Bobby Sanabria

by Richard Skelly
Puerto Rican drummer and percussionist Bobby Sanabria has long been part of New York's vibrant Latin-jazz club scene. The multi-talented Sanabria grew up in the tough South Bronx. While attending a Tito Puente concert when he was 17, he slipped backstage and asked the legendary percussionist if he could sit in. He did, and this experience spurred him on to make Latin-jazz his career path. He attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, graduating in 1979. Shortly after graduation, Sanabria formed his group, Ascension. Sanabria was honored with a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1983. He was a featured performer on the Mambo Kings movie soundtrack, and he recorded with Mario Bauza's Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra on Bauza's Tanga album. His TV work includes a public-television ary on the life of Mongo Santamaria and an appearance on The Bill Cosby Show.
A teacher, writer, arranger, bandleader, studio musician and producer, Sanabria's love for Latin-jazz music knows no bounds. Sanabria sees it as part of his mission to continue to educate the public about the wonders of this percussive, often very dance-oriented music. Over the past 15 years, he's performed and lectured for thousands of New York City public-school students, teachers and families as part of the city-run Arts Exposure Program. Sanabria has written articles for Modern Drummer and been featured in the magazine in several interviews.
Since forming his own group after graduating from Berklee, Sanabria has performed with everybody most of the major figures in modern Latin-jazz, including Henry Threadgill, Puente, Chico Freeman, Luis "Perico" Ortiz, Daniel Ponce, Michael Gibbs, Phil Wilson, Mario Bauza, Marco Rizo, and Dizzy Gillespie.
In November, 1993, Chicago-based Flying Fish Records (now owned by Rounder Records), released New York City Ache!, an album that includes special guests Puente and D' Rivera. His debut for the Flying Fish label even included a glossary of Latin-jazz terms in the liner notes. Almost ten years later, Afro-Cuban Dream: Live and in Clave! marked his next official solo album. Recorded live, it captured his exotic rhythmic jazz in its finest form, and was soon followed up with a collaboration with Quarteto Ache the next year. He continues to record for Latin labels and perform at clubs and festivals around the world.