Both
are followers of Santeria, the Cuban manifestation of the Yoruba
culture of West Africa. The album title describes one of the paths of
Obatala, a Yoruban deity associated with peace and wisdom as well as
revolution and progress. And the music on the CD, which was recorded
at a 2002 concert in Yokohama, Japan, superbly reflects all those
qualities.

Reference points for Sosa’s performance include Thelonious Monk, Cecil
Taylor, Randy Weston and Herbie Nichols, among others. But he has
synthesized attributes from each of these adventurous pianists into
his own unique voice.

The results are extraordinary. Using the piano’s potential to the
fullest, usually from the keyboard, occasionally reaching in to stroke
the strings, he produces wildly spirited rhythms—complete, on “Una
Tradicion Negra,” with shouted interjections. On “Trip in the White
Scarf,” an electronic echo delay is employed, enlivening Sosa’s
powerful explosions of rich note clusters with eerie repetitions.

He contrasts the hammering intensity of passages reminiscent of Taylor
with the tender lyricism of “My Three Notes,” and emphasizes his Cuban
roots with the surging dance rhythms and scorching montunas of
“Toridanzon.”

Sosa, 37, immigrated to San Francisco in the mid-’90s and now has
reportedly moved to Spain. Each of his seven albums has revealed
impressive musical progression. His last album, “Sentir,” released in
2002, was nominated for a Latin Grammy and is a nominee for the Latin
jazz album in next month’s Grammy Awards.

“Ayaguna,” which arrives in stores the first week in February, fully
deserves even more attention, as does Sosa. Still far too little-known
in this country, he has all the traits necessary to become one of the
important figures in jazz.

Omar Sosa’s next CD release on OTA Records, entitled Ayaguna (OTA1010), will
be in stores worldwide beginning February 2003. The live Duo recording
celebrates Omar’s collaboration with Venezuelan percussionist Gustavo
Ovalles. These two kindred spirits have been performing together since
1999, delighting audiences throughout Europe, Japan, and the United States
with their inspired musical chemistry and creativity. Please see below for
a listing of the Duo’s upcoming tour schedule in Europe.

Ayaguna was recorded at Motion Blue in Yokohama, Japan, the newest of the
Blue Note-run venues in that country, following a three-night engagement by
the Omar Sosa Octet at the Blue Note Tokyo in July of 2002. The intimate
duo setting allows Omar to exult freely and passionately at the piano
(inside and out), moving with ease from intensive groove patterns to
delicate, balladic modes of expression.

In addition, the performance is enhanced by the live interaction of the
Motion Blue sound engineer, who provides an undulating dimension of audio
effects throughout the concert. While the various sound effects interact
with the piano performance, the percussion accompaniment of Mr. Ovalles
provides a steady base for the aural feast. Mr. Ovalles is featured on a
number of interesting Venezuelan percussion instruments, including quitiplas
and culo’e puya, as well as congas, bongo, maracas, guiro, snare and
cymbals. An extraordinary synergy and sensitivity between the two musical
voices is evident throughout the recording.

The title, Ayaguna, is taken from Ifa, the religious practice of the Yoruba
culture of West Africa, and its New World offspring in Cuba (known as
Santeria). Ayaguna is one of the paths of Obatala, the diety of peace and
wisdom, albeit a path of Obatala as a young and fierce warrior, for whom
revolution is a necessary part of change and progress. Both Mr. Sosa and
Mr. Ovalles are “sons” of Obatala in their practice of Santeria, from which
they draw much inspiration.

Ayaguna concludes with an enhanced CD bonus track version of the ballad
Iyawo, featuring multi-media video production by London-based VJs Marc
Silver and Nick Hillel, collectively known as Yeast. The bonus track offers
an engaging glimpse into one of Mr. Sosa’s new directions for live
performance, in which the VJs sample, mix and project images onto a large
screen in synchronization with the music.

