Bobby Sanabria

Latin Beat Magazine, Nov, 2002 by Rudy Mangual

Educator/drummer/percussionist/composer/arranger and bandleader Robert Dennis Michael Sanabria Ortíz, better known as Bobby Sanabria, was born in the Ft. Apache section of South Bronx, New York City, to Puerto, Rican parents. As a child, growing up in the Bronx Sanabria felt in love with jazz and Latin music as well as drumming. The early recordings of Machito, Tito Puente, Willie Bobo and Mongo Santamaría were Sanabria's wake-up call to Latin music. The versatile drummer / percussionist has been in demand ever since the early 1980s, when he formed his own band Ascension which is still going strong two decades later. As a sideman, Sanabria has worked with Marco Rizo, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaría, Larry Harlow, Luis "Perico" Ortiz, Mario Bauzá, Paquito D'Rivera, Dizzy Gillespie, Chico Freeman, Ray Barretto, and Xavier Cugat. He earned a Grammy nomination for his outstanding CD, The Afro-Cuban Dream ... Live & In Clave in 2000 and is presently a member of the jazz department of the New School University of Jazz & Contemporary Music. Sanabria also teaches at The Manhattan School of Music in New York City. His newest CD--¡Quarteto Ache!--released on the Khaeon World Music label, is a testament to his talent and musical vision.

The following is a mobile telephone interview with Sanabria, as he was driving on his way to a gig this past September in New York City.

Rudy Mangual: When did the music bug first bite you?

Bobby Sanabria: I grew up in a home full of all types of music. My dad listened to jazz, popular and Latin American music, plus the "le lo lai" sounds of typical Puerto Rican music. So by my twelfth birthday I was already into all of it.

RM: When did your music career actually get started?

BS: I was fourteen. II was a gig with a sort of a neighborhood all-star ensemble in which I played timbal.

Vehicle horns and engines running can be heard in the background constantly.

RM: Were you already into the Latin music sound at that young age?

BS: Yes, but I was also listening to all this new eclectic jazz/rock fusion music that was happening worldwide, like the music of this Dutch band called "Focus," for example.

RM: So you must have also liked the fusion German group called "Passport"?

BS: Of course I did! We must get together some other time and talk about those early days of fusion music. But getting back on track here, imagine a kid from the South Bronx walking with a boom box through the "projects" (affordable-income massive dwellings) blasting the music of "The Mahavishnu Orchestra." My boys would start on me saying things like, "Yo Bobby, what the heck are you listening to there, classical music or something like that?" They used to call me "Deep" because of my eclectic musical appetite and tastes. But I was also into all the music that was happening at the time, like the urban sounds of R&B, dance and rock music. The way I play the drums today reflects all of these influences in one-way or another. I think it's also a reflection of the Nuyorican experience (a Puerto Rican raised in New York). Another point that I would like to make is that all the percussionists that I admired and studied were also great drummers in their own right: Tito Puente--great swing drummer, Willie Bobo--great be-bop drummer, and Billy Cobham, who was the ultimate fusion drummer as well as a savvy percussionist.

An NYPD motorcycle officer stops Sanabria for talking on the telephone while driving. Oops!

BS: I am sorry officer; I'll pull over and park to install my audio headset to the phone. I'm sorry!

The officer leaves after warning Sanabria about the telephone.

RM: Is everything O.K. Bobby?

BS: Yes, I just had to pull over to install my headphones to my telephone to legally use the phone as I drive. Just another New York moment!

RM: Where did you start your music education?

BS: In high school, at the Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, New York. I joined the school band under the leadership of bandleader Mr. William Ryan. I remember that most kids joined the school band so as not to have to take gym class. In my case, I enjoyed doing both, playing in the band and running track for the school. But eventually, in my sophomore year, I stopped running track to get a part-time job after school to make some money and subsequently became more involved in music.

RM: You also attended the Berklee School of Music in Boston?

BS: I'm a graduate of the Berklee School of Music, class of 1979, and also received the Faculty Association Award for my work as an instrumentalist. I think I was the first Puerto Rican to attend that school. I remember that the only Hispanics during those days in Berklee were a few Brazilians and myself. Today, there are hundreds of students from all over Latin America and the Caribbean every semester. In 1975, students would knock on my door and say, "are you the guy with the Latin music records?" and I would have a listening session in my room with whomever was interested in doing so. That was the beginning of my educating others and sharing my music, which I currently continue in a more structured, academic way. Personally, some of my own learning experiences were long improv chats over lunch or dinner for several hours with people such as Catalino Rolón and Charlie Palmieri--may they rest in peace--and René López. They would tell me story after story about their own musical experiences and those of many others as well; they shared many of their talents and ideas with me. Luckily I was able to meet and play with many of my musical heroes, such as the late Tito Puente, Willie Bobo, Machito, Mario Bauzá and Charlie Palmieri.