Afreecanos. Rooted in Africa. Omar Sosas 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. Sosas 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 bat, timbal, kongoman, mbira, and talking drum.

Featured on the recording are Cuban drummer Julio Barreto, Mozambican electric bassist Childo Tomas, Senegalese vocalist Mola Sylla, Cuban folkloric master Lzaro Galarraga, Cuban woodwind player Leandro Saint-Hill, French trumpet player Stphane Belmondo, and French multi-instrumentalist Christophe Disco Minck. Also featured are Cuban timbal master Orestes Vilato, 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 dream-like.

Afreecanos is produced by Paris-based drummer Steve Argelles, who also produced Mr. Sosas 2004 GRAMMY-nominated recording, Mulatos. Afreecanos was recorded at Fattoria Musica in Osnabrck, Germany, with additional recording in Paris and San Francisco. The recording is dedicated to the late Cuban percussion masters, Pancho Quinto and Ang Diaz.

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

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 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 FIP offers new interpretations of many of the compositions from Mr. Sosas 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) Ang Daz (Cuba) on percussion, Childo Tomas (Mozambique) on electric bass, and Luis Depestre (Cuba) on saxophones. Completing the ensemble is Paris-based drummer, Steve Argelles (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 Mtisse and Paralelo, both part of Mr. Sosas current touring repertoire, and African Sunrise, featuring Childo Tomas African vocals and mbira (known as a thumb piano). Closing the recording is a rousing version of one of Mr. Sosas signature encores, Muevete En D, featuring Ang Daz on cajon (a wooden box drum).

Percussionist Ang Daz is renowned for his contributions with influential Cuban artists Irakere, the Afro-Cuban All Stars, Rubn Gonzlez, and Cachato Lpez, as well as acclaimed U.S. trumpeter, Roy Hargrove. On Live FIP, we are treated to Angs artistry on congas, cajon and bongo. Childo Tomas recently made his U.S. performing debut, joining Mr. Sosa for shows at Yoshis 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.

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

Omar Sosa has just been named a finalist in the 2005 International
Songwriting Competition (Instrumental) for his composition “Mis Tres
Notas”. 1.4% of almost 15,000 entrants were selected as finalists.
Winners in 15 categories will be announced in March 2006. Judges include
Sonny Rollins, Macy Gray, Tom Waits, and John Scofield.

“Mis Tres Notas” first appeared on the Omar Sosa CD “Free Roots” (OTA1003),
and was recently re-released on the Omar Sosa compilation, “Ballads”
(OTA1015).

Songs of the finalists are eligible for the People’s Voice – an online
voting contest that allows the public to listen to all the finalists’ songs
and vote for their favorite. People’s Voice is separate from, and in
addition to, the winners selected by ISC’s panel of judges.

If you would like to review the 2006 ISC finalists and consider a vote
for “Mis Tres Notas”, please visit:

www.songwritingcompetition.com/pvwelcome_2005.htm.

Omar Sosa CDs are available at www.melodia.com.

BALLADS (OTA1015)

“Cuban pianist-composer-bandleader Omar Sosa describes this retrospective
of his early work as “ten themes of yesterday,” but his artistry has never
been anything but forward-looking. Evident throughout is the inspired
introspection that infuses Sosa’s work. “The spirits play through us,” he
says, a matter-of-fact observation borne out in his invocation of the Cuban
orishas who animate his live performances and recordings alike. The
individual virtuosity of the gifted talents he enlists is self-evident, but
the overall approach is understated, and resonant throughout is the
ensemble effect, an exquisite collective sound. Hear the expressive
lyricism of “Para Ella,” the muted orchestral breadth of “Gracias Senor,”
the serene ebb and flow of “Para Dos Parados,” the subtle montuno drive
of “Antes De Ir Va Esto,” the tender bolero of “Mis Tres Notas”. Sosa’s
faraway balladry is dappled with allusions to Frederic Chopin, Keith
Jarrett and Bill Evans, but the instrumental signature is purely his own”.

-Michael Stone, RootsWorld

Following the success of his recent recording “Mulatos” (OTA1015), which
received a 2006 GRAMMY nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album, a 2006 BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music nomination, and which features the artistry of legendary Cuban reedman Paquito D’Rivera, Ot Records is pleased to
announce the release of an Omar Sosa remix album of material from the award-
winning CD. Entitled “Mulatos Remix” (OTA1016), the album features flesh
and funky contributions by Paris-based drummer/producer, Doctor L; Brooklyn-
based producer/remixer, DJ Spinna; live Drum & Bass pioneer/drummer, Marque
Gilmore; Paris-based drummer and producer, Steve Arguelles (who produced
the original CD, and whose remixes include some out-takes from the
original “Mulatos” sessions); and new to the Paris scene, DJ basephunk.

