Across The Divide (HN4538)


Across The Divide began like a shooting star - a luminous certainty that two folkloric musicians, a Cuban pianist and a New England multi-instrumentalist specializing in native and adopted American musics, could trace the connections between seemingly disparate worlds of thought. What was not seen at the start, however, was the great drama unfolding before us, a backdrop for the making of this record - the ascendancy of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States.

  His climb to power proved timely on so many levels - among them, the nation declaring its readiness to accept a leader of color at exactly the same moment we were birthing a song cycle highlighting the Middle Passage. From the castles of Ghana to the White House.

Moreover, the surround sound of the political machine filled the air with an unmusic  soundtrack; the relentless drone and grind of the campaign lending contrast to the stirring uplift of our musical discoveries. Across the Divide had not anticipated any seismic social shifts, had not aimed at didacticism. Indeed, its mandate was more pleasure-driven, in the ways of art and entertainment.
 
The crystallizing element in assembling this narrative was rhythm, heard through a melding and mingling of cultures and manifesting the shared roots between Omar Sosa and Tim Eriksen. No surprise, really. During the forced  migration of slaves, a practice that spanned centuries and fed the triangulated economies of Europe, Africa, and the Americas, indigenous musics and performance traditions entered New World ports, among them Havana and Chesapeake Bay. These strains of expression took root and became the basis for much popular culture.

Omar knows this in his bones. He is a global musician, attuned to the pulse of nature. His air of authority, of wisdom, is born from immersion in the musics of the world and a desire to propagate his folk heritage. Tim is a preservationist, uncovering songs dug deep in the soil and offering them as evidence of an exchange system distinctly American because of its cultural beginnings elsewhere. Theirs is a model marriage (one with rich historical roots), bearing offspring, new idioms, spiritually endowed.
 
The four vocals featured in Across The Divide are bound to the Eastern seaboard by tradition and development. "Promised Land," a Welsh hymm dating from the mid-1700's, first embraced as “Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah,” is commonly heard in Baptist congregations of the American South. "Gabriel's Trumpet" hails from Maine, where it was first cited in the mid-1800's, introduced perhaps by sailors docking in the port town of Camden. "Sugar Baby Blues," known among West Virginians and popularized by Dock Boggs in the early days of "hillbilly music," was widely associated with the banjo, an instrument of African origin. And "Night Of The Four Songs" draws from the sacred music tradition of congregational singing, having passed through North Carolina many decades ago.

These songs are linked by Sosa's instrumental odysseys, tales of ancestry: the dreams and realities of passage within and beyond Africa; meditations on the solstice and the natural order, the longest days, the seasons of life; reverence for Eleggua, the deity who determines fate and tests the will of man. Across The Divide is fueled by these crosswinds. Sosa is guided by the North Stars of spirituality, ritual, and the human condition.

So too, it seems, was the poet and novelist Langston Hughes, a seminal voice in the Harlem Renaissance, whose reading of "The Struggle" was sampled then woven into the narrative. His call for racial consciousness and self-determination (“No man wanted to be a slave…”) is the literary counterweight to this musical oblation.
 
Which leads us to recognize the indomitable life force that faces unspeakable horrors yet somehow prevails – a beacon penetrating the fog of oppression, its promise flooding across oceans, continents, centuries. Every now and then we're reminded of that. Through a work of art or, less frequently, a presidential election.

-Jeff Levenson

Afreecanos (OTA1019)


Afreecanos. Rooted in Africa. Omar Sosa’s new studio album brings together musicians from Africa, Cuba, Brazil, and France to celebrate the rich heritage of African music in jazz and Latin music. Mr. Sosa’s approach takes folkloric elements from Africa and the Americas, combines them with his Afro-Cuban roots, and brings them all forward into a contemporary jazz expression. For the first time since his arrangements on Spirit Of The Roots and Prietos, Mr. Sosa uses a horn section, and Afreecanos features a variety of traditional and modern flute sounds. The recording also features kora, ngoni, guitar-sitar, and a variety of folkloric percussion instruments, including batá, timbales, kongoman, m’bira, and talking drum.

