Musician Omar Sosa On How His Father’s Love of Nat King Cole and a Bootleg Herbie Hancock Cassette Influenced His Sound

CultureShift’s Amanda LeClaire spoke with Sosa about the music that’s changed his life for WDET’s series ‘In The Groove.’

Jazz pianist Omar Sosa is celebrated for his unique blend of global sounds with modern electronic elements. But it’s his Afro-Cuban roots that are truly at the heart of his music. 

Sosa’s fans have likened his performances to spiritual celebrations, and it’s easy to hear why when he speaks to you. 

His infectious hope and optimism for the world are ever-present, even in these difficult times of the pandemic.

It was announced this week that the Grammy-award-winning Cuban pianist will be part of this year’s Detroit Jazz Festival lineup, along with Dee Dee Bridgewater, Herbie Hancock, Gregory Porter and many more artists.

Fans can catch him perform well before Labor Day weekend when plays the Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe Thursday, April 8 through Saturday, April 10.

CultureShift’s Amanda LeClaire spoke with Sosa about some of the music that’s influenced his life for WDET’s series “In The Groove.”


Listen: Hear Omar Sosa reminisce about his father’s love of Nat King Cole and how a bootleg Herbie Hancock cassette changed his life as a young musician. 


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Author

  • Amanda LeClaire
    Amanda LeClaire is an award-winning host and producer of CultureShift on 101.9 WDET-FM Detroit’s NPR station. She’s a founding producer of WDET’s flagship news talk show Detroit Today, and a former host/reporter for Arizona Public Media. Amanda is also an artist, certified intuitive and energy healer, and professional tarot reader.