The dance-jazz vibe of these remixes features Omar Sosa piano and marimba
riffs, funky clarinet riffs, as well as new vocal and flute elements… all
enhanced by the cutting edge approaches of our guest remixers.

Release date in the U.S. is set for April 11, 2006.

Omar Sosa recordings are available at www.melodia.com, or on iTunes, and
are distributed in the U.S. by Harmonia Mundi.

Omar Sosa’s upcoming tour schedule includes (see www.melodia.com for
details):

January 26Beirut, Lebanon
February 2Agen, France
February 3Bagneres-de-Bigorre, France
February 6Prato, Italy
February 18Karratha, Australia
February 19Perth, Australia
February 20Perth, Australia
February 23Adelaide, Australia
February 24Sydney, Australia
February 25Melbourne, Australia
February 26Sydney, Australia
March 9Rome, Italy
March 10Francheville, France
March 11Bagneux, France
March 14Valenciennes, France
March 17Dijon, France
March 21Zurich, Switzerland
March 22Grenoble, France
March 23Blois, France
March 25Cully, Switzerland
March 28Le Harve, France
March 29Amiens, France
March 31Cape Town, South Africa
April 1Cape Town, South Africa
April 6Paris (Bondy), France

U.S. West Coast Tour:

April 19Santa Clara University, CA
April 20Yoshi’s, Oakland, CA
April 21Yoshi’s, Oakland, CA
April 22Yoshi’s, Oakland, CA
April 23Yoshi’s, Oakland, CA
April 24Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz, CA
April 28The Triple Door, Seattle, WA
April 29Temple Bar, Los Angeles, CA

For details, and for further concert dates, please visit www.melodia.com.

We are pleased to announce that Omar Sosa has just received a GRAMMY nomination for “Mulatos” (OTA1014) in the Best Latin Jazz Album category
from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS).

The GRAMMY Awards will be held on Wednesday, February 8 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, and broadcast live on CBS from 8:00 PM to 11:30 PM (ET/PT).

Omar Sosa Octet
Live broadcast on NPR’s JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater

Thursday, December 1 at 9:00 PM Pacific Time (a one-hour broadcast)
KCSM 91.1 Radio FM (San Francisco Bay Area)

For audio streaming, please visit:

http://www.kcsm.org/fm_listen.html

Also, Comcast Digital Cable is now carrying KCSM FM Jazz 91 on Channel 962. Contact your local Comcast Customer Service Center for more information.

On September 12, 2003, the Omar Sosa Octet performed at the opening of Carnegie Hall’s new Zankel Hall. The program was curated by renowned composer John Adams, newly appointed to The Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall, a post previously held by Pierre Boulez.

The Omar Sosa Octet performance was recorded by WBGO for NPR’s Jazz Set with Dee Dee Bridgewater, and features the following players:

Omar Sosa (Cuba), piano
Martha Galarraga (Cuba), vocals, clave
Gustavo Ovalles (Venezuela), percussion
Luis Depestre (Cuba), saxophones
Geoff Brennan (U.S.A.), acoustic bass
Josh Jones (U.S.A.), drums
Yassir Chadly (Morocco), vocals
Brutha Los (U.S.A.), vocals

A rare opportunity to hear Omar Sosa with many of the players that formed the basis of his CD release “Prietos” (OTA1008) in 2001.

For more information, please email zankel@melodia.com or visit www.melodia.com

The next Omar Sosa Quartet tour in the United States will feature R&B saxophone great Pee Wee Ellis (of James Brown and Van Morrison fame), together with drum & bass pioneer Marque Gilmore, and bassist Childo Tomas from Mozambique, scheduled for April 18 to May 7, 2006. This ensemble recently completed a highly successful run at Blue Note Tokyo in Japan, so we are pleased to announce this tour period offering in the U.S. and Canada.

For information on presenting the Omar Sosa Quartet featuring special guest saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis during this period, please contact Eye For Talent at 650-595-2274, or bill@eyefortalent.com, or scott@melodia.com.