Omar Sosa’s previous CD, Sentir, received a Latin GRAMMY nomination for Best
Latin Jazz Album, as well as the award for Afro-Caribbean Jazz Album of the
Year from the Jazz Journalists Association in New York. For more
information, press kit, video, or interview, please contact
music@melodia.com.

Omar Sosa tour dates in the United States will follow in our next
Newsletter.

AFRO-SYMPHONIC WORLD PREMIERE

The Oakland East Bay Symphony (OEBS), led by Music Director and Conductor
Michael Morgan, will present the world premiere of Cuban composer and
pianist Omar Sosa’s first, full-length symphony, entitled From Our Mother.
The work, co-commissioned by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San
Francisco and the Oakland East Bay Symphony, will be performed on January
24, 2003 at 8:00 PM at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California. Also
on this, the second program of the Symphony’s 14th season, will be works by
Schreker, Tchaikovsky, and Saint Saens. Omar Sosa will present a free,
pre-performance talk beginning at 7:05 PM.

Maestro Morgan has long admired Sosa’s unique fusion of world music, jazz,
and folkloric instrumentation. “Sosa’s music is deeply spiritual,
rhythmically textured, and joyful. He is a musical adventurer, and I’m
thrilled OEBS will be joining him on this leg of the journey.”

>From Our Mother is an Afro-Symphonic work based on traditional folk melodies
and rhythms from Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, and West Africa. The concept of
the three-movement work is to interpret these traditional folk materials
with modern jazz harmonies using a classical symphony orchestra and combined
folkloric ensemble. Sosa’s premise is that the varied musical elements of
the cultures of the African Diaspora are united by common roots. From Our
Mother is a reflection of Sosa’s search for this underlying unity of musical
expression.

For tickets, please visit www.oebs.org or click:

https://ticketing.ticketmaster.com/cgi/purchasePage.asp?event_id=1C0035147BF4230E&artistid=806636&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=203

OMAR SOSA DUO*/TRIO** TOUR SCHEDULE

Duo – January 3 – 19th Annual Int’l Jazz Festival – Munster, Germany***
Trio – January 30 – L’Atelier Volant – Lausanne, Switzerland
Trio – January 31 – Moods – Zurich, Switzerland
Duo – February 1 – La Cave a Musique – Macon, France
Duo – February 4 – CC JJ Rousseau – Seyssinet, France
Duo – February 5 – Les Trinitaires – Metz, France
Duo – February 6 – Le Chabada – Angers, France
Duo – February 7 – Le Noctambule – Albi, France
Duo – February 8 – Barbican – London, England
Duo – February 14 – Clamores – Madrid, Spain
Duo – February 15 – Clamores – Madrid, Spain
Trio – February 21 – Croydon Clock Tower – London, England
Trio – February 27 – Espace Senghor – Brussels, Belgium
Duo – March 8 – 6 Festival de Jazz de la Universidad – Sevilla, Spain
Duo – March 14 – Theatre Municipal – Fontenay Le Comte
Trio – April 10 – Jazz Commercy, France

*All dates with Gustavo Ovalles (except January 3)

**Trio with Martha Galarraga

***Duo with Miguel “Anga” Diaz (January 3 only)

Omar Sosa’s Fall Tour 2002 gets underway in the U.K. this weekend (October 12), and continues over 30 cities in ten European countries. Joining Omar in an ensemble he’s calling “Manos Derechas” (Right Hands) will be:

Martha Galarraga (Cuba) vocals
Gustavo Ovalles (Venezuela) percussion
Javier Campos (Cuba) percussion
Miguel Rios Morales (Cuba) percussion
Childo Tomas (Mozambique) bass
Eric Crystal (San Francisco) saxophones
Sub-Z (Washington, DC) hip-hop lyricist/rapper

Tour dates include:

October 12 Warwick Arts Center – Coventry, England
October 13 Queen Elisabeth Hall – London, England
October 16 Nancy Jazz Pulsations – Nancy, France
October 17 Enjoy Jazz – Ludwigshafen, Germany
October 18 Spielboden – Dornbirn, Austria
October 19 Quasimodo – Berlin, Germany
October 20 Pavillon – Hannover, Germany
October 22 Theater – Russelsheim, Germany
October 23 JVC Jazz Festival/Melkweg – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
October 25 L’Aeronef – Lille, France
October 26 Festival de Rive de Giers, France
October 27 Jazz Contrebande – La Ferney Voltaire, France
October 30 Pavillon Theater – Brighton, England (TRIO w/Martha & Gustavo)
October 31 Cuba Si! Festival – Glasgow, Scotland
November 1 Jazz Velannet – Lavelannet, France
November 2 Arenberg Theater – Antwerp, Belgium
November 3 Redoute – Passau, Germany
November 4 Cankarjev Dom – Ljubljana, Slovenia
November 8 Leverkusener Jazztag – Leverkusen, Germany
November 9 Verden I Norden – Oslo, Norway
November 11 Concert Hall – Aarhus, Denmark
November 12 Thtre Duchamp Fleuri – Rouen, France
November 14 Salle Victoire II - Montpellier, France
November 16 MJC Picaud – Cannes, France
November 19 La Coursive/Scne Nationale – La Rochelle, France
November 20 Le Moulin de Roc – Niort, France
November 21 La Blaiserie – Poitiers, France
November 23 Le Cap – Aulnay-sous-Bois, France (near Paris)
November 28 Jazz Reims, France

For more information please visit www.melodia.com.

Omar’s first work for orchestra, “From Our Mother”, will debut on Friday, January 24, 2003 at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California with the Oakland East Bay Symphony under the direction of Michael Morgan. “From Our Mother” is a co-commission of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and the Oakland East Bay Symphony. For tickets please call 510-444-0801 or visit www.oebs.org.

Dear Friends,

We’d like to convey a final reminder that Omar Sosa and his band will be at Yoshi’s in Oakland, CA (510 Embarcadero West, Jack London Square) on Monday and Tuesday, September 9 & 10. This will be Omar’s first time at Yoshi’s as a leader,and an opportunityfor him to showcase material from his recent Latin GRAMMY nominated CD, “Sentir”. Tickets are $16.00 and are available by calling Yoshi’s at 510-238-9200, or by visiting www.yoshis.com. There are two shows nightly at 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM.

Joining Omar for these special performances will be Martha Galarraga (from Cuba) singing Yoruba chants (FBI willing); Gustavo Ovalles (from Venezuela) playing batas, congas, bongo, and several Venezuelan percussion instruments (including culo e puya and quitiplas); Yassir Chadly (from Morocco) singing Arabic chants; Eric Crystal (San Francisco) playing saxophones; Brutha Los (Oakland) providing the hip-hop lyrics; and Geoff Brennan (now in Chicago) playing acoustic bass.

Other Northern California dates include:

September 7 Merced Multicultural Arts Center
September 12Fresno State University
September 14Sonoma Valley Jazz Society
September 16Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz

Please see www.melodia.com for details…

The Omar Sosa Octet will tour in Europe this Fall:

October 12 Warwick Arts Center – Coventry, England
October 13 Queen Elisabeth Hall – London, England
October 16 Nancy Jazz Pulsations – Nancy, France
October 17 Enjoy Jazz – Ludwigshafen, Germany
October 18 Spielboden – Dornbirn, Austria
October 19 Quasimodo – Berlin, Germany
October 20 Pavillon – Hannover, Germany
October 22 Theater – Russelsheim, Germany
October 23 JVC Jazz Festival/Melkweg -Amsterdam, The Netherlands
October 25 L’Aeronef – Lille, France
October 26 Festival de Rive de Giers, France
October 27 Jazz Contrebande – La Ferney Voltaire, France
October 30 Pavillon Theater – Brighton, England (TRIO w/Martha & Gustavo)
October 31 Cuba Si! Festival -Glasgow, Scotland
November 1Jazz Velannet – Lavelannet, France
November 2Arenberg Theater – Antwerp, Belgium
November 3Redoute – Passau, Germany
November 4Cankarjev Dom -Ljubjana, Slovenia
November 8Leverkusener Jazztag – Leverkusen, Germany
November 9Verden I Norden – Oslo, Norway
November 12Thtre Duchamp Fleuri – Rouen, France
November 16MJC Picaud -Cannes, France
November 19La Coursive/Scne Nationale – La Rochelle, France
November 20Le Moulin de Roc- Niort, France
November 21La Blaiserie – Poitiers, France
November 23Le Cap – Aulnay-sous-Bois, France (near Paris)
November 28Jazz Reims, France

Omar Sosa was recently nominated for a Latin GRAMMY Award for Best Latin Jazz Album for his most recent recording, “Sentir” (OTA1009). “Sentir” combines Omar’s Afro-Cuban roots with Latin jazz, Gnawa ritual music, hip-hop, and music from Afro-Venezuelan folkloric traditions. Writes Robert Leaver in The Beat magazine, “Sentir is a truly groundbreaking recording that fuses Afro-Cuban and Moroccan folklore with jazz attitude and a rap overlay.”

The 3rd Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards, to be held on September 18 in Hollywood at Kodak Theatre, will present awards in 40 key categories covering many genres and sub-genres of Latin music. A complete list of nominees can be found at http://press.grammy.aol.com/3latin.pdf.

Following two special shows this month with saxophonist David Murray (one on August 23 in Rocella Jonica, Italy; the other on August 25 in the Azores, Portugal), Omar heads back to the United States in September for several small ensemble dates in Northern California,as well as a brief tour in the mid-West with his Octet:

Saturday, September 7 Merced Multicultural Arts Center, Merced, CA (Quartet)

Thursday, September 19 Music Hall, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (Octet)
Friday, September 20Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, WI (Octet)
Saturday, September 21 World Music Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL (Octet)
Sunday, September 22World Music Festival, HotHouse, Chicago, IL (Octet)

For further details on times and ticket prices, please visit www.melodia.com. Also on the program at the Museum of Contemporary Art on September 21 is the JUBA Quartet (from Chicago); and on the program at HotHouse on September 22 is Tama (from Mali).

Featured in the small ensemble on September 7, 12 and 16 will be noted saxophonist and professor of music, Hafez Modirzadeh.

The Yoshi’s line-up will include vocalist Martha Galarraga (Cuba), percussionist Gustavo Ovalles (Venezuela), vocalist Yassir Chadly (Morocco), saxophonist Eric Crystal (San Francisco), and hip-hop lyricist/rapper Brutha Los. Rounding out the line-up for the Octet performances will be drummer Elliot Kavee (New York) and bassist Geoff Brennan (Chicago).

Details of Omar’s 26-city European tour this Fall (October and November) can also be found at www.melodia.com. The premiere of Omar’s work for symphony orchestra remains January 24, 2003 at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, CA, by the Oakland East Bay Symphony, Michael Morgan conducting.

We are pleased to announce that Omar Sosa received the award for Afro-Caribbean Jazz Album of the Year from the Jazz Journalists Association for his latest CD release “Sentir” (OTA1009). Presented on June 19, 2002 at the Jazz Standard in New York by JJA president Howard Mandel, Omar’s award was one of 39 categories acknowledged by the association. For complete JJA Jazz Awards winners, please visit www.jazzhouse.org.

