Search - Omar Sosa :: Ballads 1997-2000

A brilliant overview of Sosa's more lyrical side

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 09/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Omar Sosa, Cuban jazz piano genius, here presents his most ravishingly romantic stylings culled from four previously released discs to great advantage.



If you've never heard Sosa, this is as good a place as any to make his acquaintance. If you've encountered him before, I suggest you cut to the chase and acquire Mulatos, his signature disc. And while you're at it, get Ayagunos, Pictures of Soul, and Mulatos Remix.



Ordinarily, I wouldn't give the time of day to a compilation disc of this sort. I'm, however, cutting Sosa a major break because he's just such a stone genius. Combine that with the fact that he records for his own label, doesn't get the kind of distribution his peers get on their major record labels, and, hence, labors in jazz's backwaters, and you've got a disc that ought to receive widest possible distribution, even though it's a rerelease of previously recorded numbers.



Combine that with the fact that on the four discs that make up the material from which these selections were culled there are numerous problematic rap/hip-hop/bogus contemporary selections, and you have pure Sosa sans the chaff.



Nevertheless. Hear me on this. Sosa chaff is better than 90% of others' best stuff. My view is that you should pick up this altogether remarkable disc, and then pick the four others (Free Roots, Spirit of the Roots, Bembon, and Prietos) from which these selections were taken. Yes, you'll get some unpleasantness in the form of stupid rap/hip-hop, but even this grossness is superior to the vast majority of drek churned out by other artists.



Really, this is an altogether lovely disc, one of the finest jazz releases in the past decade. If it acquaints you with one of world jazz's monster players and gets you deeper into this marvelous music, all the better. But either way, you can't lose.



Why not pick it up and be majorly graced?"