Omar Sosa: "SFJAZZ is the Best Place on the Planet to Play Jazz"
The visionary pianist and SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director returns for a multi-night residency that fuses Afro-Cuban roots with global sounds, which he calls the ultimate "Temple of Jazz".
See the full show details and ticket information at the end of this feature. Listen to the full conversation with Omar Sosa below:
A Journey from Camagüey to Mallorca
Born in Camagüey, Cuba, in 1965, Omar Sosa’s musical path was shaped by both tradition and necessity. Though he is now a world-renowned pianist, he began his career as a percussionist at age eight. He took up the piano only because of a lack of marimbas in Havana, yet he eventually completed formal training at the Instituto Superior de Arte.
Sosa’s career has been a nomadic quest for connection. After spending the 1980s touring countries such as Angola and Ethiopia, he spent time in African-descent communities in Ecuador before establishing a significant presence in the San Francisco Bay Area. Now a resident of Mallorca, Spain, Sosa has released over 30 recordings as a leader, earning seven GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY nominations for his ability to blend Afro-Cuban roots with electronic and world music elements.
Flipping the Script: The Spiritual Energy of the Stage
For Sosa, performance is not merely a concert; it is a spiritual invocation. He describes SFJAZZ as a "Temple of Jazz" where he can "lift [his] voice" to a universal energy. “We don't see it as talking to God, but rather to this energy,” Sosa explains. “Some people call it Allah, others call it Buddha, but they're all the same energy. This energy can drive humanity.”
This philosophy extends to his creative process, where spontaneity is paramount. When he first met kora maestro Seckou Keita in 2012, they performed together without rehearsal. “I clicked with him like we had been playing together all our lives,” Sosa recalls. This "ancestral connection" allows the music to evolve authentically on stage, prioritizing "peace, love, and unity" over rigid structure.
Show Highlights: A Week of Musical Evolution
Sosa’s residency at SFJAZZ offers an enlightening glimpse into his diverse musical pursuits over four distinct nights.
Thursday, Mar 5: Sosa joins the Stanford Jazz Orchestra to perform music from the album Es:Sensual.
Friday, Mar 6: Following an Open Soundcheck, Sosa performs with the Aguas Trio, featuring Yilian Cañizares, a collaboration that previously earned him a Premios LUCAS for Best Song Video.
Saturday, Mar 7: The focus shifts to the Omar Sosa Quarteto Americanos.
Sunday, Mar 8: The residency closes with the Suba Trio, showcasing material from their 2021 album SUBA—a "hymn to hope" for a post-pandemic world.
The Trio: A Global Brotherhood
The Suba Trio represents the pinnacle of Sosa’s collaborative spirit.
Seckou Keita: A Senegalese kora maestro and "hereditary bard," Keita is a descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire. Named the BBC Radio 2 Folk Musician of the Year in 2019, he brings a "high level of musical spirituality" to the ensemble.
Gustavo Ovalles: A Venezuelan percussionist who provides the rhythmic backbone for the trio. His work ensures that, because both Sosa and Keita also started as drummers, the melodies always "groove.”