In his review of Omar’s sold-out show at the Blue Note in New York on June 24, Ben RatliffofThe New York Times, under the headline “Votive Candles and Wild Riffs”, writes: “The Cuban-born pianist Omar Sosa has a nearly feral sense of showmanship: at the Blue Note on Monday night, performing for the first time in New York, he came to flatten the crowd, and he did. By far the greatest joys of the evening came inrhythmic vamps and breakdowns, when Brutha Los free-styled a rap about riding with Jesus in a Cadillac or when Ms. Galarraga intoned Yoruba chants and the band just worked out. But Mr. Sosa also furnished meticulously arranged parts to open and close his tunes. He played an astonishing piano solo, drenched in floridly classical, superanimated Cuban piano technique. He even plunged into astringent free improvisation with bass and drums, in the Cecil Taylor mode. But the set held together, and proved Mr. Sosa’s charismatic, large-canvas imagination” (June 28, 2002).

For the complete New York Times review, please visit http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/28/arts/music/28SOSA.html.

Omar Sosa’s concert schedule for July and August includes the following shows:

July 6 Bagnols Blues, Bagnol-sur-Ceze, France (Trio with Martha Galarraga and Gustavo Ovalles)
July 7 Park Jazz, Kortrijk, Belgium (Quintet)
July 15Messina (Sicily), Italy (Octet)
July 16Marsala (Sicily), Italy (Octet)
July 19Tondefestas, Tondela, Portugal (Septet)
July 22Blue Note Tokyo, Japan (Octet)
July 23Blue Note Tokyo, Japan (Octet)
July 24Blue Note Tokyo, Japan (Octet)
July 25Motion Blue, Yokohama, Japan (Duo with Gustavo Ovalles)
July 27Les Nuits des Suds, Vence, France (Octet)
July 30Angers l’Ete, Angers, France (Octet)
July 31Festival de Jazz, Aix-en-Provence, France (Octet)
August 3Jazz a Vannes, Vannes, France (Octet)
August 4Jazz in Marciac, Marciac, France (Octet)
August 5Fiesta Latina, Sete, France (Octet)
August 6Fitou (near Perpignan), France (Duo with Gustavo Ovalles)

Later in August, Omar Sosa will collaborate with renowned saxophonist David Murray in two special projects. The line-up will include Hamid Drake on drums; Jaribu Shahid on acoustic bass; Gustavo Ovalles, Miguel Rios Morales “Puntilla Jr.”, and Javier Campos on bata drums; and Martha Galarraga on vocals. The dates are as follows:

August 23 Rocella Jonica, Italy
August 25 Azores, Portugal

Omar Sosa’s Fall Tour 2002 will kick off with his first ever concert in London at Queen Elizabeth Hall on October 10.

We are pleased to announce that Cuban composer and pianist Omar Sosa and his band will perform at the BLUE NOTE in New York City on Monday, June 24. Two shows: 8 PM & 10:30 PM. $10.00 for seating; $5.00 for the bar area. Reservations recommended. For tickets, please visit www.bluenote.netor call 212-475-8592. The Blue Note is located at 131 West 3rd Street (between 6th Avenue and McDougal).

Joining Omar at the Blue Note will be vocalist Martha Galarraga (Cuba), percussionist Gustavo Ovalles (Venezuela), drummer Elliot Kavee (New York), bassist Geoff Brennan (San Francisco), saxophonist Eric Crystal (San Francisco), hip-hop lyricist/rapper Brutha Los (Oakland), plus special guests.

Reviewing a recent show at the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles, Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times wrote that “Sosa’s performance was an extraordinary example of state-of-the-art world jazz, splendidly illustrating how entrancing the music can become when it is open and receptive to global input and interaction” (April 18, 2002).

We are also pleased to announce that Omar Sosa’s new CD “Sentir” has been nominated for Afro-Caribbean Jazz Album of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association, along with recent recordings by Charlie Haden, David Sanchez, Jane Bunnett, and Michel Camilo. Winners in 39 categories will be announced at a cocktail party on Wednesday, June 19, 4-7 PM at Jazz Standard, New York City, 116 East 27th Street. Jazz industry representatives and the general public are invited to attend for $100.00 per ticket to benefit the Jazz Foundation of America’s Musicians Emergency Fund. Please visit www.jazzhouse.org or call 718-625-2026.

