Omar Sosa & John Santos Berkeley/SF June 6,7,8!

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Omar Sosa & John Santos Berkeley/SF June 6,7,8!

Postby tocandorumba » Mon May 19, 2008 4:19 am

Some great music coming in June to the Bay! Omar Sosa is an immensely talented piano player from Cuba. He studied percussion and has a very rhythmic style- he even uses brushes to play the inside of the piano! John Santos is a legendary percussionist and educator, a fount of musical knowledge. Omar & John played and toured together during Omar's stay in Oakland. They recorded live at La Pena in 1997- check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/Nfumbe-Unseen-John-Santos-Omar/dp/B000005BT4

http://www.omarsosa.com
http://www.johnsantos.com

Sponsored by the San Francisco International Arts Festival! Show some love- http://www.sfiaf.org/2008/funders.php


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Rare Musical Duo!
Omar Sosa & John Santos
Friday June 06, 2008
La Pena Community Cultural Center
Berkeley, CA
http://www.lapena.org/event/783

$15 adv./dr. - 8pm

Reunited in a rare duo presentation for the first time in over six years Omar Sosa & John Santos in a live demo/lecture, they will share the spiritual/political/musical elements that drive their music. Their debut recording, Nfumbe: For The Unseen, was recorded live at La Peña in 1997 and they will once again bring their highly-acclaimed collaboration to La Peña.



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Saturday June 7, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, 8:00pm
John Santos and Omar Sosa Music Lecture Demonstration
http://www.sfiaf.org

Tickets $15 General admission



Omar Sosa and John Santos, reunited in a rare duo presentation for the first time in over six years, will share the spiritual/political/musical elements that drive their music. Their debut recording, Nfumbe: For The Unseen, was recorded live at La Peña in 1997. La Mar was recorded in the studio with special guests in 2000. They toured as a duo in Europe, the Caribbean, and the US, and will once again bring their highly-acclaimed collaboration to the Bay Area.


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Sun. June 8, 1:00pm (Picnic and DJ starting at 12:30pm)
Omar Sosa Afreecanos Quintet + John Santos

Yerba Buena Gardens, Mission Street between Third & Fourth Streets
TICKETS: FREE for more information call 415-399-9554

Presented by SFIAF and the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival.The Festival's closing performance on Sunday June 8 will feature the return of the great Cuban composer and pianist Omar Sosa at Yerba Buena Gardens presented free of charge to the public. It is five years since he last graced the SFIAF stage and this much anticipated show will also feature local all stars including the Bay Area's leading exponent of Latin percussion, John Santos.

Sosa's new touring ensemble, Afreecanos, explores the rich heritage of African music in jazz and Latin music. Drawing upon his Afro-Cuban roots, Sosa artfully weaves traditional elements from across the African diaspora and the Americas with his own distinctive sound, producing a thoroughly unique jazz idiom. The band's arrangements combine the folkloric with the contemporary — the ancestral with the urban — all with a Latin jazz heart.


ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Omar Sosa is one of the most versatile jazz artists on the scene today: composer, arranger, producer, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. He fuses a wide range of world music and electronic elements with his native Afro-Cuban roots to create a fresh and original urban sound — all with a Latin jazz heart. On stage, Mr. Sosa is a charismatic figure, inspiring his fellow musicians with his dynamic playing and improvisational approach to the music — an approach full of raw emotional power and humor. Mr. Sosa invariably inspires audiences to their feet and to join him in chorus vocals, heightening the sense of spontaneity and connection.

Mr. Sosa's music is a unique style of Afro-Cuban jazz, and while it is rooted in the folkloric traditions of the African Diaspora, he always takes an exploratory approach — never one to let orthodoxy stand in the way of his pursuit of freedom. Sosa offers a joyful mix of jazz and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, combining percussive forays inside the piano and a series of electronic effects with his inspired, passionate playing at the keyboard.

His tempos are fluid, and his moods change freely. Sosa revels in the irresistible clave grooves of Latin jazz, while adding experimental touches to keep his listeners on their toes.

Omar Sosa was born (April 10, 1965) and raised in Camagüey, Cuba, the largest inland city of the island nation, with a current population of about 300,000. At the age of eight, Omar began studying percussion, including marimba, at the music conservatory in Camagüey. Omar moved his studies to the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Musica in Havana. Growing up in Camaguey, Omar listened to music at home — Nat King Cole, Orquesta Aragon, Pacho Alonso, Benny More, and much classical music. He was impressed early on by one of his father's records — a set of Cuban descargas — but had no idea that this was Latin jazz. He was touched profoundly by the music's freedom and expressiveness. It was the group Los Amigos, with Frank Emilio Flynn, Tata Guines, Cachao, and Barreto, et al.

John Santos. Born in San Francisco, California, November 1, 1955, percussionist, composer, writer and educator John Santos was raised in the Puerto Rican and Cape Verdean traditions of his family, surrounded by music. The fertile musical environment of the San Francisco Bay Area shaped his career in a unique way. His studies of Afro-Latin music have included several trips to New York, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Colombia.

Widely respected as one of the top writers, educators and historians in the field, Mr. Santos is a member of the Latin Jazz Advisory Committee of the Smithsonian Institution and has contributed to the international magazines Percussive Notes, Modern Drummer, Modern Percussionist, and Latin Percussionist. The San Francisco Bay Area community in which he still lives and works has presented him with numerous awards and honors for artistic excellence and social dedication.

Mr. Santos is also a distinguished and creative multi-percussionist and recording artist. His diverse credits (in addition to those listed) include: Grupo Mezcla (Havana, Cuba), Irakere West, Santana, Cal Tjader, Charlie Hunter, Danilo Perez, Linda Tillery, Ignacio Berroa, Omar Sosa, Bobby Hutcherson, McCoy Tyner, Lalo Schifrin, Jon Jang, Yma Sumac, Pete and Sheila Escovedo, Mark Murphy, John Faddis, Batacumbele and Batucaje. He was the director of the Orquesta Tipica Cienfuegos (l976-1980) the Orquesta Batachanga (1981-1985) the Machete Ensemble (1985-2006) and now the John Santos Quintet.
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