Omar Sosa and Seckou Keita
Biography Omar Sosa and Seckou Keita
Omar Sosa
Born and raised in Camaguey, Cuba, Omar Sosa studied percussion for many years at the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Musica in Havana. When he couldn't find his first-choice instrument -- the marimba -- he bagen to focus on the piano, finishing his formal studies in 1984 at the Instituto Superior de Arte, also in Havana. In the late 1980s, having studied everything from Afro-Cuban folkloric traditions to European classical music, Omar began working with two Cuban vocalists -- first Vicente Feliu, and then Xiomara Laugart -- serving as musical director for their touring and recording ensembles.
Moving to Quito, Ecuador, for several years beginning in 1993, Omar discovered the folkloric music of Esmeraldas, a pocket of African-rooted culture on the north-west coast of that country known especially for its use of the marimba. In addition to launching his own jazz fusion ensemble, Entrenoz, Omar produced Andarele, a recording by the Afro-Ecuadorian group Koral y Esmarelda.
After a brief stint in Palma Mallorca, Spain, Omar moved to the San Francisco Bay Area late in 1995 where he quickly invigorated the local Latin jazz scene with his explosive playing and adventurous writing. The next year Omar made his U.S. recording debut on Otá Records with Omar Omar, followed in 1997 with the first in a trilogy of groundbreaking world-jazz recordings: Free Roots, Spirit of the Roots (1998) and Bembon (2000).
In 1998 Omar began his collaboration with noted Bay Area percussionist and educator John Santos. The duo released a live recording, Nfumbe, in conjunction with their appearance at the San Francisco Jazz Festival that year. The following year, revealing more of the contemplative side of his musical sensibilities, Omar released his second solo piano recording, Inside, a Top-20-selling CD in France for distributor Night & Day. Capping an extraordinarily productive period, Omar also travelled to Ecuador in 1999 to record his critically acclaimed large-ensemble CD Bembon.
With Prietos (2001) and Sentir (2002), Omar stretches his genre-expanding fusion still further with the use of traditional vocals and instruments from the Gnawa culture of North Africa. We find tongues in Arabic, English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Yoruba, as well as instruments like the guembri, oud, djembi, balafon, and marimba. These recordings are world music in its finest sense: strong, uncompromising sounds, yet always welcoming and honest. Throughout we hear Omar's genius as an arranger and his extraordinary inspiration at the piano.
In 1999 Omar relocated from Oakland California to Barcelona, Spain, his point of departure for over 150 international concert and festival appearances annually.
Seckou Keita
Although Seckou was born in Senegal, he is a descendant of the Malian Keita family of kings. Under normal circumstances his lineage would not allow him to become a griot but he learned to play the kora during his up-bringing by his mother’s side of the family, the Cissokho’s, a well-established griot family in Senegal. By the age of 7 years Seckou was already performing at festivals in Senegal, supporting his famous uncle Solo Cissokho. At 12 years old he had formed his own group, Coute Diomboulou and was performing all over the country.
In 1996 Seckou went to Scandinavia under the guidance of his uncle Solo Cissokho, and performed at the Forde festival with musicians from Norway, India and Cuba.
The group combined traditional music from each of their countries to create a new musical style. The next year they were at the Global Music Festival in India performing with Dr L. Subbrimaniam, an internationally renowned violinist and composer. The patriarch of the family, Solo Cissokho, first mentioned a dream of their family uniting to carry on their powerful tradition throughout the world, introduce it in its modern form and to be called Jalikunda (the House of Griots). Read on to see the vital part Seckou Keita is having in fulfilling this dream ...
In 1998, Seckou relocated to Britain and became a member of the fusion band Baka Beyond, touring all over Europe (the Czech Republic, Spain, France, Portugal, Greece and Britain) in festivals such as Womad and Glastonbury. Playing either the kora or drums, he has been in great demand at drum camps, private parties, weddings and first night openings of musicals such as ‘The Lion King’ in London’s Covent Garden. Seckou’s first album Baiyo (meaning 'Orphan') was released in 2001. This 9-track CD has recently been re-released under the title Mali. On some tracks Seckou plays the kora only and on others its beautiful sound is complemented by the violin, mandolin, drums and vocals. Seckou composed the song ‘Tamala’ with thoughts of his sojourn from Africa to Europe via India. A most enjoyable track, 'Sabu Nginna’, portrays the luck Seckou has had in becoming a musician.
In 2001, Seckou impressed audiences as a solo performer at Womad (Las Palmas) and the Sacred Music Festival (Ireland).
During BBC Radio 3’s event ‘Africa Night’. at the Jazz Café in London Seckou played kora while Justin Vali from Madagascar played the valiha, forming a great duo from across Africa. Following that Seckou was nominated for the 2001 World Music Award by Radio 3's listeners.
Seckou created the band Jamoral which was the first step in modernising kora music with a groove dance approach. The band took part in different festivals such as Womad, the Edinburgh Festival and the Epicuriales (France). Their recipe for success was a potent cocktail of spiritual Afro-Mandinka music with a twist of jazz, inspired by the songs, dances and rhythms of the lush area of Casamance in southern Senegal where many members of the band come from. As a ten-piece band, Jamoral is made up of two koras, bass, balafon, sabar, djembé, bougarabou, doun-doun and two voices. Jamoral can also be an acoustic four-piece band. Whether a four-piece or a ten-piece band, their power draws on the deep roots of traditional African percussion, dance and song resulting in a dynamic and inspirational blend. Having had such a positive response at major festivals and also smaller events, the members of Jamoral decided to join up with Jalikunda.
In 2002, Seckou invited 4 members of his family to tour all over UK in renowned festivals in the band Jalikunda. Their first family album Lindiane was released in 2003 and they were also very busy touring.
Next, in 2004 Seckou formed a multi-national band, Seckou Keita Quartet, or SKQ. The members are: double bass/electric bass player Davide Mantovani, the eclectic percussions of Surahata Susso, the distinguished sound of the violin by Samy Bishai and the enchanting voice of Binta Susso - the newest addition to the band, who turns the quartet into a quintet! Their CDs are Afro Mandinka Soul...Tama Silo (2006) and The Silimbo Passage (2008). SKQ are constantly on tour all over the world, e.g. in 2008 at Zanzibar's Sauti za Busara festival in February, opening for Miriam Makeba at Brighton Festival, the Guardian Hay Festival and the Jazz Café in London to name but a few.
