New Documentary: Omar Sosa’s 88 Well-Tuned Drums

Special Test Screening of Omar Sosa’s 88 Well-Tuned Drums at Razzo Hall, Traina Center For The Arts, Worcester, Mass on April 14, 2022 at 7:00 PM. With a Q & A and discussion with filmmaker Soren Sorensen. This is an opportunity to discuss a film with the director while it is still in the editing process.

Omar Sosa’s 88 Well Tuned Drums is a feature-length documentary film on the life and music of Cuba-born pianist and composer, Omar Sosa (b. 1965). Multiple Grammy-nominee Omar Sosa is one of the most versatile jazz artists on the scene today. He fuses a wide range of jazz, world music, and electronic elements with his native Afro-Cuban roots to create a fresh and original sound—with a Latin jazz heart.

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Soren Sorensen is an award-winning filmmaker specializing in documentary film and television with an emphasis on social and cultural issues.

The film traces Sosa’s origins from his birth in Camagüey, Cuba’s third-largest city, conservatory education in Havana, and relocation to Ecuador where he briefly wrote and arranged commercial jingles. Sosa’s story continues with a fateful mid-90s move to the U.S., a stint as a sought-after sideman in the Bay Area’s Latin jazz scene, and partnership with manager Scott Price that continues to this day. 

Since 1997, Sosa has released nearly 30 albums and received four Grammy nominations and three Latin Grammy nominations. Performing over 80 concerts on six continents annually, Sosa is known for a rhythmic style (hence the “Drums” of the film’s title) and musical influences as varied as his travel itinerary.

_{Vimeo Video – Omar Sosa’s 88 Well-Tuned Drums Documentary Trailer}

Since 2013, whenever Sosa appeared in the northeastern U.S., Providence-based filmmaker Soren Sorensen (My Father’s Vietnam, 2016) was granted unprecedented access to Sosa and his bandmates for interviews, rehearsals, and performances. Omar Sosa’s 88 Well-Tuned Drums includes glimpses of the globetrotting artist in duo with celebrated Italian trumpeter Paolo Fresu, with the Afri-Lectric Experience, and with his latest band, the Quarteto AfroCubano in storied venues including New York’s Blue Note Jazz Club.

Sosa’s Quarteto AfroCubano features fellow Camagüey natives Ernesto Simpson on drums and Leandro Saint-Hill on alto saxophone and flute and bassist Childo Tomas, who hails from Maputo, Mozambique. Perhaps most thrilling for fans is the full-circle nature of Sosa’s 2015 album Ilé, which reunited Sosa’s music with its Cuban roots.