artist info

Quarteto Americanos is Omar Sosa’s first U.S.-based jazz ensemble since the 1990s! The group came together in February 2021 when Omar was in the Bay Area for several live streams. Connecting with Josh and Sheldon was a gratifying reunion for Omar, as he played extensively with them during his early days in San Francisco and Oakland in the late 1990s. Josh Jones’ Trio at the time, including Omar and bassist Geoff Brennan, played frequently at Bay Area clubs. Josh remains one of Omar’s favorite drummers - a versatile musician and educator equally at home in Latin, jazz, hip-hop, and fusion styles. Sheldon Brown was a member of Omar’s first Septet ensemble in the Bay Area, performing in San Francisco and Oakland and around the world in support of Omar’s earliest recording projects, ‘Free Roots’, ‘Spirit of the Roots’, and ‘Bembon’, also known as the Roots Trilogy. Sheldon is a talented composer, arranger and producer whose first recording, Shifting Currents, caught Omar’s ear when he initially moved to San Francisco in 1995. Ernesto Mazar Kindelan is a dynamic Cuban musician who came to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2014 following a ten-year stint with Charanga Habanera, the celebrated Cuban timba band from Havana.

Omar’s Quarteto Americanos plays a number of arrangements of Omar’s signature compositions from his early career, including ‘My Three Notes’, ‘Angustia’, and ‘Toridanzón’, as well as new songs written by Omar in Barcelona during the lockdown in 2020. Like Omar’s oeuvre, Quarteto Americanos’ repertoire is eclectic and energizing. Its improvisational approach seamlessly fuses elements of jazz, Latin, hip-hop, and electronica into an exciting, passionate, contemporary sound.

Omar Sosa is touring in celebration of the release of a new documentary entitled Omar Sosa’s 88 Well-Tuned Drums and an accompanying soundtrack LP of the same name. The documentary captures much of Sosa’s oeuvre as a composer, bandleader, and recording artist and highlights the rich tapestry of his styles and cultures, from solo piano to big band, from Mother Africa to Cuba and the descent communities of the Diaspora, and from jazz and an array of folkloric traditions to Western classical music. The soundtrack vinyl features music from eight Omar Sosa albums, including three GRAMMY-nominated titles – ‘ Sentir’ (2002), ‘Eggun’ (2009), and ‘Across the Divide’ (2013). For fans and newcomers alike, the film and vinyl are a great way to enjoy Omar’s music and better appreciate the artist and his creative process. For his shows at Jazz Alley, Omar brings drummer Josh Jones, who played extensively with him during his formative year in the San Francisco Bay Area (late 1990s and early 2000s) and multi-reed master Sheldon Brown who is featured on several early Omar Sosa albums and on the track ‘ Para Ella’ from the soundtrack. Completing Quarteto Americanos is the dynamic Cuban bassist Ernesto Mazar Kindelán. Like the artist, the band’s repertoire is eclectic and energizing. Its improvisational approach seamlessly fuses elements of Jazz, Latin, and World Music into a passionate, contemporary sound.