Additional Omar Sosa performances on the East Coast include:

Saturday, June 22 Clifford Brown Jazz Festival, Wilmington, DE
Sunday, June 23Summer Arts Festival, Huntington, NY (Long Island)
Friday, June 28 Spectrum, Montreal International Jazz Festival, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

For interviews or press materials, please contact OTA Records at 510-339-3389 or for more information please visit www.melodia.com.

Following a series of successful dates in the western United States, Omar Sosa continues his Spring touring in France, Germany, Austria, Turkey, and Reunion Island. The band features Geoff Brennan on acoustic bass; Elliot Kavee on drums; Gustavo Ovalles on percussion; Martha Galarraga on vocals; Eric Crystal on saxophones; Sub-Z on vocals; and for May and June dates in Europe marked Omar Sosa Octet, Moroccan vocalist El Houssaine Kili will join the ensemble. Mr. Kili is featured on Omar’s latest CD release, “Sentir”, along with Gustavo Ovalles, Martha Galarraga, and Sub-Z.

Saturday, May 11 Festival de jazz en pays du Luberon Banieux, FRANCE Omar Sosa Octet

Tuesday, May 14 New Morning Paris, FRANCE Omar Sosa Octet

Wednesday, May 15 Ninkasi Lyon, FRANCE Omar Sosa Octet

Thursday, May 16 Jazz Balade, Lo Bolegason Castres, FRANCE Omar Sosa Octet

Saturday, May 18 Le Florida Agen, FRANCE Omar Sosa Octet

Monday, May 20 Moers Festival Moers, GERMANY Omar Sosa Octet

Friday & Saturday, May 24 & 25 Theatre de St. Gilles Reunion Island (France), Indian Ocean Omar Sosa Septet

Saturday, June 1 Amphitheatre de Chateauvallon Ollioules, FRANCE Omar Sosa Septet

Monday, June 3 Porgy & Bess Vienna, AUSTRIA Omar Sosa Septet

Wednesday, June 5 Jazz It! Salzburg, AUSTRIA Omar Sosa Septet

Thursday, June 6 Innsbruck, AUSTRIA Omar Sosa Septet

Friday, June 7 Tubingen, GERMANY Omar Sosa Septet

Saturday, June 8 Odeon Goppingen, GERMANY Omar Sosa Septet

Sunday, June 9 Theaterzelt Recklinghausen, GERMANY Omar Sosa Octet

Monday, June 10 Bielefeld, GERMANY Omar Sosa Septet

Wednesday, June 12 Kassel, GERMANY Omar Sosa Septet

Tuesday & Wednesday, June 14 & 15 Babylon Istanbul, TURKEY Omar Sosa Septet

Summer touring dates include:

Saturday, June 22 Clifford Brown Jazz Festival Wilmington, Delaware, USA Omar Sosa Octet

Sunday, June 23 Summer Arts Festival Huntington, New York (Long Island), USA Omar Sosa Octet

Friday, June 28 Montreal Jazz Festival Montreal, Quebec, CANADA Omar Sosa Octet

Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, July 22, 23 & 24 Blue Note Tokyo, JAPAN Omar Sosa Octet

Thursday, July 25 Motion Blue Yokohama, JAPAN Omar Sosa Duo w/Gustavo Ovalles

Saturday, July 27 Les Nuits du Sud Vence, FRANCE Omar Sosa Octet

Tuesday, July 30 Angers l’Ete Angers, FRANCE Omar Sosa Octet

Wednesday, July 31 Festival de Jazz Aix-en-Provence, FRANCE Omar Sosa Octet

Saturday, August 3 Jazz a Vannes Vannes, FRANCE Omar Sosa Octet

Sunday, August 4 Jazz a Marciac Marciac, FRANCE Omar Sosa Octet

Reviewing the Omar Sosa Octet at the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles, Don Heckman wrote in the April 18, 2002 issue of the Los Angeles Times, “Sosa’s performance was an extraordinary example of state-of-the-art world jazz, splendidly illustrating how entrancing the music can become when it is open and receptive to global input and interaction.” “His visceral understanding of the full range of Cuban rhythms never went away, investing his piano playing with a rich stylistic diversity and a passionate emotional expressiveness.”

