Place des Arts
175 Sainte-Catherine St. West
Montreal
Phone:
514 842-2112
1 866 842-2112
Omar Sosa & Yilian Cañizares—AGUAS Trio
With Gustavo Ovalles, percussion
Visionary pianist Omar Sosa and the fascinating violinist-singer Yilian Cañizares join forces to create Aguas, a magnificent and deeply personal album and live performance. Aguas reflects the perspectives of two generations of Cuban artists living outside their homeland, interpreting their roots and traditions in subtle and singular ways. Their songs, at times poignant and at times exuberant, reveal the artists’ exceptional musical chemistry, poetic sensitivity, and originality.
The repertoire of Aguas offers an inventive and captivating blend of Afro-Cuban roots, Western classical music, and jazz. Their collaboration is dedicated to Water, and more specifically to Ochún, Goddess of Love and Mistress of Rivers in the Lucumí tradition of Yoruba ancestry, known in Cuba as Santería—a spiritual practice of great importance to both artists. Just as water is synonymous with life, energy, strength, and space, their music is inspired by the essential influences of water—its hidden powers, its infinite transformations, and its relentless creative force. It also conveys a sense of both separation from, and nostalgia for, the land of their birth.
About the Artists
Cuban composer and pianist Omar Sosa is one of today’s most versatile jazz artists. He blends a wide range of jazz, world music, and electronic elements with his Afro-Cuban roots to create a fresh and original urban sound—always with a Latin jazz heart. His musical journey has taken him from Camagüey and Havana to tours in Angola, Congo, Ethiopia, and Nicaragua in the 1980s; to time spent within Afro-descendant communities in Ecuador in the early 1990s; to a prominent role in the San Francisco Bay Area Latin jazz scene; and to his current collaborations with artists from France, Germany, Cuba, Brazil, and several North, West, and East African countries.
Yilian Cañizares is one of the most fascinating violinists, singers, and composers on the contemporary scene. Without ever betraying her roots, she merges jazz, classical music, and Afro-Cuban rhythms into a style entirely her own, carried by a voice that seems to come from another world. Yilian’s love of music emerged very early: she began violin and piano at age four, and at just fourteen received a scholarship to study in Caracas. Later, in 2000, she moved to Fribourg, Switzerland, to pursue studies at the conservatory. A few years and a move to Lausanne later, she collaborated with various ensembles and founded the quartet Ochumare, winning the Montreux Jazz Festival Competition in 2008.
Venezuelan percussionist and educator Gustavo Ovalles studied numerous techniques, musical styles, and dances before collaborating with international artists such as David Murray, Gary, Omar Sosa, Julien Lourau, Minimo Garay, Orlando Poleo, Seckou Keita, Yilian Cañizares, and Juan Diego Flórez.
His commitment on stage, his mastery of traditional Venezuelan instruments, his interpretive sensitivity, and his devotion to the compositions—along with his unmistakable technique and creativity—make him an exceptional musician and artist highly appreciated by his acolytes and the public.
