Mulatos

Mulatos

ASIN: B0002XB8Y2

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The Cuban keyboardist Omar Sosa is one of today's leading folkloric futurists. His latest recording features Tunisian oud master Dhafer Youssef, Anglo-Catalan drummer/turntablelist Steve Arguelles, and German bassist Dieter Ilg. This date is more electronic, midtempo, and, arguably, more accessible than his previous projects. Sosa's rhythmic and reflective pianisms are accented by woodwinds, African, Arabic, and East Indian percussion, and vocal samples which are propelled by Afro-Cubanized jazz grooves. Special guest Paquito D'Rivera's pithy clarinet solos spice up the club-friendly "Ternura," the clave-bhangra beats of "Dos Caminos," and the Nuyorican cha-cha-cha, "Nuevo Manto." If you can't figure out where Asia, Africa ,and America begin or end, that's the point. As Sosa writes in his liner notes, the music is a "meeting of cultures, a crossroads, a fusion of races and traditions." --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Tracks:

Ternura
Nuevo Manto
La Tra
Reposo
La Llamada
Dos Caminos
Iyawo
L3zero
El Consenso

Amazon.com

The Cuban keyboardist Omar Sosa is one of today's leading folkloric futurists. His latest recording features Tunisian oud master Dhafer Youssef, Anglo-Catalan drummer/turntablelist Steve Arguelles, and German bassist Dieter Ilg. This date is more electronic, midtempo, and, arguably, more accessible than his previous projects. Sosa's rhythmic and reflective pianisms are accented by woodwinds, African, Arabic, and East Indian percussion, and vocal samples which are propelled by Afro-Cubanized jazz grooves. Special guest Paquito D'Rivera's pithy clarinet solos spice up the club-friendly "Ternura," the clave-bhangra beats of "Dos Caminos," and the Nuyorican cha-cha-cha, "Nuevo Manto." If you can't figure out where Asia, Africa ,and America begin or end, that's the point. As Sosa writes in his liner notes, the music is a "meeting of cultures, a crossroads, a fusion of races and traditions." --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Customer Reviews:

Why all the fuss?.......2006-01-10

With the exception of the very pretty track nine, this CD is very quiet and bland, and, compared to the five star reviews and some expert piano playing heard with his band live at Cheltenham on Radio 3, quite a disappointment.

Wonderfully Different Yet Natural.......2005-09-05

This is Omar Sosa's breakthrough cd. I have heard Sosa in several less satisfying formats[solo,duo's,etc] and in his dabblings in hip hop and I am thrilled to write that he has reached his pinnacle in this expanded setting. First of all Sosa's music warrants additional colors and shades that a larger supporting cast gives it. Secondly the hip hop segments in previous cd's like Sentir and Prietos were badly out of place and just suceeded in having me "skip" them on otherwise decent cd's. Apparently Sosa received similar advice because the rap crap is nowhere to be found on Mulato's. What is left is interesting,catchy world jazz music. Sosa's playing is "Monk like" and percussive but it is his compositions and arrangements that are the stars. The supporting musicians while completely able are more of an essemble preaching Sosa's wonderful compositional "message".
To describe the content of the cd is as complex as some of the music. Think latin,African,carribean with a little dixieland. A real gumbo like Sosa himself.
If you like intersting jazz or world music that is hard to catergorize but easy to listen to over and over you will LOVE Mulatos.Cosidering that this is his latest cd lets hope he has learned the lessons of what has NOT worked. Mulatos does work and works beautifully. By far the best that Omar Sosa has offered so far. Lets hope there's much,much more to follow. Highly reccommended!

Fascinating Stuff.......2005-05-28

This is a genuinely unique and eclectic record, and unlike other more recent world-jazz fusion attempts, doesn't sound the least bit contrived. Sosa's playing and compositions are reminiscient of Monk's angular charm, but with an ear cocked towards hip hop and world beats. Recommended.

Could very well be Sosa's breakout record.......2004-10-23

Omar Sosa, the Cuban world jazz pianist, has made many fine albums (and a clunker or two, such as Free Roots), but has yet to reach his full potential. A very idiosyncratic artist, he has sometimes been too esoteric (Pictures of Soul, which is nevertheless one of the greatest discs ever recorded), too eclectic (Sentir, another great disc), too spare (A New Life, also great), or too outré (Free Roots, not so great).

All that changes with Mulatos. Graced with a deep, dancing melodicism, uncanny rhythmic drive, a fabulous if way unlikely band (Sosa, piano, Fender Rhodes, harmonium, marimba, vibes, tubular bells, percussion, vocals, and samples; Dhafer Youssef (!), oud; Renaud Pion, clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet; Deiter Ilg, acoustic bass; Steve Arguelles, drums; Philippe Foch, tabla, bowl; and Azia Arradl, guembri, qarqabas, vocal; with Paquito D'Rivera making an unlikely but thoroughly satisfying appearance on three numbers), state-of-the-art production (courtesy of producer Arguelles, who also produced Youssef's great disc, Digital Prophecy), this album manages to retain all the mystery, diversity (though this time properly contextualized), and even minimalism that has always characterized his best work.

