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Omar Sosa

Omar Sosa (born April 10, 1965) is a jazz pianist from Cuba.[1]

Omar Sosa

(1965-04-10) April 10, 1965
Camagüey, Cuba

Musician

1995–present

Biography[edit]

A native of Camagüey, Cuba, Sosa studied percussion at the Escuela Nacional de Musica and Instituto Superior de Arte.[2] In the 1980s he started the band Tributo, recording albums and touring with the band.[2] He worked with Cuban vocalist Xiomara Laugart and several Latin jazz bands.[2] In the 1990s he moved from Cuba to Quito, Ecuador; to Palma de Mallorca, Spain; to the San Francisco Bay area, in California, United States; and finally settled in Barcelona, Spain.[3][1]


While in California, Sosa released his first few albums under his own name.[2] He had received Grammy Award nominations for four of his albums, three in the Latin Jazz category, as of 2020.[2][4] In January 2011, Sosa and the NDR Bigband[de] (North German Radio Bigband) won the 10th Independent Music Awards (IMAs) in the Jazz Album category for Ceremony.[5] He has also collaborated with Paolo Fresu, Seckou Keita, Adam Rudolph, and many other musicians.[2]


Sosa has released most of his recordings on his own Otá label.[6]

Solo Piano, originally released as Omar Omar (Otá, 1996)

Nfumbe: For the Unseen, with (Otá/PriceClub, 1997)[7]

John Santos

Free Roots (Otá, 1997)

Inside (Otá, 1998)

Spirit of the Roots (Otá, 1999)

Bembon (Otá, 2000)

Prietos (Otá, 2000)

Sentir (Otá, 2002)

Ayaguna, with (Otá, 2003)

Gustavo Ovalles

A New Life (Otá, 2003)

Pictures of Soul, with (Otá/Meta Records, 2004)

Adam Rudolph

Aleatoric Efx (Otá, 2004)

Mulatos (Otá, 2004)

Mulatos Remix (Otá, 2005)

Live à FIP (Otá, 2006)

Promise, with (Otá/Skip[de], 2007)

Paolo Fresu

D.O.: A Day Off, with (Otá, 2007)

Greg Landau

Afreecanos (Otá, 2008)

Tales from the Earth A Tale of Rhythm and Ancestry, with (Otá, 2009)

Mark Weinstein

Across the Divide (, 2009)

Half Note Records

Simb, with Adam Rudolph (Otá/Meta Records, 2009)

Ceremony, with NDR Bigband (Otá, 2010)

Calma (Otá, 2011)

Alma, with (Otá, 2012)

Paolo Fresu

Eggun: The Afri-Lectric Experience (Otá, 2013)

Senses (Otá, 2014)

ile (Otá, 2015)

Jog, with and Gustavo Ovalles (Otá, 2016)

de:Joo Kraus

Eros, with (2016)

Paolo Fresu

Es:Sensual, with NDR Big Band (Skip/Otá, 2017/2018)

Transparent Water, with (Otá, 2017)

Seckou Keita

Aguas, with (Otá, 2018)

Yilian Cañizares

An East African Journey (Otá, 2021)

SUBA, with Sekou Keita (Otá, 2021)

Iroko, with Igana Santana (Selo Sesc, 2023)

Food, with (Tuk Music, 2023)

Paolo Fresu

Official website

Melodia biography