Bobby Sanabria
Facts
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Groups | BOBBY SANABRIA & ASCENSION |
| Genres | Latin/World |
Biography
Bobby Sanabria is equally adept at the swinging big band sounds of drummers Buddy Rich and Louis Bellson along with another boyhood hero, fusion pioneer Billy Cobham, and timbale titan Tito Puente."- Bill Milkowski, Jazz Times
Multiple Grammy nominated Band-leader and on numerous projects as a Sideman - Drummer, Percussionist, Composer, Arranger, Conductor, Producer, Educator, Film-maker, Bandleader, and ”Multi-cultural Warrior”, Bobby Sanabria has performed and recorded with such legends as Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaría, Paquito D’Rivera, Ray Barretto, Candido, Arturo Sandoval, Henry Threadgill, Larry Harlow, and the Godfather of Afro-Cuban jazz Mario Bauzá.
Sanabria’s first big band recording, “Live & in Clave!!!” was nominated for a mainstream Grammy in 2001. In 2003 he was nominated for a Latin Grammy for, "50 Years of Mambo", A Tribute to Damaso Perez Prado, DRUM! Magazine named him “Percussionist of the Year” in 2005.
His latest recordings are "El Espiritu Jibaro - The Jibaro Spirit” with trombonist Roswell Rudd and cuatro virtuoso Yomo Toro, featuring Bobby with his “Nonet”, Ascensión and 2008 mainstream Grammy nominated, “Big Band Urban Folktales” with his 19 piece big band (Jazzheads Recording). The NY Times Ben Ratliff wrote...
As a leader and drummer, Bobby expands the possibilities, moving the sounds of the big band tradition with all the heft and intricacy and clave-based dance rhythm, into the harmonically oriented sophistication of current New York jazz players. It's New York up and down, and back and forth across the last century, from the street to the mambo palaces to the conservatories.
Bobby, a South Bronx native of Puerto Rican parentage is the 2006 inductee into the Bronx Walk of Fame where he has a street named after him. He joins other illustrious Bronx notables such as Stanley Kubrick, Colin Powell, Robert Klein, Eddie Palmieri, Rita Moreno, Diahann Carroll, and Ray Barretto among others.
He holds a BM from the Berklee College of Music (79), and serves on the faculty of the New School and the Manhattan School of Music where he conducts Afro-Cuban Jazz Big Bands. He is the associate producer of the TV documentaries “The Palladium: Where Mambo Was King” (BRAVO TV), winner of the IMAGINE Award for Best Documentary of 2003 and, “From Mambo to Hip Hop”, Award winning documentary (ALMA award, best documentary/ TV) on PBS in 2007 (will be available on DVD in 2008). Author of the acclaimed video series, “Getting Started on Congas” and he is a featured performer on the Modern Drummer Festival 2006 DVD, from Hudson Music.
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