If jazz is all about fluidity — in terms of cultural exchange, and convergences of style — that’s a situation well suited to the Cuban artist Omar Sosa. His most recent Zen-like album even bears an aquaeous title, Transparent Water. Listen to the podcast fro WBGO here.

The pianist Omar Sosa bridges many sounds and cultures together on his latest recording.

This spiritual pianist and composer’s new offering blends musical traditions from West Africa to the Americas to the Far East. Its foundation, a trio that makes its New York City debut at Roulette on Thursday, consists of the Senegalese griot and kora master Seckou Keita and the Venezuelan percussionist Gustavo Ovalles. As we discuss on this Checkout podcast, they’re joined by Meiko Miyazaki on Japanese koto and Wu Tong on Chinese sheng, among others.

The Checkout podcast was just named Best Jazz Podcast of 2017 in the JazzTimes Critics Poll. Subscribe and give us a review of the program on iTunesand Stitcher.