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Latin jazz a gets Bobby Sanabria calls it "Cuban music with a New York attitude." Whether he's leading a quartet, nonet or 19-piece big band, the Bronx-born Sanabria is a flurry of activity behind his drum kit, drawing inspiration from the basic five-beat clave rhythm that is the foundation of his music.
a New York attitude
Bobby Sanabria's proud
of Nuyorican heritage once
denigrated in the mother countryBy Gary C. W. Chun
gchun@starbulletin.comEven though his latest album, "Afro-Cuban Dream ... Live and In Clave!!!," came up short in the Best Latin Jazz Recording category at last year's Grammys, it's still a formidable document of Sanabria's big-band work recorded in performance at NYC's Birdland club.
But, given a choice, "a small ensemble, like the quartet I'm coming to Hawaii with, offers the most freedom in terms of jazz arrangements," he said last week by phone from his home in the Bronx.
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While local fans loved the percussive front line of Tito Puente's band the two times the late master was here in concert -- with Puente on timbales, flanked by conga and bongo players -- Sanabria has kept the rhythms going behind a standard drum kit throughout his long career."Playing the drum kit is the best for me, because it's the most versatile, suitable for any band configuration and music like jazz, funk or rock. Timbales are limited and can't stand alone, although they're integral in Cuban music. In fact, some timbaleros add snare and bass drums. By utilizing the drum kit (originally invented for jazz), it synthesizes the whole vocabulary of voices and tunings.
"And you'll notice in our numbers that we'll sometimes change up the tempo suddenly. It's like being a painter, where instead of having only three colors to choose from, you get to mix and match."
Before going out on his own, the bulk of Sanabria's 20-year career was spent with the legendary Mario Bauzá's band. "It was only when I was playing with him that I started to codify the playing and the history of Afro-Cuban music," he said. "I mean, you're talking about a man that played poker with Jelly Roll Morton! I also met a cast of characters, but that's for another story!"
It was only a matter of time before Sanabria would develop his own sound. "I've thought about going out on my own as early as high school," he said. "I'm always thinking ahead. When Santana became popular in 1969-70, it was a watershed moment for me. Carlos' music, up to the band's fourth album, 'Caravanserai,' crystallized the synthesis of aspects of deep blues, jazz harmonics, Afro-Cuban and, to a certain extent, African-Brazilian, all with the attitude of rock music.
"You can even say that synthesis goes back to Richie Valens and 'La Bamba,' combining rock 'n' roll with Afro-Cuban. But in my time, there was a lot of experimentation in jazz and rock, and it forced the aesthetic on me," Sanabria said.
While he considers the Grammy nomination as the fruition of his work as a leader, the percussionist is not resting on his laurels. His ¡Quarteto Ache! just finished recording in the studio and in the process of "doing the final mixdown -- it's going to be a very adventurous album."
His players, all members of the big band project -- John DiMartino on piano, Jay Collins on tenor and soprano saxes and flutes, and Boris Kozlov on upright bass -- are "virtuosos in and of themselves," Sanabria said.
"John is a fantastic pianist/ arranger/composer in his own right, having spent five, six years with Ray Barretto. Boris is in the enviable position to be in the bass chair for the Mingus Dynasty Big Band, and Jay has played with Gregg Allman and Jacky Terrasson. We all represent the 21st century musician, technically sound, based in jazz tradition and classically trained," he said.
Sanabria broke an ethnic barrier in 1979, when he was the first Puerto Rican to graduate from the prestigious Berklee School of Music. "Yeah, when I was there, there were no Puerto Ricans or Latinos, and here I was, looking for my own people on campus! There were some islanders (Puerto Rican natives) as teachers, but they had an attitude, looking down on a Nuyorican like myself.
"While New York-born Puerto Ricans like myself carry that tag as a badge of honor now, the prejudice is also less prevalent than it was before, because most islanders have family in New York City. Being Nuyorican is definitely a unique cultural and sociopolitical experience. Even hip-hop has some Nuyorican roots right here in the Bronx, where breakdancing was started by young Puerto Rican gymnasts."
Sanabria is eager to perform here and learn from the people of Hawaii, as well as to impart some knowledge. "What I do is what a friend once described to me as 'infotainment,' where people learn something in not too academic a setting.
"People are so far removed from jazz. Most think of it as Kenny G or Whitney Houston singing a ballad, not to disparage the two of them. Or radio marketing instrumental R&B as 'smooth jazz.'
"With my music, what I'm doing is I open the door for people, inviting them to cross this bridge with us and enjoy the music. And Afro-Cuban music is completely American, because it includes Central and South America and the Caribbean."
He added: "The music is to help bring people together, showing that we have more in common than you think. Plus, I think it's an honorable and beautiful thing for the Puerto Ricans in Hawaii to keep their home country's folk traditions alive."
Where: Orvis Auditorium, University of Hawaii at Manoa Bobby Sanabria
y ¡Quarteto Ache!
When: 7:30 p.m. today
Admission: $20 general, $15 students and seniors; $25/$20 at the door
Call: 956-6878
Also: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at McKay Auditorium, Brigham Young University-Hawaii.
Call: 293-3577 for information
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