April 10, 2010 - 8:00 p.m. - South Florida JAZZ welcomes three-time Grammy nominated Cuban-born piano virtuoso, OMAR SOSA and his AFREECANOS QUARTET in the first South Florida performance of this group of extraordinary musicians. Mr. Sosa fuses true African music with that of the Diaspora with emphasis on creative influences of contemporary music. The result is quite remarkable and absolutely unique.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – South Florida’s premier modern jazz organization is privileged to feature Omar Sosa with his current band of protégés, appearing for the first time in Florida. This concert takes place at the 500-seat Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center on the Nova Southeastern University campus, 3100 Ray Ferrero, Jr Blvd in Davie 33314. Tickets are $35 ($25 for South Florida JAZZ members and $10 for students of any age with I.D.) and may be purchased from the Broward Center Box Office by calling 954.462.0222 in Broward County; also toll-free at 877-311-SHOW, as well as online at: www.southfloridajazz.org, the presenting organization’s official Web site.
OMAR SOSA AFREECANOS QUARTETElectric and eclectic accurately describe the music of Omar Sosa, the three-time Grammy-nominated Cuban composer and pianist, as he continues to explore the African roots of music throughout the Diaspora, while employing modern jazz harmonies and traditional and modern-day instrumentation. Historically, his ensembles and recordings tend to fuse the folkloric with the contemporary, the ancestral with the urban - all with a purely Latin jazz heart and mentality.
Born in Camagüey, Cuba in 1965, Omar grew up listening to his father’s records that included European classical music, some Nat King Cole, but considerable indigenous Cuban music. The group Los Amigos, playing descargas, was his introduction to Latin jazz and Omar was touched profoundly by the music’s freedom and eloquence. By age eight, he was studying percussion, particularly marimba, and displayed sufficient talent to warrant conservatory training, first in Camagüey and then at Escuela Nacional de Musica in Havana, where he studied piano developing virtuosic ability.At that time, jazz could only be heard on selected radio programs and it was in that fashion that Omar and his contemporaries learned the jazz history and vocabulary. Shortly after completing his education, he immigrated to Quito, Ecuador and even lived in Spain for a short period before coming to the U.S. in 1995 to live in Oakland, California and starting his 14-year relationship with OTA Records for whom he has recorded prodigiously. Currently, he lives in Barcelona, Spain.
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. With his band Afreecanos Sosa combines folkloric elements infused with a modern jazz idiom, including spiritual vocals and percussion from Africa, Cuba, and Brazil. He also has infused the music with modern electronica creating truly unique music.
The Afreecanos Quartet is appropriately diverse. Drummer Marque Gilmore is a founding member of New York City’s Black Rock Coalition, and pioneer of the New York and London live drum-&-bass scenes. He has worked with an international array of artists, including Joe Zawinul, Steve Coleman, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and innovative musician-historian Cheick Tidiane Seck. Marque is acclaimed for his multimedia performance project, DRUM-FM, and his recent remixes of tracks from Omar Sosa’s CD Mulatos are featured on the new Mulatos Remix CD. In addition to the electric bass, Childo Tomas sings in his native Mozambican language of Ronga, and plays m’bira Mola Sylla sings in his native Senegalese language of Wolof, and plays m’bira, xalam, and kongoman.
Funding for this organization is provided in part by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners as recommended by the Broward Cultural Council.
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