Customer Reviews

Mulatos

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

Mr Omar Sosa is an incredible piano accompanist; all the instruments are surrounding the piano giving us a beautiful music.

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.