Omar Sosa

Presented by Overture Center & The Sessions at McPike Park

Composer-pianist-bandleader Omar Sosa’s musical trajectory traces the Diaspora from Africa to Cuba and Brazil, from Central America to Ecuador’s African-descent communities, from San Francisco and New York to his current home base in Barcelona. True to his Afro-Cuban origins, Sosa fashions a spirited vision of uncompromising artistic generosity that embraces humanity at large. Nominated for seven GRAMMY awards, twice for the BBC World Music Awards, recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Smithsonian and recipient of the Afro-Caribbean Jazz Album of the Year award from the Jazz Journalists Association in NYC, Sosa entwines the expressive traditions of Africa and the Americas in a unique cosmopolitan voice, articulating a brilliant, joyous and thoroughly contemporary global jazz idiom.

To Overture Center, Omar brings his new Quarteto Americanos, featuring Bay Area artists Josh Jones on drums, Sheldon Brown on saxophones and Cuban bassist Ernesto Mazar Kindelán. With this ensemble, Omar fuses a wide range of jazz, hip-hop and electronic elements with his Afro-Cuban roots to create a fresh and original urban sound – all with a Latin jazz heart. His career embodies the expansive outlook of a visionary artist who has taken Monk’s uncompromising spirit to heart, while working ceaselessly to craft and project a singular, contemporary sound.

Photo: L-R Omar Sosa, Sheldon Brown, Ernesto Mazar Kindelán, Josh Jones