Omar Susa

Opal Fire (2002). Son of a UN diplomat and classically trained, exciting young pianist Akram grew up digesting musical influences from around the world. These exotic flavors are brilliantly woven together in melodies that take flight and soar with expansive orchestrations and passionate rhythms and in more soothing moments, evoke an emotional response in a beautifully serene way.
Free As A Bird (2004). Free As a Bird is the much-anticipated follow-up to Omar's 2002 release, Opal Fire. Exotic, sensual, and brimming with life, it was worth the wait! Richly arranged and orchestrated by David Dial and Gregg Karukas, real instruments replace some of the keyboards from the earlier release, and the interaction of great musicians…

GRAMMY WINNER for Best New Age Album of 2012! The music of Omar Akram is a marriage of passion and grace, of adventure and relaxation, of beauty and raw earthiness. He crafts soundscapes that capture the peaceful nature of relaxing in the backyard on a lazy afternoon. Yet, within those compositions is the spark of a daydream; a fantasy of traveling along the Mediterranean coast, exploring its towns and countryside treasures. With this new album for Real Music, newlywed Akram contemplates the nature of love with a collection of twelve songs set in his characteristic style. Piano and strings join with Spanish guitar, while rumba-tinged rhythms and lush new age textures create a sound that is pleasant and exotic. Guest musicians include Charlie Bisharat on violin, Gregg Karukas on keyboards and Brian Kilgore on ethnic percussion. The kiss of romance burns bright in each of the songs, with their tender melodies and clear warmth. Listeners with a love for grand instrumental music will certainly enjoy this release.

After celebrating his 2012 Grammy-winning "Echoes of Love", Omar softens the mood to serenade us with the romantic melodies of "Daytime Dreamer". Featuring six brand new tracks and five previously released selections, the familiar splashes of Omar's signature world textures (oud, duduk, violin and guitar) weave back and forth in a sublime dance with his exquisite piano compositions.

These last years, Omar Sosa has been travelling a lot. In seven African countries, he met some musicians and recorded with them. The result is a remarkable album, a true symbiosis between traditional African musics and jazz.

Omar Akram's piano-driven, instrumental music elegantly defies borders and has played a crucial role in defining modern New Age and World music. In 2013, he became the first Afghan-American to win a Grammy Award with ''Echoes Of Love''. In 2013, he also released ''Daytime Dreamer,'' presenting an enchanting blend of World, New Age and electronica music that lures listeners with masterful musicianship and his well-traveled wisdom. ''Destiny'' was produced by the legendary Walter Afanasieff and features an eighty-piece symphony orchestra conducted by Shardad Rohani (Yanni: Live at the Acropolis).

This CD was the solo debut of vocalist-guitar Omar, the leader of Omar and the Howlers. Although his musicianship is strong (as is the harmonica playing of Fingers Taylor), it may take listeners a little while to get used to Omar's voice which is a mixture of Howlin' Wolf and disc jockey Wolfman Jack! The first nine songs on the CD are essentially duets between Omar and Taylor with the final six tracks adding electric bassist Bruce Jones and drummer Gene Brandon. Many of the songs are light-hearted and, despite a certain lack of variety, blues fans will find the set difficult to resist.

This is Omar Dykes' 50th anniversary CD and the first Omar & the Howlers release with new material since Boogie Man in 2004. With a recorded history of over 20 titles, this is the first release on Omar's own Big Guitar Music label, with more planned from this still active 21st century bluesman. Omar's diverse musical roots are show-cased on each track, with all songs being written by Dykes except I'm Mad Again by John Lee Hooker. The Howlers include Wes Starr and Bruce Jones, who have been playing with Omar since Big Leg Beat (1980), as well as Mike Buck, Ronnie James, and smokin' guitar from Casper Rawls and Derek O'Brien.

Though they share an ancestral connection to Africa, the respective birthplaces of piano virtuoso Omar Sosa and kora Maestro Seckou Keita, Cuba and Senegal, are separated by the Atlantic Ocean. When the pair met in 2012, Seckou admired Omar for his musical spirituality, whilst Omar saw in Seckou a rare ability to collaborate while retaining his musical identity. Their debut album, Transparent Water, was released to acclaim in 2017. Recorded during lockdown, the pair’s second album, SUBA, is a hymn to hope, to a new dawn of compassion and real change in a post-pandemic world. Joining Omar and Seckou in the studio, and for live performances, is the inimitable Venezuelan percussionist Gustavo Ovalles.

On Sentir, the globetrotting, Cuban-born pianist Omar Sosa is joined not by a full band, but rather by a host of percussionists and vocalists. Sosa remains focused on communicating a kind of ecstatic, multicultural religiosity – most of these tracks are dominated by fervent chanting in one of several languages, underscored by rolling percussion grooves. Sosa's piano is the only Western instrument on the scene, a fact that somehow gives it added power. Like his previous album, Prietos, this one also has a hip-hop element, with Terence Nicholson (aka Sub-Z) contributing rap poetry on five of the tracks.