We are also pleased to announce that Omar Sosa has just received a BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music nomination 2006 in the Americas category, along with Ry Cooder, Seu Jorge, and Carlos Vives. For a complete list of BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music nominees along with information on the Audience Award, please visit:

www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldmusic/a4wm2006/nominees.shtml

Winners will be announced on Saturday, February 18 on a live edition of BBC Radio 3’s World Routes program, and the Poll Winners Concert will take place at the Brixton Academy in London on Friday, April 7.

Omar Sosa’s upcoming December 2005 tour in Europe, featuring percussionist Ang Diaz and bassist Childo Tomas, includes the following dates:

December 1 L’Equinox, Chateauroux, France QUINTET
December 3 Concert Congress Hall, Vilnius, Lithuania TRIO
December 9 Scene Nationale, St. Quentin en Yvelines, France QUINTET
December 10 Scene Nationale Bonlieu, Annecy, France QUINTET
December 11 La Spirale, Fribourg, Switzerland TRIO
December 12 Le Cheval Blanc, Schiltigheim, France TRIO
December 13 Dewarande, Turnhout, Belgium QUINTET
December 14 Espace Senghor, Brussels, Belgium TRIO
December 15 De Spiegel, Sint Niklaas, Belgium TRIO
December 16 Het Burgerweeshuis, Deventer, Netherlands TRIO
December 17 Cultuurcentrum Strombeek, Grimbergen, Belgium TRIO
December 18 Bimhuis, Amsterdam, Netherlands TRIO

For details, please visit www.melodia.com.

Omar Sosa’s remarkable new CD release “Ballads” (OTA1015) is available at www.melodia.com/order.php. Writing about “Ballads” in a recent issue of the LA Weekly, Greg Burk concluded, “It’s lilting, melodious, but never cloying – you hear moment-to-moment focus, you understand that the emotion is real, and you feel that the spirit is present”. A must-have collection for Omar Sosa fans…

Also available is Omar Sosa’s latest CD release, “Mulatos Remix”, on iTunes:

www.apple.com/itunes

For worldwide booking and distribution information, please visit www.melodia.com.

We are pleased to announce that Omar Sosa and his CD, “Mulatos” (OTA1015), have been nominated for Latin Jazz Album of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards 2005. Recordings by Charlie Haden, Jerry Gonzalez and Gonzalo Rubalcaba have also been nominated in this category. The 9th Annual JJA Jazz Awards celebration, presented by BETJazz, will take place on Tuesday, June 14 at B.B. King’s Blues Club in NYC. For more information, please visit www.jazzjournalistsawards.com.

Mulatos features:
Paquito DRivera, clarinet
Dhafer Youssef, oud
Dieter Ilg, bass
Steve Arguelles, drums
Renaud Pion, clarinets
Philippe Foch, tabla

Mulatos is available online at www.melodia.com/order.php.

Omar Sosas Spring and Summer Touring Schedule 2005, including France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Morocco, England, U.S.A., Australia, and New Zealand:

May 11
Casa Da Musica
Porto, PORTUGAL
www.casadamusica.com
Trio, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Childo Tomas, bass

May 12
Radio FIP Live Broadcast
Paris, FRANCE
www.radiofrance.fr/chaines/fip/accueil
Quartet, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Steve Arguelles, drums; Childo Tomas, bass

May 13
Salle Dutilleux
Amiens, FRANCE
+333 22 97 79 77
Duo, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion

May 14
Palatia Jazz Festival, Festsaal at Herrenhof
Neustadt an der Weinstrabe, GERMANY
www.palatiajazz.de
Quintet, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Steve Arguelles, drums; Luis Depestre, saxophones; Childo Tomas, bass

May 15
Cremona Progetto Jazz, Teatro Gonzaga
Ostiano, ITALY
www.cremonaonline.it

May 19
New Morning
Paris, FRANCE
www.newmorning.com
Quartet, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Marque Gilmore, drums; Childo Tomas, bass

May 20
Le VIP
Saint Nazaire, FRANCE
www.les-escales.com
Trio, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Doctor L, drums

May 21
L’Aronef
Lille, FRANCE
www.aeronef-spectacles.com
Trio, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Doctor L, drums

May 27
Tanjazz
Tanger, MOROCCO
www.tanjazz.com
Quintet, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Steve Arguelles, drums; Luis Depestre, saxophones; Childo Tomas, bass

U.K. TOUR:

