Omar Sosa

Cuban composer and pianist Omar Sosa singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Tim Eriksen will perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Chocolate Church Arts Center in Bath. The performance will also feature guitarist Marvin Sewell and drummer Amaury Acosta.

Sosa is one of the most versatile jazz artists on the scene today. He fuses a wide range of jazz, world music, and electronic elements with his native Afro-Cuban roots to create a fresh and original urban sound — all with a Latin jazz heart. Omar Sosa’s musical trajectory has taken him from Camagüey and Havana to touring in Angola, the Congo, Ethiopia, and Nicaragua in the 1980s; to a sojourn in the African-descent communities of Ecuador in the early 1990s; to an extended presence on the San Francisco Bay Area Latin jazz scene; to his current engagement with artists from France, Cuba, Brazil, and several North, West, and East African nations. His career embodies the expansive outlook of a visionary artist who has taken Monk’s uncompromising spirit to heart while working ceaselessly to craft and project a unique, cosmopolitan voice.

Tim Eriksen is a widely respected practitioner of traditional American folksong, with a unique voice as a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (banjo, fiddle, fretless bajo sexto, and guitar). Given the Jean Ritchie Musical Heritage Award by Ritchie herself and called “the best ballad singer of his generation” (BBC Radio) he has been celebrated for his “otherworldly harmonies” (Barbara Kingsolver) and as “one of the best singers in music” (T Bone Burnett). A pioneer of postpunk American folksong and the only man to have shared a stage with both Doc Watson and Kurt Cobain, Eriksen’s performances transport listeners to a world of moss and fireflies, dancing and mourning, Turkish castles, and New England graveyards. His media appearances have included Mountain Stage, Prairie Home Companion, and the 2004 Academy Awards.

Tickets cost $25.

For tickets or more information visit chocolatechurcharts.org.

Interested in Shape Note Singing?

Eriksen will host a free workshop at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 27, in the Annex at the Chocolate Church Arts Center.

The Sacred Harp tune book, first published in 1844 in Georgia, is at the heart of one of America’s most vital homegrown musical practices. Within its pages, “Amazing Grace” meets the toe-tapping “fuging tunes” of early New England, all harmonized for a four-part social singing and written in a unique and practical notation system. Eriksen has been teaching this music around the world for over thirty years, his students ranging from inner-city kindergarteners to the cast of the film “Cold Mountain.” This workshop, addressed to absolute beginners and more experienced singers alike, begins with the basics of the human voice and group singing and includes an introduction to reading shape-note music, notes on important aspects of history, traditional practice, and lots of full-on singing. No prior experience is required.

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