Omar Sosa (CU)

About

Cuban pianist Omar Sosa has spent decades building one of the most quietly ambitious bodies of work in jazz, blending Afro Cuban rhythms, spiritual depth and a restless curiosity that pulls in collaborators from across the globe. Born in Camagüey, he trained in percussion before finding his voice at the piano, and after stints in Ecuador and Spain he landed in California long enough to launch his career under his own name and start his own label, Otá, on which most of his records have appeared. His discography is remarkably prolific and consistently adventurous. He has picked up four Grammy nominations and in 2011 he and the NDR Bigband won the Independent Music Award for Jazz Album with Ceremony. Long running partnerships with Paolo Fresu, Seckou Keita and Adam Rudolph have produced some of his most celebrated work, and he keeps adding to that list, with releases alongside Yilian Cañizares and Igana Santana among his more recent output.