In his sleeve notes the Cuban-born Barcelona-based pianist describes this new music as a presentation of his roots ‘in unusual, deconstructed’ ways, and Latin with a capital L is not what jumps out on first listening. But this premise is a major part of the appeal of the work, which should resoundingly dispel the notion that Sosa can only play one way, namely with the busy, ‘hot’ clave rhythm indelibly associated with his homeland. For the best part of two decades, he's proven that he can do that all the while avoiding formula, but Senses has a very different character to previous releases, and not simply because it is a solo piano set rather than a group album. It is a work of deep contemplation in which the artist has consciously decided to rein in his flurry and flourish and give a very studied weight to each note. The large breathing space between phrases is striking, and the general stillness and composure shown throughout the performances are admirable, no more so than on a track such as ‘Pensamientos’, where the spare melody unfolds so tentatively it seems Sosa is endeavouring to think as well as play in a kind of floating, decelerated time. While the enormous clarity of the approach is engaging it has a few drawbacks, precisely because there are moments when a theme is just too denuded so as to border on colourless, and lacking a modulation to lend it some grit. Yet there is a real beauty in Sosa's slightly icy, gently brushed chords that invoke the spirit of Satie on many an occasion, which is a good reminder of the place of European classical music in the son vocabulary. There are 16 shortish themes here, and had a few been taken out, the strong programme would have been stronger yet.