Following the release March 12 of his latest recording, “Sentir”, Omar Sosa begins an eight-city tourof the western U.S. with a special concert at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco on Saturday, April 6:

Saturday, April 6
8 PM, $15.00/$12.00 members
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts FORUM
701 Mission at 3rd Street, San Francisco
For advance tickets call 415-978-2787 or visit www.yerbabuenaarts.org

Joining Omar for the first time in the U.S. will be vocalist Martha Galarraga from Cuba and percussionist Gustavo Ovalles from Venezuela, both members of Omar’s regular touring and recording ensemble. Ms. Galarraga is a leading figure in the performance of Yoruban song and dance associated with Santeria, the spiritual practice of Cuba originating in West Africa. Mr. Ovalles brings with him a number of percussion instruments native to Venezuela, including the “culoepuya” and quitiplas. Hosted by journalist and KCSM music director, Chuy Varela, the concert will begin with a discussion/demonstration of the second movement of Omar’s work-under-construction for orchestra, entitled “From Our Mother”. The piece is a co-commission of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and the Oakland East Bay Symphony under the direction of Michael Morgan, and has been made possible through a Wattis Artist Residency at YBCA, with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation. “From Our Mother” will receive its premiere by the Oakland East Bay Symphony at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland on Friday, January 24, 2003.

Prior to their arrival in the U.S., Omar, Martha and Gustavo will join saxophonist David Murray for a special concert at the Musee Dapper in Paris on Wednesday, April 3, entitled “Cuba, the Sanctuary of Rhythms”. Also featured will be Ishmael Reed, poetry; Hamid Drake, drums; and Miguel Rios Puntilla and Xavier Campos, bata drums. Tickets for this event are available at FNAC, Musee Dapper (01 45 00 01 50), or visit www.3dfamily.org.

April/May 2002 U.S. tour schedule for the Omar Sosa Septet:

April 11 Unity Church, San Luis Obispo, CA
April 13 On The Boards, Seattle, WA (Earshot Jazz)
April 14 Richard’s On Richards, Vancouver, BC (Coastal Jazz & Blues Society)
April 16 Jazz Bakery, Los Angeles, CA
April 17 Jazz Bakery, Los Angeles, CA
April 18 Jazz Bakery, Los Angeles, CA
April 19 Jazz Bakery, Los Angeles, CA
April 20 Jazz Bakery, Los Angeles, CA
April 21 Jazz Bakery, Los Angeles, CA
April 26 OneWorld Theatre, Austin, TX
April 27 Houston International Festival, Houston, TX
April 29 Outpost, Albuquerque, NM
May 3Hidden Barn Studio (benefit concert), Big Sur, CA (Omar Sosa Quartet)
May 4SF JAZZ presents at the Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, CA
(with the Anthony Brown Asian American Orchestra)
May 5Big Sur Jazzfest, Big Sur, CA

For details on tickets and locations of these shows, please visit www.melodia.com.

Omar’s new CD, “Sentir”, has been receiving widespread critical acclaim. Selecting it as Album of the Week (February 15), Ben Ratliff, jazz critic for the New York Times, writes that Omar “is a versatile pianist with a big sound, especially strong in the extreme registers, and his fast fingers dig into montunos and Herbie Hancock jazz chords”. In The Washington Post (March 13), Fernando Gonzalez writes that Omar’s “is a music in which concepts of time (conveyed in various meters), grooves, instruments and textures from disparate traditions overlap, blend and collide. The results are both familiar and fresh – and always illuminating”.