Omar Sosa - piano

Joo Kraus - trumpet, vox

Ticket: 45 and 60 zł

Composer-pianist-bandleader Omar Sosa was born in 1965 in Camagüey, Cuba's largest inland city. At age eight, Omar began studying percussion and marimba at the music conservatory in Camagüey; in Havana, as a teenager, he took up piano at the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Música, and completed his formal education at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. Among his influences, Omar cites traditional Afro-Cuban music, European classical composers (including Chopin, Bartok, and Satie), Monk, Coltrane, Parker, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Chucho Valdés, and the pioneering Cuban jazz group Irakere. Moving in 1993 to Ecuador, Omar immersed himself in the folkloric traditions of Esmeraldas, the northwest coast region whose African heritage includes the distinctive marimba tradition. He relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1995, and soon invigorated the Latin jazz scene with his adventurous writing and percussive style. 

Annually performing upwards of 100 concerts on six continents, Omar has appeared in venues as diverse as the Blue Note (New York, Milan, and Tokyo), Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Walker Art Center, the Getty Center, London's Barbican and Queen Elizabeth Hall, Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall, and Berlin's Haus der Kulturen der Welt; festivals including Monterey Jazz, JVC Jazz, Montreal Jazz, Marciac Jazz, North Sea Jazz, Helsinki, Grenoble Jazz, Montreux Jazz, Naples Jazz, Ravenna Jazz, Roma Jazz, Spoletto, WOMAD, and Cape Town International Jazz; and universities on several continents, including a visiting artist fellowship at Princeton University in March 2008, and a visiting artist residency at Dartmouth College in April 2008. Omar will return to Dartmouth College for a second artist residency in February 2011. 

Mr. Sosa received a lifetime achievement award from the Smithsonian Associates in Washington, DC in 2003 for his contribution to the development of Latin jazz in the United States. He has received two nominations from the BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards, in 2004 and 2006, both in the 'Americas' category. In 2003 Omar Sosa received the Afro-Caribbean Jazz Album of the Year Award from the Jazz Journalists Association in NYC for his recording Sentir; and a nomination from the Jazz Journalists Association for Latin Jazz Album of the Year in 2005 for his recording Mulatos.

http://omarsosa.com/ 

It is unimaginable to do without JOO KRAUS in the German history of music of the last two decades. So the entry of the man born in Ulm in the Jazz charts was obligatory.
2012 he won the “jazz echo” as best brass instrumentalist in germany.„Low Sky Sketches“ – Joo’s latest album is a special cooperation between Joo Kraus and Pit Baumgartner, mastermind of the legendary band DePhazz. This album is often sub-titled „the phazzination of blue notes“ or „rebirth of de-cool“.„SONGS FROM NEVERLAND“ … is the title of the new project together with the Tales in Tones Trio. And the title is a telling name: “Thriller”, “Man in the Mirror” and “Billie Jean” were reduced to their essences and in the following accented with an enchanting heart beat but also with an unexpected softness. At the same time these men let the spirit of the songs breathe and gave it space to unfold. One would almost think that the heart of the King is beating here, who had yet served his songs so differently.

“PAINTING POP” – Joo Kraus created a very special ear catcher with the Tales in Tones Trio here. Together they roamed around in the attic of pop music history and thereby discovered wonderful pearls of music, cleared them from dust and packed them right away into own exciting arrangements, stirred and shaken well and merged with influences of trance jazz, hip beat and sophisticated soul.

For his album “SUENO” (2008, edel, content record) together with the arranger/pianist Ralf Schmid he brought touching melodies and harmonies to Havana, Cuba, to give them a touch of Cuba together with high carat Cuban musicians. This way a project developed, which reveals the fine Cuban Bolero and Son. Kristiina Tuomi from Finland and the Cuban Luis Frank upgraded some songs with their voices.

For “THE RIDE”, the second solo album of Joo Kraus, his band “Public Jazz Lounge” became a “BASIC JAZZ LOUNGE” three years later: The Basic Jazz Lounge announces an easy soul jazz with a proper portion of groove, that brings the body into motion!

His first own record “PUBLIC JAZZ LOUNGE” came out 2003 at Skiprecords. On this record jazz, pop and rap combine with arrangements à la BigBand. Joe Zawinul’s “Birdland” is orchestrated, Björk’s “Venus As A Boy” is rapped, Earth Wind & Fire’s “Getaway” philharmonised, Mary J. Bliges “Love Is All We Need” jazzed.

The musician was able to make an excellent name of himself with the JazzAward winning Hip-Jazz project Tab Two. Equipped with a virtual band the duo could be heard at nearly all national and international festivals in the 90ies. The fan base of this duo was at that time in Europe, America and Asia very remarkable. Without Tab Two Acid-Jazz, but also the later Hip Hop and Drum’n’Bass would miss an enormous dimension.

After the break-up of Tab Two, Joo Kraus quickly made an own name of himself as an exceptionial trumpeter and composer. The list of those who adorned themselves with his solos and learned to appreciate Joo’s compositions for own projects, clarifies the diversity of his musical talents: Omar Sosa, BAP, Nana Mouskouri, Tina Turner, Xavier Naidoo, Laith Al Deen, Jazzkantine, DePhazz, Fury in the Slaughterhouse, Pee Wee Ellis, Mezzoforte, Klaus Doldinger and many more.

http://jookraus.com/