Earshot Jazz Festival

October 21
Omar Sosa Afreecanos Quartet
The Triple Door, 7 & 9:30, $22 BUY ONLINE

Omar Sosa brings further explorations of his charming musical spirit to the Triple Door. The music of his Afreecanos Quartet promises deep emotional appeal. Informed by the rhythmic diversity and intensity of his band mates – Marque Gilmore (drums and electronics), Childo Tomas (bass, kalimba, vocals), and Mola Sylla (vocals, m’bira, xalam, kongoman) – Sosa emerges as a fierce and passionate performer rooted in deep traditions brought with global cosmopolitan flair.

Now living in Barcelona, Sosa was born in Camaguey, Cuba, and finished formal musical education in 1984 in Havana. After stints in pop and hip-hop scenes in Cuba, Sosa made an influential move to Quito, Ecuador, in 1993. On that country’s northwest coast, Sosa found lasting effects from the pan-African musical culture in Esmeraldas. He would return to Ecuador later in the 90s to record the large-ensemble CD Bembon (2000).

The turn of the century was prolific for Sosa. He debuted in the U.S. with his solo piano release Omar, Omar (1997). From a home base in San Francisco, he exploded on that city’s Latin jazz scene and collaborated in a duo with percussionist John Santos, Nfumbe (1998). Sosa has sixteen recordings on Oakland’s Ota label. He received Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations for Sentir (2002) and a Grammy nomination for Mulatos (2004), which featured Paquito D’Rivera. The Smithsonian Institution honored Sosa with a lifetime achievement award in 2003.

Recently, Sosa’s Across the Divide (2009) explores the musical collisions of the African Diaspora with America’s Appalachia and other Eastern seaboard heritage communities. And Tales from the Earth (2009), like his Afreecanos (2008), mixes Sosa’s contemporary Afro-Cuban jazz with his explorations of the folkloric in the African Diaspora.

At the Triple Door, he performs on piano, Fender Rhodes, electronics, and vocals in this virtuosic, multinational quartet.

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