So spectacular is the result that it almost defies belief. How could anyone make a disc at once this listenable and adventurous, this free and rigorous, this bubbly and melancholy, this simple and complex, this ancient and modern? How could anyone get such an unlikely aggregation of musicians to meld so seamlessly? How could such ravishing beauty coexist with such musical virtuosity? I don't know. But it does.

Make no mistake, Sosa has been on a decades-long musical pilgrimage. If some of the aural missives he's sent back from the field have been less than captivating, each has played its part in contributing to the masterful transformation of folkloric materials (culled from the Caribbean, South America, North Africa, Spain, the Middle East, North America, Asia, and Europe) that almost magically, alchemically comes out of one's speakers on Mulatos. It's almost as if everything up till now (except, perhaps, Pictures of Soul and Ayaguna, which I think are unadulterated masterpieces) has been a fascinating though not entirely successful experiment, perhaps analogous to the promising but flawed early work of a writer who later went on to become a world-class novelist.

After having listened to Mulatos scores of times, finding something new and intriguing every hearing, never tiring of its glories, never fearing to put it on out of a fear of being disappointed, always having it deliver, always being swept away by its brilliance, I've come to believe it's certainly the most wonderful music I own, and probably the greatest music I've ever heard.

Average customer rating:

Be forewarned!
It's hard to mess up Omar Sosa . . .

Mulatos: Remix
Omar Sosa
Manufacturer: Ota Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Latin Music | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music

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Sentir
Mulatos

ASIN: B000EWBKJ4
Release Date: 2006-04-11

Tracks:

La Tra (Basephunk Mix) - DJ Basephunk
L3zero (Doctor L Reworks) - Doctor L
El Tresero (Plush Vocal Mix) - Steve Arguelles
El Son (DJ Spinna Mix) - DJ Spinna
La Tra'Lectric ( - Marque Gilmore
Not Your Frequency Remix - Doctor L
Paralelo (Plush Vocal Mix) - Steve Arguelles
Rest, Wait, Call (Interlude) - Marque Gilmore
Nuevo Flow - Marque Gilmore
Iyawo 'N' Bass (The Love3zero Mix) - Marque Gilmore

Customer Reviews:

Be forewarned!.......2006-06-03

Nowhere on this CD does it inform the buyer that it is copy protected and will not even load on a computer. So if that is your preferred listening mode, you're out of luck. It sounds great on my CD player and I echo Dennis' review. So the two stars reflect my frustration and the lack of consumer information, not my appreciation of the music.

It's hard to mess up Omar Sosa . . ........2006-05-30

. . . and thankfully these remixes don't do too much damage to the original performances; indeed, in some cases they actually add new insights to the originals--which is much more than one could have hoped for.

Look.

I'm not a big fan of jazz remixes. I mean, what's the point? Isn't jazz the quintessential improv art? Isn't its success dependent on actual players' interaction and conversation in real time?

Yes and yes.

Granted, remixing can add a deep rhythmic sensibility and/or various colors that could, conceivably, beef up interesting but not strongly groove-oriented or highly coloristic performances.

But that's exactly what Omar Sosa is justifiably famous for--killer world-jazz grooves and brilliant instrumental coloration. So on the face of it, he wouldn't seem a great candidate for remixing.

Nevertheless.

I'm pretty taken by this disc. Much of the coloration comes in the form of either wordless vocals or repeated phrases that cast strange new light on the proceedings, bringing out certain aspects of the compositions that may have been insufficiently highlighted in the original performances. And the rhythmic augmentation, in the form of handclaps, electronic blips, scratches, and other manipulations does add a certain verve and even insouciance.

All in all, I think it's a trade-off: the addition of pure aural detail at the price of real-time interaction.

Me, I prefer the latter. But I can see how there could be those who might prefer the former. And the more I listen, the more I like. Who knows, I might actually, somewhere down the road, become a convert to the wonders of remixed jazz.

****1/2.

Average customer rating:

Mulatos
Omar Sosa
Manufacturer: Vivid Sound Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Cuba | Caribbean & Cuba | International | Styles | Music

General | Caribbean & Cuba | International | Styles | Music

General | Latin Music | Styles | Music

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Latin Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Modern Postbebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz | Imports | Stores | Music

Latin Music | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0002CHSW4
Release Date: 2004-07-12

Tracks:

Ternura
Nuevo Manto
Tra
Reposo
Llamada
Dos Caminos
Iyawo
L3zero
Consenso

Jazz Music:

Jazz Music

Jazz Music