Afro-Cuba with Omar Sosa
Following my Senegal show which featured an interview with Seckou Keita, luckily for me, Tamsin Davies of MWLDAN in Wales asked if I also wanted to interview Omar Sosa. He’s a seven times Grammy nominated Cuban pianist so I jumped at the chance. I decided to put together an Afro Cuban show to explore Omar’s music and to celebrate the Afro-cuban genre. Note - the show was put together to look in broad terms at Afro-Cuban music, not just at the Latin-Jazz version, although that does feature heavily.
Afro-Cuban music is a genre which is as a result of two significant migrations. First, the forced movement of slaves from Africa to Cuba by Spanish plantation owners, primarily for sugarcane production. Second, the migration of the Cuban sound, and the more modern instruments used to play it - such as guitar, bass, drum kit, piano/keyboard, congas, bongos and brass back to African.
There are many layers to this - the roots of the Congas and Bongos can be traced back to the Yuka and Makuta of Bantu of Central African origin and Bata drum of the Yoruba people from Nigeria, Benin and Togo. No coincidence then that the Cuban sound has been most prominent in West and Central African regions, where the Cuban sound has been fully adopted and integrated by their local musicians since the mid 20th Century. The polyrhythmic sound (layered rhythms each with a different metre) went with the African slaves who would play drums, sing and dance, without any access to melodic instruments. When the rhythms returned to Africa, the Clave (those small percussion sticks!) had been incorporated, and which add an additional layer of syncopation to the polyrhythms.
My interview with Omar was on a Zoom call (and showed me that I could definitely improve on the sound quality of my interviews!) and we ended up chatting for a full hour, with him at home in Alameda, California. He’s super funny with an infectious smile and wicked dress sense. He is ‘obsessed’ with his African roots and his album An East African Journey really demonstrates that, through his process and his passion for the musicians and instruments. I was very lucky to be sent the East African Journey album ahead of its release - so we’re able to play you much of the album on this show.
You’ll have to listen to the interview to find out more, hope you enjoy it!
Full tracklist below:
El Manicera - Cuarteto Patria & Manu Dibango
Jarabi - Afrocubism
Gnawou - Orchestra Baobab
Betece - Afrocando
Monsieur Malonga - Tabu Ley Rochereau
Conga Negro Cansao - Jose Luis Cortes Y NG La Banda
Ye Ye - Mongo Santamaria
Meinfajria - Omar Sosa & Dafaalla Elhag Ali
Dary - Omar Sosa & Seckou Keita
Thuon Mok Loga - Omar Sosa & Olith Rotego
Eretseretse - Omar Sosa & Monja Mahafay
Veloma E - Omar Sosa & Rajery
Kwa Nyogokuru Revisited - Omar Sosa & Stephen Sogo
El Que Siembra Su Maiz - Afro Cuban Jazz Project
Ntoman - Africando
Silanide - Super Rail Band
Paquita - Africando
Novio Mio - Machito & His Afro-Cubans
Afro Mood - Chris Ajilo & His Cubanos
