Omar Sosa: Sendas

Omar Sosa's Sendas—"paths," as it translates—pursues courses of catharsis. A solo piano session recorded live at Fazioli Concert Hall in northern Italy during a period of global uncertainty just a few short years ago, it offers a series of improvisations that speak to reflective resolve. The music draws on both individual perspective and universal positioning, creating an overlay that binds artist and listener through the act of creation, a yearning for understanding, and the ceaseless movement of time.

"Estancia" sets the album in patient motion, with an invitation to stay within Sosa's warm cocoon. "Heartwarming Night" delves into electro-acoustic ambience, with a gentle cicada chirp, atmospheric enhancements, late-arriving vocal cries and other accoutrements surrounding the pianist's brush with the gorgeous gloaming. "Inside the Spirit" plays as séance through space and time—a deeply moving venture into another realm. "Inside My Soul," eschewing additions around the 88s, moves with solemn purpose and weight. And "Something From Home" draws on Sosa's roots, with his fingers digging into Cuban soil. Remaining in the region but broadening his scope, Sosa dances to the pulse of his own dimensions and redefines island time within the album's centerpiece: "Caribbean Movement."

"Already Thinking Of You" epitomizes a searching beauty within this artist's work while also highlighting his touch on keys and grasp on life. "Deities Serenade" addresses the divine, with the Sosa's signature chant-and-ritual charm(s) in the foreground. "Another Special Moment" compels with moody incertitude, living up to its name while simultaneously defying expectations and offering a late-game motivic handhold. "Shirma" plays as peaceable beauty and flow in pure unsullied form. And closer "Telling That Story" offers a groove-trance goodbye with piano, percussion and voice in perfect musical and emotional alignment.

Sendas, arriving as a digital-only release, extends on signatures displayed in previous solo works like Calma (Otá, 2011) and Senses (Otá, 2014) while occupying its own territory. The album resonates on a unique frequency—its press materials rightly note that "each note becomes a sigh, a raw cry, a sincere prayer, a way to leave a trace upon an uncertain future"—and its connective capabilities are made clear right from the initial point of entry. Omar Sosa's pianistic profundity—a mantic musicality like no other—is on full display during this moving journey.