Jazz quartet wows Stephens College Audience

October 16, 2007

By Kristin Torres, Reporter.
Published by The Maneater - October 16, 2007.

It seems like a quiet, unassuming Sunday night in downtown Columbia. But for an audience of about 275 people, there’s something happening in the Kimball Ballroom on the Stephens College campus.

Within the white walls of the refurbished ballroom, the audience settles in and braces for the live music of Omar Sosa Afreecanos Quartet, just one of the many concerts put on by the ‘We Always Swing’ Jazz Series. It’s minutes before the performance, and already the wine is flowing and spirits are high. Although not all in attendance are familiar with the act, there’s a sense that tonight will be a good night for jazz.

Take David Skeen.

“I don’t know too much about tonight’s band, but I trust the series,” says Skeen, who attended the concert. “They always bring in good company.”

He is not alone in his optimism. Attendee Linda Bakely says she doesn’t come to concerts often, but she says she wants a taste of the music and to experience the Jazz Series first-hand.

“Obviously, I don’t know too much about the performer,” she says. “But something tells me this is going to be good.”

The lights dim, signaling the start of the show. Omar Sosa and his band, which is reduced to a trio tonight, burst out of a door marked “exit” and parade through the ballroom with a chant on their tongues and drums in their hands — all except for Sosa himself, dressed in white and holding a red candle with a flickering flame. As they reach the stage, Sosa sets the candle on his piano as his fellow musicians pick up their instruments.

It isn’t long before Sosa is pounding on the keys of his piano with a frenzied gusto, each pound executed with more fervor than the one that came before it. His long white sleeves can’t keep up with his hands as his fingers slip across the piano from side to side, and his sleeves are left to drag limply across the keys. Vocalist Mola Sylla shifts fluidly from a careful hum to a melodic bellow as Childo Tomas provides a thumping percussion. As the music picks up speed, the composition becomes more spontaneous and harmoniously frantic. Following Sosa’s lead, the candle resting on the piano dances with a concerted zeal. There will be no intermission tonight, but the continual flow of music benefits from lack of punctuation, as the songs bleed into each other like watercolor paints.

The audience reacts. Some close their eyes and nod their heads in expressive approval. Others pump their fists in the air as they wiggle in their seats or become inspired to create music of their own, drumming their hands on the table to a beat of their own. Some seem overcome by the desire to move, as one woman bursts out of her chair and begins dancing. Another woman joins her, and they break out in laughter and applause. Still others sit motionless and frozen, cupping their hands to their faces in a mix of confusion and awe. A little girl plugs her ears.

Omar Sosa Afreecanos Quartet plays jazz painted by the backgrounds of its current members, who hail from Cuba, Senegal and Mozambique, leaving unmistakable traces of culture on each musical composition. The distinctive rhythm and beats of Latin and Cuban jazz sync with African percussion while incorporating experimental elements of ambience.

“The idea of the series is to bring major, world-class artists to Columbia and to expose people to a taste of modern jazz from post-World War II forward,” Series Executive Director Jon Poses says.

To do this, the Jazz Series features both established legends and up-and-coming acts.

“The other piece of putting the puzzle together is variations in styles,” Poses says.

And the Jazz Series attempts to do so by booking acts from different corners of the jazz scene. From instrumental jazz to vocalists and jazz from around the world, the Jazz Series works to give audiences a well-rounded “snapshot of modern jazz.”

Michael O’Brien, dean of the College of Arts and Science at MU, recently became a member of the Jazz Series Board of Directors. He says the Jazz Series provides music for an audience with wide and varied tastes.

“Jazz is not some very narrow genre of music,” O’Brien says. “It’s all over the place, and it really does offer a lot for most people.”

And for him, the Jazz Series occupies an important space in Columbia culture.

“I just can’t imagine the arts scene without the series,” O’Brien says. “It touches so many people across central Missouri.”

Poses says he feels the same way about the influence of the Jazz Series.

“I think it’s safe to say that there would not be this great a presence of jazz in Columbia without the Jazz Series. What we try to do is fill that niche,” he says.

Although O’Brien says the Jazz Series has “a long and established history” and has “attracted a lot of support over the years” during its 13 seasons, Poses says the Jazz Series seeks to “continually try to create and develop the audience.”

He says that includes drawing in more students.

“That’s something we would love to do and see,” he says.

Poses says he wants students to see that jazz is not an archaic or old-fashioned style of music.

“The Jazz Series is anything but stodgy,” Poses says. “It’s fun.”

Tickets to the shows are available for a reduced price and can be student charged at Brady Commons, Poses says.

After the music ends and the concert comes to a close, Sosa and his band receive a standing ovation, except for a few stragglers like attendee Gillian Russ. But she has a good excuse.

“I can’t even think right now,” she says. “I’m still taking it all in. It’s incredible. I can’t believe that there’s something like this in Columbia, of all places.”

But O’Brien says he is not surprised.

“It’s just another one of those things that makes Columbia Columbia,” he says.