On the evening of the day that we celebrate The Lord’s resurrection, Omar Sosa and his SUBA trio of Seckou Keita/kora and Gustavo Ovalles/perc mixed meditation and celebration with an 1 ½ set of contemplation and festivities.
Switching between piano, keyboards and computer, Sosa created rich tapestries of West Africa caravans, as on “Maam” and “Drops of Sunrise” as Ovalles delivered a lilting pulse and Keita’s passionate voice was complemented by the exotic strums and pluckings of the kora. Sosa’s piano would introduce pieces such as “Floating Boat” and “Allah Leno” with dashes of taped village voices, even caressing the piano strings with a brush to create an atmosphere of a full moon in the Sahel desert. Keita’s pleading lyrics were a mix of prayerful yearnings and pleadings gliding over the delicate camel-like stroll of Ovalles sticks and hand percussion.
But all was not for quiet contemplation, as Sosa and company developed deep rivulets of grooves on pieces like the funny “2020 Visions”, with the audience joining in for adding finger snaps, claps and even choral calls and responses. People were starting to dance and bob in their seats, with a few in the back getting up to let loose on foot.
By the close of the evening, with pieces like “Voices of the Sea and Reis’s Ray”, Sosa had the entire upscale club dancing and joining in, as Ovalles supplied the beat and Ketia joined in the front conga line for a mix of boogie nights and juju jive. At a time when people have been afraid to even go out for catching some germs, it was refreshing to see a leader and band that wanted Americans to catch a vision.
Upcoming shows at Catalina’s include Maggie Gould/Nanny Assis band 04/20, Peter CIncotti 04/27 and Samvel Yervinyan 04/29-50, 05/12