Jazz and Cuban music have had a special relationship since musicians like Mario Bauza, Machito and Dizzy Gillespie started collaborating in the forties. Many musicians followed in their tracks: Arturo Sandoval and Paquita D’Rivera in the eighties and, today, Gonzalo Rubalcaba. The Cuban piano player Omar Sosa has mastered the art of combining the fantastic Afro-Cuban rhythms with the harmonic structures and improvisational possibilities of jazz music. He has also succeeded in translating his music into the language of a new generation of listeners. The recently released remix album of his Grammy nominated CD Mulatos contained Sosa’s compositions that have been reworked as jazz dance tunes. Special guest with Sosa’s trio is the inventive percussionist Miguel ‘Anga’ Diaz who often plays with bassist Cachaíto Lopez. Recently his first solo album Echu Mingua was released.
