Omar Sosa Quarteto Americanos at Stanford Jazz Festival at Dinkelspiel Auditorium

An astonishing constellation of Cuban jazz pianists has surged through doors first opened by Chucho Valdés, but even amidst this glittering array Omar Sosa stands out as a singular figure. It’s been far too long since he performed at the Festival, but the impact he made on the Bay Area scene during his relatively brief sojourn here is as remarkable as his ever-evolving music. Sosa first landed in Oakland in 1995 by way of the Afro-Ecuadoran province of Esmereldas and quickly earned attention with his commanding technique and percussive attack. By the late ’90s he was recording prolifically for his own label, Otá Records, while his music expanded exponentially, combining the sounds he was encountering in the Bay Area with the influences he brought with him...

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An astonishing constellation of Cuban jazz pianists has surged through doors first opened by Chucho Valdés, but even amidst this glittering array Omar Sosa stands out as a singular figure. It’s been far too long since he performed at the Festival, but the impact he made on the Bay Area scene during his relatively brief sojourn here is as remarkable as his ever-evolving music. Sosa first landed in Oakland in 1995 by way of the Afro-Ecuadoran province of Esmereldas and quickly earned attention with his commanding technique and percussive attack. By the late ’90s he was recording prolifically for his own label, Otá Records, while his music expanded exponentially, combining the sounds he was encountering in the Bay Area with the influences he brought with him. Every performance seemed to add another player into the mix as he somehow integrated Yoruba chants, hip hop rhymes, post-bop harmonies, and Moroccan cadences within a spectacular matrix of Afro-Cuban rhythms. Sosa’s musical universe has continued to expand since he settled in Barcelona around the turn of the century, with each recording capturing an evolving international cast of improvisers. The latest twist in his creative journey is his Quarteto Americanos, a group based on the formative relationships he forged here in the mid-90s. During a 2021 Bay Area run of gigs Sosa reconnected with saxophonist Sheldon Brown and drummer Josh Jones, who both toured and recorded with early iterations of his band. Supremely versatile musicians, they played an essential role in forging earthy and graceful sound. Adding Bay Area-based Cuban bassist Ernesto Mazar Kindelán into the mix completed the multi-directional quartet, which seamlessly combines funk, jazz, Afro-Cuban grooves and Sosa’s extravagant melodic imagination.

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