May 29
Bath Jazz Weekend
Bath, ENGLAND
www.bathmusicfest.org.uk
Trio, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Dhafer Youssef, oud & vocals

May 30
Queen Elizabeth Hall
London, ENGLAND
www.rfh.org.uk
Trio, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Dhafer Youssef, oud & vocals

May 31
Salisbury Festival
Salisbury, ENGLAND
www.salisburyfestival.co.uk
Trio, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Dhafer Youssef, oud & vocals

June 2
Phoenix
Exeter, ENGLAND
www.exeterphoenix.org.uk
Trio, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Dhafer Youssef, oud & vocals

June 3
South Hill Park, Wilde Theatre
Bracknell, ENGLAND
www.southhillpark.org.uk
Trio, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Dhafer Youssef, oud & vocals

June 4
Wychwood Festival
Cheltenham, ENGLAND
www.wychwoodfestival.com
Trio, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Dhafer Youssef, oud & vocals

June 5
World Music Weekend, Glee Club
Birmingham, ENGLAND
www.glee.co.uk
Trio, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Dhafer Youssef, oud & vocals

June 11
Santa Maria Dello Spasimo
Palermo, ITALY
www.brassgroup.it
Trio, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Childo Tomas, bass

June 23
Festival Complujazz
Jardn Botnico, Universidad Complutense
Madrid, SPAIN
www.ucm.es
Quartet, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Luis Depestre, saxophones; Childo Tomas, bass

U.S.A. TOUR:

June 26
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
Great Barrington, MA, U.S.A.
www.mahaiwe.org
Trio, featuring Mino Cinelu, percussion; Geoff Brennan, acoustic bass

June 29
Museum of Fine Arts
Boston, MA, U.S.A.
www.mfa.org
Trio, featuring Mino Cinelu, percussion; Geoff Brennan, acoustic bass

July 10
Parc Floral
Paris, FRANCE
www.parcfloralparis.com
Trio, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Childo Tomas, bass

July 17
BCN Grec Festival, Mercat de les Flors
Barcelona, SPAIN
www.grec.bcn.es
Quintet, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Marque Gilmore, drums; Luis Depestre, saxophones; Childo Tomas, bass

July 22 & July 23
Queensland Music Festival, Powerhouse Centre for the Arts
Brisbane, AUSTRALIA
www.queenslandmusicfestival.com.au
Quintet, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Marque Gilmore, drums; Luis Depestre, saxophones; Childo Tomas, bass

July 24
Christchurch Arts Festival, Christchurch Town Hall, James Hay Theatre
Christchurch, NEW ZEALAND
www.artsfestival.co.nz
Quintet, featuring Ang Diaz, percussion; Marque Gilmore, drums; Luis Depestre, saxophones; Childo Tomas, bass

July 29 & July 30
Festival Internacional de Blues & Jazz
Cadiz, SPAIN
www.cultura-cadiz.org
Trio, featuring Ang Diaz; Childo Tomas, bass

August 7
Jazz in Marciac
Marciac, FRANCE
www.jazzinmarciac.com
Trio, featuring Ang Diaz; Childo Tomas, bass

New Omar Sosa CD, “Mulatos” (OTA1014), featuring special guest Paquito D’Rivera, produced by Steve Arguelles

Set for release in the United States on October 12, 2004, distributed by Harmonia Mundi USA (www.harmoniamundi.com), and concurrently worldwide (please see www.melodia.com/dist.php for worldwide distribution)

Also available at www.melodia.com/order.php

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 Arguelles (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, many years – Paquito D’Rivera (tracks 1, 2, 6).

Producer Steve Arguelles 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”.

For more information, or to order “Mulatos”, please visit www.melodia.com.

“Omar Sosa commands an enormous range of styles and timbres; from modal McCoy Tyner-like vamps to Cuban clave; from abstract playing both inside and outside the grand piano; to simple melodic fragments to advanced jazz harmony. It’s the ingenuity of his approach rather than particular claves or tunes that makes Sosa a distinctively Cuban creative musician. Sosa’s most recent CD, “Mulatos”, produced by drummer Steve Arguelles, has many nice moments: Renaud Pion’s dark-hued bass clarinet on the groove of “La Tra”; Dhafer Youssef’s oud on the languorous “Reposo” and “El Consenso”; Paquito D’Rivera’s soaring clarinet on the Middle-Eastern nu-jazz of “Dos Caminos”. Sosa dedicates the infectious “L3zero” to Arsenio Rodriguez and Thelonious Monk, and it’s on this penultimate track that you get a taste of what Sosa might do one day to reinvent Cuban music for the new century”.
-John L. Walters, The Guardian (London), September 17, 2004