Featured on the recording are Cuban drummer Julio Barreto, Mozambican electric bassist Childo Tomas, Senegalese vocalist Mola Sylla, Cuban folkloric master Lázaro Galarraga, Cuban woodwind player Leandro Saint-Hill, French trumpet player Stéphane Belmondo, and French multi-instrumentalist Christophe Disco Minck. Also featured are Cuban timbal master Orestes Vilató, Malian percussionist Baba Sissoko, Malian flute player Ali Wague, and Senegalese kora player Ali Boulo Santo, et al.

Mr. Sosa has taken Afro-Cuban musical forms, like the rumba, and arranged them for African musicians and African instruments... releasing these forms from the traditional Afro-Cuban clave... and opening them to innovative interpretations... combining the fokloric with the contemporary, the ancestral with the urban. Throughout the album we hear folkloric elements infusing a modern jazz idiom, including spirit vocals and percussion from Africa, Cuba, and Brazil. The sound is lush and orchestral.

Afreecanos is produced by Paris-based drummer Steve Argüelles, who also produced Mr. Sosa’s 2004 GRAMMY-nominated recording, Mulatos. Afreecanos was recorded at Fattoria Musica in Osnabrück, Germany, with additional recording in Paris and San Francisco.

The recording is dedicated to the late Cuban percussion masters, Pancho Quinto and Angá Diaz.

Promise (SKP 9068-2)


With “Promise”, Omar Sosa continues his exploration of the African roots of traditional musics throughout the Diaspora, using jazz harmonies and the latest technology. His new Afreecanos Quartet features Cuban drummer Julio Barreto, Mozambican electric bassist Childo Tomas, and Senegalese vocalist Mola Sylla. The ensemble fuses the folkloric with the contemporary, the tribal with the urban - all with a Latin jazz heart. Downbeat recently commented that “Sosa stokes the African and Cuban fires: Each burns distinctly from the other while illuminating the place between them. This is where Sosa pitches his musical camp and works his magic” (January 2007).

Recorded in front of a live audience at the NDR radio studios in Hamburg, Germany, “Promise” features the above Quartet, plus noted Italian trumpet player Paolo Fresu, and Cuban flute player Leandro Saint-Hill. This live recording anticipates the release in October 2007 of Omar Sosa’s next studio album, entitled “Afreecanos”.

Available from www.melodia.com or email music@melodia.com or call 510-339-3389.

Julio Barreto toured and recorded with Gonzalo Rubalcaba from 1991 to 1998 in Trio and Quartet, and is featured on the Rubalcaba recordings “Suite 4 y20”, “Rapsodia”, “Diz”, “Imagine” and “Antiguo”. Mr. Barreto has also toured and recorded with Roy Hargrove, David Sanchez, Chucho Valdes, Steve Coleman, Ravi Coltrane, Chico Freeman, José Luis Quintana, and Miguel “Anga” Diaz. He lives in Luzern, Switzerland.

In addition to the electric bass, Childo Tomas sings in his native language Mozambican language of Ronga, and plays m’bira. Mola Sylla sings in his native language of Wolof, and plays m’bira and xalam.

  1. Nuevo Manto (8:41)
  2. Métisse (7:05)
  3. African Sunrise (3:37)
  4. Dos Caminos (5:50)
  5. Iyawo (5:21)
  6. El Consenso (9:56)
  7. Paralelo (6:50)
  8. Muevete En D (3:24)

Live à FIP (OTA1017, release date: October 10, 2006)


Omar Sosa has released a number of live, solo piano recordings and a number of live, piano-percussion duo recordings over the years. With Live à FIP, Omar offers his first live, ensemble CD, featuring a Quintet comprised of bass, drums, percussion and saxophone. Recorded at Radio France in Paris in front of a live, studio audience, Live à FIP offers new interpretations of many of the compositions from Mr. Sosa’s 2006 GRAMMY-nominated CD, Mulatos, as well as a number of new pieces. FIP is an acronym for France Inter Paris, part of the Radio France broadcasting network.

