My email box continues to receive updates on the concert schedule of Omar Sosa, an acclaimed Cuban jazz pianist, composer and bandleader. He is also a marimba player.
Omar has received multi-Grammy nominations—a proof of the top-quality of jazz music he plays.
I met Omar in a Jakarta-to-Manila flight after attending an educators’ conferences in Bali almost two decades ago.
After settling in my seat, I got curious of the tall and huge bearded guy in traditional African white attire who was right across the aisle.
An artist of some kind, I presumed.
He must have noticed my silent curiosity that I heard him say as he looked at me, “Are you flying home to Manila?”
His question led to a friendly chat that lasted for more than half of the four-hour-plus flight.
He was flying to Manila for his connecting flight to Europe following a well-acclaimed performance at the then newly-started Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival.
Shortly before arrival in Manila, we exchanged business cards, which led to my getting those updates of his international performances.
While he may not be well known on this side of the globe, Omar has established a wide following among jazz music lovers in the Western world. Proof of this is his continued tight schedule of solo concerts.
This summer, his calendar of performances include Italy, London, France, New York and other key cities in the United States.
Reviewers describe Omar as one who has “forged a distinct global musical identity and has dynamically fused his Afro-Cuban roots and Latin jazz with electronics, hip hop, Western classical structured and the global African diaspora.”
Accounts describing the musical ability of the artist, who usually performs in all-white African linens, say his artistry is “profoundly spiritual with performances often structured like ritual celebrations or communal experiences.”
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Omar and his brand of music resurfaced in my mind two weeks ago during the celebration of International Jazz Day which UNESCO declared to be observed every April 30. The day was designated in 2011. The event was the culminating activity of Jazz Appreciation Month.
Hosting the April 30 activity was the city of Chicago, the U.S. Midwest metropolis, where renowned Louie Armstrong fortified his position as a top jazz vocalist and trumpeter, after developing his musical taken in New Orleans, his hometown.
The annual observance highlights the “diplomatic role of jazz in uniting people across the globe” – bringing together communities, schools, artists, historians and jazz enthusiasts to promote peace, dialogue among cultures, diversity, respect for human dignity and freedom of expression among others.
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The Jakarta Jazz Festival has gained roots since the decade it was started, when Omar was among the earliest performers.
It has continued to set the standards that blend international acts and native talents.
This year, the Jakarta Jazz Festival is scheduled on May 29-31. The main performers are British R&B singer and songwriter Ella Mai, the South Korean Rock Band Wave to Earth and Daniel Caesar, a black Canadian performer.
Other foreign performances include Earth, Wind and Fire Experience by Al McKay as well as talents from Germany, United Kingdom, United States, Japan, Australia and Indonesia.
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Today, jazz may have been dislodged from the Top 40 mainstream music. Thankfully for our generation, that grew up amid its beat and rhythm, I’ll it has remained popular and evolving as an art form through modern fusion, acoustics and genre-bending as well as events, like Jazz Day and international festivals that have kept jazz alive today.
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Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp. (Psalm 149:3) | NWI