“Omar Sosa’s very personal embrace of African and Diasporan rhythms and improvisation has added a great deal to the vocabulary of Latin music. Mulatos is another addition to an ever-expanding musical mosaic that Sosa is passionately crafting. His aesthetic is unremittingly hybrid; it’s pluralistic and impure in the most positive sense. Mulatos is an artistic and cultural statement that reinforces this worldview. There is something in the way Sosa writes and improvises that retains a tremendously communicative energy. The combination of both drive and delicacy in his single note runs and the clever harmonic progressions are hallmarks of an artist to be reckoned with”.
-Kevin LeGendre, Echoes (U.K.), October 2004

“Omar Sosa is on a musical quest, a voyage of sonic discovery that traverses the globe in search of a fusionistic Holy Grail. With Mulatos, holding firm to his Latin roots, the GRAMMY nominee and visionary creates a sound not unlike that of other great Cuban masters. No need to be deceived by Sosa’s open minded aesthetic: for all its space, simplicity and free form delicacy, Mulatos is a tightly-constructed piece of work, meticulous in ideas and execution. As composer, bandleader and jazz disciple – Thelonious Monk’s expressive legacy is palpable – Sosa manages to create a glorious, often refreshing whole from various empatico parts. A highly recommended effort from an artist who just keeps getting better”.
-Jane Cornwell, Jazzwise (U.K.), October 2004

CONCERT SCHEDULE UPDATE: Due to problems related to the recent hurricanes in Florida, Omar Sosa’s concert on October 14 at Miami Dade College, Kendall Campus (Miami, FL) has been cancelled. For an update on Omar’s touring schedule, please visit www.melodia.com.

Omar Sosa will appear Sunday, October 3 on A&E TV Network’s “Breakfast With The Arts” program, with host Elliot Forrest:

Sunday, October 3:

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
spectrum 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 Sosa’s “Breakfast With The Arts” appearance on Sunday, October 3 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.

The interview with host Elliot Forrest touches on Omar’s recent CD
release, “Pictures of Soul”, with world music innovator, percussionist and composer Adam Rudolph.

For those of you who enjoy tuning into BBC Radio 3, critic John Walters will be the guest on Lucy Duran’s World Routes show at 3:00 PM (London time) on Saturday, October 9 discussing new releases, including “Mulatos”, and playing “L3zero” in the context of a conversation about Arsenio Rodriguez, and the new book about Cuban music by Ned Sublette, “Cuba and It’s Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo”. To listen online, please visit www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldroutes.

Omar’s latest CD, “Mulatos”, featuring special guest Paquito D’Rivera, is set for release in the U.S. on October 12 (and concurrently worldwide). For more information, or to order, please visit www.melodia.com/order.php.

“Omar Sosa is on a musical quest, a voyage of sonic discovery that
traverses the globe in search of a fusionistic Holy Grail. With Mulatos,
holding firm to his Latin roots, the GRAMMY nominee and visionary creates a
sound not unlike that of other great Cuban masters. For all its space, simplicity and free form delicacy, Mulatos is a tightly-constructed piece of work, meticulous in ideas and execution. As composer, bandleader and jazz disciple – Thelonious Monk’s expressive legacy is palpable – Sosa manages to create a glorious, refreshing whole from various empatico parts. A highly recommended effort from an artist who just keeps getting better”.
-Jane Cornwell, Jazzwise (U.K.), October 2004

An interesting new Omar Sosa interview by Tomas Pena can be found on the MundoAfroLatino website at www.mundoafrolatino.com/english/102803.htm.

In support of his new CD, “Mulatos” (OTA1014), with special guest Paquito D’Rivera, Omar Sosa’s touring this Fall 2004 begins with two concerts in the U.K. (more on the new CD in our next newsletter):

Saturday, October 2 * 7:30 PM
The Venue
Leeds College of Music

Sunday, October 3 * 7:45 PM
Queen Elizabeth Hall (South Bank Centre)
London

For tickets to the Queen Elizabeth Hall concert, please call 08 703 800 400 or visit www.rfh.org.uk. For Leeds, please call 0113 222 3434 or visit www.lcm.ac.uk.