Joining Mr. Sosa for the May 12, 2005 date, and recording together for the first time, are regular Sosa collaborators (the late) Angá Díaz (Cuba) on percussion, Childo Tomas (Mozambique) on electric bass, and Luis Depestre (Cuba) on saxophones. Completing the ensemble is Paris-based drummer, Steve Argüelles (UK), who produced the award-winning Mulatos (OTA1014) and the follow-up Mulatos Remix (OTA1016).

Compositions from Mulatos include “Nuevo Manto” and “Dos Caminos”, as well as the sweetly lilting “Iyawo”, and the haunting “El Consenso”. New material includes “Métisse” and “Paralelo”, both part of Mr. Sosa’s current touring repertoire, and “African Sunrise”, featuring Childo Tomas’ African vocals and m’bira (known as a “thumb piano”). Closing the recording is a rousing version of one of Mr. Sosa’s signature encores, “Muevete En D”, featuring Angá Díaz on cajon (a wooden “box” drum).

Percussionist Angá Díaz is renowned for his contributions with influential Cuban artists Irakere, the Afro-Cuban All Stars, Rubén González, and Cachaíto López, as well as acclaimed U.S. trumpeter, Roy Hargrove. On Live à FIP, we are treated to Angá’s artistry on congas, cajon and bongo. Childo Tomas recently made his U.S. performing debut, joining Mr. Sosa for shows at Yoshi’s in Oakland and the new Arturo Sandoval Jazz Club in Miami. He will also join Omar on tour in the U.S. at the beginning of October.

Ballads (OTA1015, release date: September 13, 2005)


While Omar Sosa is often lauded for his high-energy, percussive piano style, he has also a profound sense of expression in the delicate, lyrical realm. In this collection of ballads, loosely defined, taken from four of his early recordings, we are treated to a listening experience of beautiful melody and rich harmony, full of romanticism and grace - all with a Latin jazz heart.

The compilation opens with Omar Sosa's signature ballad, "Mis Tres Notas", taken from his first ensemble recording, Free Roots (OTA1003) , and closes with the beautiful love song, "Shirma", taken from the same album, and featuring the artistry of reedman Sheldon Brown on bass clarinet. Also from Free Roots , we find "Raya", this time with Sheldon Brown on alto saxophone. From Omar Sosa's second ensemble CD, Spirit Of The Roots (OTA1005) , are taken "Para Ella", with Sheldon Brown on tenor saxophone, "Antes De Ir Va Esto", featuring John Calloway on flute and Orestes Vilato on timbal, and "Tienes Un Solo", featuring the divine Anastacia Newkirk on vocals. From the final recording of Omar Sosa's Roots Trilogy, Bembón (OTA1007) , we find "Gracias Señor" and "Para Dos Parados", both featuring poignant string arrangements, and the later featuring the exquisite vocal styling of María Márquez. Finally, from the groundbreaking CD, Prietos (OTA1008) , come two very delicate pieces, "Fragile", again featuring María Márquez, and "Twice As Sad", with Sheldon Brown on tenor saxophone. Ballads has a remarkable unity and organic quality, allowing the listener to let go into a magical, dream-like state. For those Omar Sosa fans who may have missed some of his early ensemble recordings and for those who have enjoyed the quieter, more introspective dimensions of this remarkable artist, Ballads is a must-have.

For more information, press kit, video, or interview, please contact ballads@melodia.com or visit www.melodia.com

  1. Ternura (7:27)
  2. Nuevo Manto (6:15)
  3. La Tra (5:44)
  4. Reposo (4:22)
  5. La Llamada (7:27)
  6. Dos Caminos (5:39)
  7. Iyawo (6:23)
  8. L3zero (6:41)
  9. El Consenso (5:21)

Mulatos (OTA1014, release date: October 12, 2004)


