NDR Bigband & Omar Sosa in Hamburg

NDR Bigband is the German jazz orchestra of Norddeutscher Rundfunk, based in Hamburg. It plays modern big-band jazz and commissioned works, including projects shaped by Latin and Afro-Cuban music. Its recordings include Abdullah Ibrahim’s The Balance and Colin Towns’ Frank Zappa project Frank Zappa’s Hot Licks (and Funny Smells). NDR Bigband has long presented concert programmes and guest-led projects at the Rolf-Liebermann-Studio. Since the Elbphilharmonie opened in 2017, the orchestra has also performed there. Its work beyond its home city has included appearances at JazzBaltica and the Zappanale in Bad Doberan.

Omar Sosa is a Cuban pianist and composer, born in Camagüey in 1965, whose music draws on Afro-Cuban traditions, jazz and the wider African diaspora. His best-known recordings include Sentir, Mulatos, Transparent Water and Suba. In the 2000s, Live à FIP and Live at the Blue Note documented his ensemble performances in Paris and New York. He later toured in a duo with trumpeter Paolo Fresu, while the repertoire from Transparent Water and Suba became the basis of concerts with kora player Seckou Keita.