OMAR SOSA
Prietos (OTA)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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If you're worried about what's to become of Cuban music after the Valdes clan passes on, relax. The young lions of Cuba may include some oddballs (though the odd ones often end up making the most interesting music), but I've been listening to someone who may become a legend before his time is through. Omar Sosa's free to do as he pleases because he has no Castro issues, living in Northern California for the past seven years, and his music has blossomed and the roots have spread around the globe, or at least across the African continent. The mixture of Cuban and African music is nothing new or there wouldn't be a genre called Afro-Cuban, but Sosa, while playing piano as complex and breathtaking as anyone in that genre, tosses a new card on the pile by introducing sporadic hip hop segments, usually very short and always with a very specific purpose within the piece. All of this is painted beautifully with instruments ranging from the everyday trumpets, saxes, and clarinets to the exotic cajon, udu, waterphone and gimbri. The final result is as beautiful as it is stirring. Afro-Cuban music is in the fine hands of several young lions, believe me. And, as it turns out, there's at least one out there who may just bring about evolution of the genre, or branches thereof. Here's the seed. Pick it up and see what you think.

© 2001 - DJ Johnson