How to be true to a music tradition and be part of the world at large? To be a modern artist (and consequently a traveler), without dismissing your roots? Omar Sosa searches out new sounds for a music that is simultaneously his own, and part of an Afro-Cuban culture. Mulatos is a fitting description for the kind of approach Omar is adopting - a mix of Cuban music that dances with rhythmic inspirations of Indian tabla, jazz drums, and studio mixing. Listening to the voices of the Arabic lute, the oud, a fore runner of the Cuban tres, and European clarinet melodies reminding him of Paquito D’Rivera and the repertoire of the great Cuban masters, Omar Sosa's unique way of imagining how this can fit together and making the leap to realize the recording of it, is what makes him stand out as a very modern musician - an inventive and courageous artist.The album Mulatos features the highly individual talents of Dhafer Youssef (oud), Steve Argüelles (drums, electronics), Dieter Ilg (double bass), Philippe Foch (tabla), and Renaud Pion (clarinets). With the exception of Omar Sosa, the relation to Cuban music for these musicians is somewhat removed, though respectful and engaging. Omar’s extraordinary abilities as a composer, pianist, marimba percussionist (new here to many of his followers) and his authoritative leadership threads this together beautifully to create a major development for a Cuban jazz artist.Joining the project as special guest on clarinet for three compositions, someone whose artistry Omar has admired for many years, is Paquito D’Rivera (tracks 1, 2, 6).

Producer Steve Argüelles remarks, “It's an album that is tightly constructed, like movie editing in the sense that the clarity of musical ideas are presented to maximum effect, be it a simple melody, a curious rhythm, or an electronic touch here and there. It remains rich, too, in the way that a favorite record is what you keep returning to, an important objective of ours. It tells a story about Omar’s relation to jazz, Afro-Cuban rhythms and spirituality, the piano, and a freely expressive mind”.

Aleatoric EFX (OTA1013, release date: June 1, 2004)


Recorded live at Radio Bremen, Germany, in November 2003, Aleatoric EFX is Omar Sosa’s fourth solo piano recording. The new CD combines Omar’s 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 Omar’s 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 the piano on the strings. Throughout these opening improvisations, we see the influence of one of Omar’s classical music mentors, Erik Satie.Pentatonic Research reveals some of Omar’s daring harmonic sense, built on a dialogue of Eastern-tinged, space-age motifs. This is followed by a version of Omar’s signature ballad, Iyawo, with its sweet, romantic melody, sliding, as it 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 Omar’s signature compositions, does he take the energy to a dramatic level. For those who have enjoyed Omar’s 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 Omar’s musical sensibilities, it is sure to be a good place to start.

  1. Portrait (4:02)
  2. The Call (4:50)
  3. Kachirumba (4:53)
  4. Eye Of The Blackbird (2:04)
  5. Dreams (1:35)
  6. The Wandering Night (4:49)
  7. Cuzco Refrain (2:52)
  8. Intermezzo (1:08)
  9. Trace Of Burning Stars (3:22)
  10. Green Silence (5:05)
  11. Winter Of The Flower (5:23)
  12. Sweet Summer (3:35)
  13. Serenade For Two (2:45)
  14. Kiss Of The Rain (1:26)
  15. Pilgrimage (8:15)
  16. Black Exit (0:27)

Pictures of Soul (OTA1012, release date: 1/2004)


A 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 Otá 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.

A New Life (OTA1011, release date: 9/2003)

A New Life , Omar Sosa's third solo piano outing, is a heartfelt set of 16 improvisations recorded at Hidden Barn Studio on the bluffs above Big Sur, California overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The work is dedicated to Omar's first child, Lonious Said, born in July of 2002. The pieces of A New Life revolve around the themes of childbirth and infancy, reflecting Omar's experience as a new father. The mood is generally relaxed and contemplative, in contrast to the largely percussive style of Omar's ensemble playing. Omar's first solo piano CD, Omar Omar (OTA1001) was released in 1997, a lively, up-tempo set of improvisations, while his second solo piano recording, Inside , released in 1999, features the quieter, more introspective dimensions of Omar's musical sensibilities. A New Life includes a bonus track entitled "Otra Nana", recorded at Audio I by NPS Radio in Hilversum, The Netherlands. The release of A New Life in Canada comes in conjunction with Omar's recent Monument National solo piano concert at the Montreal Jazz Festival on July 2, 2003.

Talking about the relationship between jazz and Cuban music in a recent issue of the Los Angeles Times, Don Heckman writes that "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. Sosa has all the traits necessary to become one of the important figures in jazz" (January 19, 2003).