Skip to main content
World Tracks

Omar Sosa and Sheryl Bailey: big band jazz

Issued on:

A jazz formation staple in the 30s and 40s, big band doesn’t come cheap and it’s something of a rare pearl nowadays. Cuban pianist Omar Sosa and US jazz guitarist Sheryl Bailey both make it shine on their latest albums.

Pierre Vallée
Advertising

Omar Sosa's credentials are impressive. Chucho Valdés has described him as one of the most important contemporary artists. But that didn’t stop him from having butterflies when renowned Brazilian arranger Jaques Morelenbaum suggested arranging some of his work for the 18-piece German NDR Big Band. The band's previous collaborations include the likes of Chet Baker, Paquito D'Rivera, Wayne Shorter and Al Jarreau.

"It was crazy for me to mix this project," says Sosa. "Kind of way too many layers, the information was big. I asked myself how can I do this?"

With 18 musicians plus Sosa's own quartet, it made for a very big sound indeed. But doing it meant a lot to him. A way of returning to his Cuban roots.

"It was a dream come true. We all in Cuba like big band sound. We come from the tradition of big band... I dedicate the album to Chucho Valdés and Irakere - they are my inspiration.”

Originally broadcast on German radio, the recordings are now available on the recently released album Ceremony. It includes rearrangements of ten of Sosa’s pieces, from the trilogy 'Spirit of the roots','Bembon' and 'Afrecannos', plus two new works around the orisha Elegba which open and close the album. Overall it reads something like a bata drum ceremony.

"Elegba opens and closes the door in life," Sosa explains, "and in every record I do, I do a song to Elegba. The yoruba and santeria tradition drive my life. I'm not a fantatic but I need to say thank you, to listen to the voice of my ancestors and try and follow what they say."

Sosa strongly defends his Afro-Cuban roots and is, in his own words, a child of Africa.

In RFI’s studios he gave a great piano improvisation alongside Malian singer Mamani Keita with whom he's already collaborated. He promises to push the African feel one step further on his next project.

"Mamani Keita will be a big part of it," he confides, giving just enough away to keep us intrigued.

www.sherylbailey.com

US jazz guitarist Sheryl Bailey can chop it with the best of them. She's bass guitarist with Klezmer Madness and Abraham Inc. (both led by virtuoso clarinettist David Krakauer), while her solo career has seen her interpreting the diverse talents of Louis Armstrong and Jimi Hendrix.

On her latest (6th) album A New Promise, she joins forces with the 16-piece Three Rivers Jazz Orchestra from her hometown of Pittsburgh, showing she's equally at ease with a big band ensemble.

Together they pay homage to the late forerunner female guitarist Emily Remler. The album features three of her pieces - the samba-inspired 'Carenia', 'Mocha Spice' and 'East to Wes' in tribute to her hero Wes Montgomery - as well as Bailey's own compositions.

"Remler was a fantastic guitarist, the first woman to gain prominence both nationally and internationally," says Bailey. "I feel like it was humbling to dig into that and try to pull something out of me that would be lasting in her honour."

While for Bailey  "there’s only one list… there isn't a separate list for female guitarists", she recognises Remler helped pave the way for gender not to be an issue.

"Certainly at that time it was a big deal… it was incredibly hard for her (in the 80s) to break through and be taken seriously…. For me it was a tribute to someone who opened a lot of doors for me."

To a degree Bailey now opens doors for others, proffering sound advice to her budding students at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Hard work is the key but also "be a nice person… and always give 100 per cent… you never know who's listening to you!"

Omar Sosa: Ceremony (World Village harmonia Mundi) 2010
Sheryl Bailey: A New Promise (MCG Jazz) 2010

Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning

Keep up to date with international news by downloading the RFI app

Page not found

The content you requested does not exist or is not available anymore.