A Musical Feast: Omar Sosa & Paolo Fresu Serve Soulful Stories at Udin&Jazz 2025
Food as Sound, Sound as Story
Castello di Udine, July 14, 2025
On a calm summer Monday evening in the stunning setting of Castello di Udine, as part of the 35th edition of the Udin&Jazz Festival, Omar Sosa and Paolo Fresu delivered a concert to remember. Performing music from their latest duo release Food, along with pieces from their earlier albums Alma (2012) and Eros (2016), the duo created an atmosphere of deep spontaneity, collaboration, and mutual respect.
The concept of Food is more than musical—it’s philosophical. It’s a sonic investigation of taste, aesthetics, and ethics. Over the course of a year, Sosa and Fresu recorded sounds in restaurants and wineries, capturing the voices and rhythms of those who live and work around food. These field recordings became the album’s core texture—looped and layered to form a living backdrop for a suite of original compositions.
They opened with Father Yambú, where the hiss of frying oil and the clatter of kitchenware—evoking musique concrète—served as a rhythmic bed. Omar Sosa not only commanded the piano but also masterfully handled synthesizers, sequencers, and real-time loop triggering, even incorporating vocal narration. Nothing was pre-recorded in the traditional sense—the duo’s interaction with the electronics was dynamic and improvisational, proving that when used tastefully, technology becomes an instrument in its own right.
With a shift to their earlier repertoire, the duo played a piece from Eros that reaffirmed the acoustic core of their artistry. After a moving piano introduction from Sosa, Fresu responded with percussive textures before moving to flugelhorn. The groove blossomed. They flowed together in unforced improvisation, immersed in a kind of deep musical conversation that can only occur between truly honest musicians—communicating on what felt like a near-telepathic level.
Deep Listening, Deep Connection
Afterward, Fresu paused to explain the concept behind Food, describing the songs as tales of recipes, culinary settings, and sociability. He then shared how he first heard the song What Lies Ahead at a Peter Gabriel concert in Bologna, calling it “bellissima.” Their own version was recorded for Eros, and Gabriel’s response? Also: “Bellissima.”
Their live rendition of What Lies Ahead was pure magic—beginning with Fresu’s lyrical interpretation of the melody and building into an energetic improvisation. Sosa even invited the audience to clap the beat, transforming the courtyard into a living, breathing extension of the music.
Electronics and Improv in Perfect Balance
Returning to Food, they performed Greens, which features a rap by Kokayi on the album. Though the rap was pre-recorded, it blended seamlessly with the live texture, particularly as the looped phrase “Why don’t you just eat up” danced around Sosa’s rhythmic foundation.
Then came Angustia from Alma, infused with unmistakable Spanish flavors. Their unison licks, interplay, and sense of space were astonishingly fluid. As they launched into Yuca y Magnoca from Food, Sosa laid down the groove on Rhodes, and Fresu—ever the sonic adventurer—used a fork and knife to create percussive accents during the piano solo.
For the final piece of their program, Sosa picked up a pan and added live percussion, while Fresu sculpted an almost synth-like atmosphere with his trumpet and effects. The boundaries between sound sources blurred—the line between acoustic and electronic vanished.
A Joyful Encore and a Communal Farewell
They reserved the most touching moment for the encore. It began with a hauntingly beautiful rendition of Fabrizio De André’s Ă‚ çĂmma, which gradually gave way to the familiar melody of the jazz standard Blue Moon. From there, they gently transitioned into the singalong melody from their composition Alma.
Sosa invited the audience to lend their voices, while Fresu soared above them with lyrical improvisations. It was an intimate, collective moment—part celebration, part farewell—that lingered in the warm evening air. Long after the final notes had faded, many in the crowd could still be heard singing or whistling the melody as they made their way out of the castle courtyard.
Omar Sosa and Paolo Fresu proved themselves to be musical master chefs—improvisers, storytellers, and sonic explorers. With intuitive interplay, thoughtful use of electronics, and an atmosphere that combined stunning lighting, pristine sound, and the warm breeze of Castello di Udine, they served a concert that was nothing short of a musical dinner to remember.
For more information regarding Udin&jazz 2025 visit their website.
Listen to Omar Sosa & Paolo Fresu album Food.
