(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Club Helsinki Hudson will take on the aspect of the Buena Vista Social Club when Afro-Cuban jazz pianist Omar Sosa launches a new tour with his New AfroCubano Quartet to the nightclub on Friday, April 25, 2014, at 9pm. Joining Sosa in the quartet are drummer Ernesto Simpson, bassist Childo Tomas, and saxophonist Leandro Saint-Hill, who also plays flute.

The New AfroCubano Quartet marks a homecoming for Omar to the influences of his formative years at the Escuela Nacional de Música in Havana and later at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, where he savored the music of Pancho Quinto, Lázaro Ross, Rubén González, Machito, Benny Moré, Ismael Rivera, Arsenio, Cachao, Lili Martinez, Peruchin, Chucho Valdés, and Irakere.

Joining him on this adventure are three musicians with whom Omar shares a very close relationship: Ernesto Simpson on drums, and Leandro Saint-Hill on saxophones and flutes, and Mozambican bassist and longtime collaborator, Childo Tomas. These musicians speak the same musical language, and use their Cuban and African traditions as a springboard for creative freedom.

Omar’s New AfroCuban Quartet will explore contemporary interpretations of some of the classic Cuban musical styles the world has come to enjoy: Danzón, Cha-Cha-Cha, Bolero, Changui. All of the material is informed by the powerful African traditions of Santería, Abakua, Makuta, Ñongo, and Palo Monte. The group’s repertoire will include a number of Sosa’s signature compositions, including “Toridanzón”, “Mis Tres Notas”, and “Iyawo”. Popular and religious chants will be arranged with contemporary harmonies and African rhythms, resulting in a musical journey into the ensemble’s personal vision of various AfroCuban traditions.

Omar Sosa is known and hailed for his singular blend of Latin jazz and African diaspora music – a modern, urban music with a Latin jazz heart. Having grown up in Cuba, where he studied Cuban jazz, folk music, and classical music, Sosa has also lived in Ecuador, Spain and San Francisco, as well as immersing himself in the Gnawa culture of North Africa. Thus what comes out of his fingers when he applies them to the piano keyboard is a unique fusion of all these influences – a kind of world music-influenced, up-to-the-moment world jazz.

Writing about Sosa for AllAboutJazz, critic Joel Roberts said, “The virtuosic pianist mixes his Cuban roots with tastes of bebop, free jazz, even hip-hop and electronica, into a strikingly fresh and spicy modern stew that’s much more than the sum of its ingredients.” He has also been compared favorably to Keith Jarrett and Herbie Hancock.

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.

For reservations in The Restaurant or in the club call 518.828.4800.