Cuban composer and pianist Omar Sosa’s new touring ensemble, Afreecanos, explores the rich heritage of African music in jazz and Latin music. Drawing upon his Afro-Cuban roots, Sosa artfully weaves traditional elements from across the African diaspora and the Americas with his own distinctive sound, producing a thoroughly unique jazz idiom. The band’s arrangements combine the folkloric with the contemporary – the ancestral with the urban – all with a Latin jazz heart. Omar Sosa Afreecanos Quintet is presented by the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival as part of the San Francisco International Arts Festival. This special concert will feature the following excellent musicians:

Omar Sosa (Cuba), piano, Fender Rhodes, electronics, vocal
Childo Tomas (Mozambique), electric bass, m’bira, vocal
Marque Gilmore (U.S.A.), drums, electronics
David Gilmore (U.S.A.), guitar
Leandro Saint-Hill (Cuba), saxophone, flute
Tim Eriksen (U.S.A.), vocal

DJ Third World Liberation Music opens the show at 12:40pm and John Santos will appear as a special guest.

12:40-1pm: DJ Third World Liberation Music
1:05-2:30pm: Omar Sosa Afreecanos Sextet

Many thanks to



Please visit Omar Sosa's website for more information.




Omar Sosa

This year the San Francisco International Arts Festival runs from May 21 to June 8, and the following San Francisco arts organizations are presenting partners in SFIAF 2008: Arab Cultural and Community Center, Art Street Theatre, Asian Art Museum, Axis Dance Company, Blindsight, Chinese Culture Center, CounterPULSE, Croatian American Cultural Center, Cultural Odyssey, Dance Elixir, Dandelion Dance Theater, Element Dance Theater, the Earplay Ensemble, Epiphany Productions/Sonic Dance Theater, Erling Wold’s Fabrications, Footloose, Independent Arts & Media, Israel Center, lean to productions, Melody of China, MJM Management, Navarrete x Kajiyama and the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival. For more information on the San Francisco International Arts Festival visit the Festival’s website or call the box-office at 1-800-838-3006.

Additional media support by