On the occasion of the album’s releaseSuba (Ota Rd),we welcome the cuban pianist Omar Sosa and Senegalese korafola Seckou Keïta.
SUBA, the second album by the Cuban virtuoso pianist, Omar Sosa, and the master of the Senegalese kora Seckou Keïta, follows the first disc of the duo, Transparent Water (2017), critically acclaimed.
Written and recorded in 2020 during global containment, SUBA (“dawn” in Malinké) is a hymn to hope in a post-pandemic world. The Atlantic Ocean separates Cuba from Senegal, the respective birthplaces of Omar Sosa and Seckou Keïta, a distance reduced by their common ancestral link with Africa. When the two first met in 2012, Seckou loved Omar for his musical spirituality, while Omar saw in Seckou a rare ability to collaborate without losing his identity.
Two fundamental principles guided the conception of the album: the approach less is more Where minimalismo, as Omar likes to call it, and the importance of collaboration. The two artists work in listening and respect for shared ideas. For them: the only boss is music.
The eleven titles that make up SUBA are linked by common themes, woven throughout the recording. The songs are about friendship and spiritual connection, travel and loss, hope and optimism, dance and sea… and, of course, a new sunrise.
Omar Sosa & Seckou Keïta just posted the clip Gniri Balma.
Full Line Up from the album
Omar Sosa : piano, Seckou Keïta : kora, Gustavo Ovalles : percussions, Jaques Morelenbaum : cello, Dramane Dembele : flute, Steve Argüelles : sequencing, effects, percussions.
Titles performed at RFI in duo
– Maam
– Korason from the album Suba Feat. Jaques Morelenbaum
– Kharit
– Allah Leno see the clip.
Musicians
– Omar Sosa, piano
– Seckou Keïta, kora.
His : Benoît Letirant, Fabien Mugneret.
Plalylist of guests
– Thelonious Monk Evidence (Omar Sosa choice)
– Lokua Kanza Everything is fine (choice Seckou Keïta)
– John Lennon Conceived (Omar Sosa choice)
– Youssou Ndour Yaakar (choice Seckou Keïta).