New album is an East African journey
Omar Sosa describes his new album as a dream come true. The heart of “An East African Journey” was recorded during the jazz pianist’s 2009 tour of seven East African countries. Sosa and his Afreecanos Trio — vocalist Mola Sylla from Senegal and Mozambican bassist Childo Tomas — performed in Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Madagascar, Burundi, Zambia and Mauritius.
During the tour, sound engineer Patrick Destandeau made “field recordings” of folkloric musicians, capturing songs of healing and celebration in a variety of languages including Ntandroy and Oromo, with traditional instruments like the Marovany (box zither with 24 steel strings) and the Lokanga (three-string violin). Sosa later added piano, percussion, bass and electronics with help from producer-drummer Steve Argüelles and multi-instrumentalist Christophe ‘Disco’ Minck. The Sentinel spoke with the seven-time Grammy nominated artist about “An East African Journey” and his “pilgrimage to the roots of African music.”
East African Journey
“When the tour was organized (2009) the first thing to come to my mind was now is the moment for me to do what I loved to do for years; go to Africa and record traditional music. It was a dream for me,” Sosa recalls. “My main dream was to make a record where we don’t play only drums. We play melodic instruments. Because most of the time when we talk about Africa, the first thing that comes up is drums or dancing. Of course, this is a deep part of Africa. But the melodic aspect of Africa is also interesting.”
Sosa’s live concerts are exhilarating and the Cuban-born artist has always been influenced by diverse musical traditions from Africa to South America and Asia. Now with “An East African Journey” the pianist is sharing the musical jewels he discovered in East Africa.
“I knew some music that comes from Ethiopia, but not this type of music I discovered when I went to Ethiopia,” recalls Sosa. “I said, ‘Wow, how beautiful and how connected we all are.’ Because when I listened to music of Seleshe (Damassae) from Ethiopia, the first thing that came to my mind was the Blues and Country music! I said ‘Whoa!’ And without saying anything, when I played the piano, something came out naturally. I was playing a kind of Blues or like I was accompanying some country singer! And they said, ‘Well, this is an African man playing traditional music!’ One song doesn’t even have lyrics, by Rajery from Madagascar. I asked Rajery, ‘What did you say with the lyrics?’ He said, ‘I didn’t say nothing. I just say words.’ It was really funny. I enjoy that tradition.”
Answer of my soul
“Basically, this record is African. It has a little bit of electronic, a little bit of jazz, AfroCuban music and classical. In a way, it’s the answer of my soul in one moment of my life,” Sosa offers. “I was listening to the record yesterday, and I usually don’t listen to my albums. I had a little quiet time and it was a beautiful day, with the sun shining. And you know what, man? When I ended, I was so relaxed. I almost fall asleep. I say, ‘Wow, this music made me peaceful. It made my soul in a peace mode.’ And I told myself, ‘Thank you Omar!’ Because this is what I look for when I do music; I want to bring peace. I want to bring unity. I want to bring integration — not segregation.”
Sosa’s piano playing is sparse, leaving the traditional East African music in center stage. He told the Sentinel he recorded using a piano from 1874 and that the process of paring down his sound has led to new musical insights.
Space to the silence
Sosa remembers, “Steve Argüelles co-produced this project with me in Paris. We called it organic, natural music with no sulfite added! Why? Because they play what they play. And we play what we play. It was not overproduced. When we first put the tracks on the computer and listened in the studio we both said, ‘This music by itself, without us, sounds good. We need to be inside of this music, we need to integrate ourselves. There’s no reason to over arrange this because the music by itself has his own blood, his own DNA. His own backbone. It’s a body by himself. The only thing that we can do is it put a little color.’
“Playing in this project was another lesson I always hear from the elders; Less is more. And now it sounds like I became old! Because I’ve been doing this! If you know my previous records you know how dense my music was. And you see now how minimal my music is! All that matters is to give the right space to the silence. How important it is to let the note resonate inside of you. And I tasted this with East African Journey. Only one note. Ding! Until the note is gone. Oh, yeah.”
Sosa is performing via livestream concerts, with the next scheduled f6 p.m. March 10. Sosa, who lives between the Bay Area and Barcelona, has another album ready for release later this year, also with African roots.
SUBA
“Now I’m in another chapter with a new project and of course the backbone is Africa,” says Sosa. “We are almost finished; today or tomorrow we’re going to get back the mastering of the new project with Seckou Keita, a Senegalese Kora player and singer. It’s called “SUBA” which means “Sunrise” in Mandingo. And it’s another beautiful journey.”
“SUBA” is scheduled for release on Oct.1 and is a follow-up to the 2017 album “Transparent Water” which also features Gustavo Ovalles on percussion.
“Sometimes I hear people say, ‘Man, if you have this song and it worked well in one of your records, why don’t you replicate that?’ You know why? Because I don’t know how to do it!” Sosa elucidates. “I personally try to express what comes through me honestly, with no boundaries. With no doors. I give with all my love, with all my respect.”
Omar Sosa adds, “I’m happy because I’m really productive those days. Even if I don’t make a penny, I’m productive. Let’s see if something will come after (the pandemic). And like I tell everybody, right now it is the time to create. If you have something inside, put it out. I create like I’m going to die tomorrow. More recording, more streaming. This year, I already recorded five different projects. It’s the only way to keep my soul happy, to keep my spirit in good shape.”
“An East African Journey” will be released March 5 and a documentary film of Omar’s East African tour directed by Olivier Taïeb — “Souvenirs d’Afrique,” — is on Vimeo; http://vimeo.com/ondemand/outofafrica
Listen to this interview with Omar Sosa at noon Thursday on KZSC 88.1 FM / kzsc.org.