Omar Sosa will do a live radio interview and solo piano performance on the BBC Radio 3 program “In Tune”, on Thursday, September 30 at 7:00 PM. For more information, please visit www.bbc.co.uk/radio3.

Both U.K. concerts will present the Omar Sosa Quintet, featuring:

Miguel “Anga” Diaz, percussion
Steve Arguelles, drums
Luis Depestre, saxophones
Childo Tomas, bass

Next stop in October 2004 for Omar Sosa is Miami:

Thursday, October 14 * 7:00 PM (with Master Class at 5:00 PM)
Miami Dade College, Kendall Campus
11011 SW 104th Street
Miami, FL
Room 8117
Both events are FREE and open to the public

For directions and information please call Miami Dade College at 305-237-2321 or visit www.mdc.edu/kendall.

This concert will present the Omar Sosa Quintet, featuring:

Josh Jones, drums
Eric Crystal, saxophones
Michael Wilcox, bass
Brutha Los, hip-hop lyricist/rapper

Additional Omar Sosa touring activity this Fall 2004 includes:

October 19
Das Haus
Ludwigshafen, Germany
Pictures of Soul Trio with Omar Sosa, Adam Rudolph, and Joseph Bowie

October 20
Teatro Alighieri
Ravenna, Italy
Pictures of Soul Trio with Omar Sosa, Adam Rudolph, and Joseph Bowie

October 22 & 23
Black Atlantic / Congo Square
Haus der Kulturen der Welt
Berlin, Germany
www.hkw.de
Featuring Tony Allen, Ayibobo, Joseph Bowie, Adam Rudolph, DJ Spooky, Torch, Jane Cortez, Jazzanova, et al

October 30
Big Big World Festival
Centre for Contemporary Arts
Glasgow, Scotland
Omar Sosa Duo, featuring Miguel “Anga” Diaz, percussion

November 3-6
Joe Zawinul’s Birdland
Vienna, Austria
www.birdland.at
Omar Sosa Quintet, featuring Miguel “Anga” Diaz, percussion; Steve Arguelles, drums; Luis Depestre, saxophones; Childo Tomas, bass

November 7
WOMAD Festival
Las Palmas, Canary Islands
Omar Sosa Quintet, featuring Miguel “Anga” Diaz, percussion; Luis Depestre, saxophones; Childo Tomas, bass; El Houssaine Kili, vocals

November 11
Kunst Kultur Karstadt
Karstadt Kulturcaf
Nurnberg, Germany
www.kunstkulturkarstadt.de
Omar Sosa Quintet, featuring Miguel “Anga” Diaz, percussion; Luis Depestre, saxophones; Childo Tomas, bass; El Houssaine Kili, vocals

November 23
Festival de la Cote d’Opale
Calias, France
Omar Sosa Duo, featuring Miguel “Anga” Diaz, percussion

December 2
New Morning
Paris, France
The Big “Mulatos” Record Release Party
(more on this new release very soon)

December 4
Flagey – Studio 4
Brussels, Belgium
Omar Sosa Quintet, featuring Miguel “Anga” Diaz, percussion; Steve Arguelles, drums; Luis Depestre, saxophones; Childo Tomas, bass

December 21
Leitung Kulturburo
Lorrach, Germany
Omar Sosa Quintet, featuring Miguel “Anga” Diaz, percussion; Steve Arguelles, drums; Luis Depestre, saxophones; Childo Tomas, bass

For more information, please visit www.melodia.com

For booking in Europe+, please contact:

3D Family
4, rue Felix Terrier
75020 Paris
FRANCE
+331 40 09 64 66 phone
+331 40 09 12 34 fax
www.3dfamily.org
info@3dfamily.org

For booking in Germany, please contact:

Transatlantico
Methfesselstr. 23
10965 Berlin
GERMANY
+49 30 788900 20 phone
+49 30 788900 99 fax
www.transatlantico.com
frank@transatlantico.com

For booking in the United States and Canada, please contact:

Eye For Talent
P.O. Box 280786
San Francisco, CA 94128
U.S.A.
+650 595 2274 phone
+650 595 2258 fax
www.eyefortalent.com
bill@eyefortalent.com

For management and record label, please contact:

OTA Records
484 Lake Park Avenue, Suite 32
Oakland, CA 94610
U.S.A.
+510 339 3389 phone
+510 339 0389 fax
www.melodia.com
scott@melodia.com

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.