A Day with BOBBY SANABRIA

Bobby and honour to have this opportunity to chat with you, may I start by asking you about your beginnings? What type of music were you exposed to? Were your parent’s musically inclined?

 

Thank you Alex, for the opportunity to share my thoughts. I’m really a product of my environment. My parents, José and Juanita, were from Puerto Rico. They migrated to the South Bronx in the early 1950s, where they met, married and where I was born and raised. They weren’t musicians but they both loved music and would frequently go dancing. My father in particular was responsible for exposing me to all forms of music. Not just the Afro-Cuban big band mambo sounds of Machito, Tito Puente, and Tito Rodriguez, but also motown, funk, Brazilian music, jazz, rock, Mexican rancheras, Dominican merengue, the music of my ancestral homeland Puerto Rico, everything. He was my gateway, my Elegua (Afro-Cuban orisha, guardian of the crossroads) so to speak to the multiverse. Plus, I was lucky, I was the last generation to be exposed to great jazz artists like Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Buddy Rich, even Don Ellis, because they were on TV.

 

What was your first instrument?
 

The first instrument I ever played was believe it or not a cowbell. In those days you would hear Cuban rumba guaguancó being played all over New York in Puerto Rican neighbourhoods in Spanish Harlem, South Brooklyn and the South Bronx during the summer months. It was our soundtrack. When I was 12 and watching some players in my neighbourhood, which was the Melrose Housing Projects, I got the courage to ask them to let me play a cowbell that a younger person was having trouble in playing because he couldn’t keep up with the rhythm. When I started to play, I was in time, but the bell sounded bad. They stopped and one of the players showed me that the reason the bell sounded badly was because there was a crack in the seam. He told me in Spanish to grab the bell near its mouth and squeeze it slightly when I held it. That would take out the clang. We started again I held the rhythm for the drummers to do their thing for about ten minutes straight. When we stopped all the drummers and onlookers were smiling at me and applauding me. That was my first percussion lesson. 

By watching, listening and learning from older players I started to play congas and bongó. By the time I was 14 I was starting to gig on timbales and playing the drum set. I come from the last generation of players that learned in that way. I’m talking about going back all the way to the 1930s when Tito Puente first learned in the same way in the streets of Spanish Harlem and was mentored by local players like Carlos Montesino who taught him the basics of the timbales and an African American gentleman by the name of Mr. Williams who began teaching him drum set. That doesn’t happen anymore because when Rudoph Guiliani became the mayor he outlawed street drumming. 

 

When did you make the inclination towards the drum set as your primary vehicle of expression?
 

When I saw drummers like Buddy Rich, Louis Bellson, Sonny Payne, Billy Cobham, Ginger Baker, Art Blakey, and others on TV I flipped. It’s also the only instrument that can fit in any musical context besides being the only one where you use all your limbs. 

 

You’ve had an amazing career playing with some of the greatest artists associated with Afro-Latin American genres. In terms of working with some of the greatest percussion artists, can you tell me about your times playing with the great Mongo Santamaria?
 

I had always wanted to do that gig since I was a kid. It’s the only gig where I would be able to play my two loves - the timbales and the drum set. To really do the chair justice you had to be able to play authentic timbalesin the Cuban style, as well as the drum set in whatever context the music called for. You had to have that duality and flexibility. In the history of Mongo’s career there’s only a few of us that were able to do that legitimately, most notably Carmelo Garcia, Steve Berrios and myself. With Mongo I got the opportunity to not only record several albums, but also tour every major jazz festival in Europe and the States. I also learned a lot about playing in the bembé style in 6/8 meter with Mongo and how the golpes (improvised stokes) relate to the clave in 6/8 meter. I also had personal connection to Mongo. His madrina (godmother) in Santeria was the late Rosa Leyva who was also my iyubona (second godmother) in Santeria.

 

And what about your association with the master Tito Puente?
 

Well, what can I say about maestro Puente. Another dream come true. That I not only performed and recorded with these legends, but became friends with them on a personal level, well it’s beyond what I ever imagined in my youth. Tito was the reason I went to the Berklee College of Music. I wanted to be a complete musician like him. Not only a schooled drummer, percussionist, but also a composer, arranger as well. Although most people just saw his public persona, which at times would border on the comical, he indeed was a serious musician, a serious thinker. I had some incredible conversations with him about arranging. I first saw him when I was 12 years old. He played in front of my housing project along with the Machito Orchestra and Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz. That’s when I said to myself, “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

 

I know you were also very close with master Candido Camero, can you tell me more about that special relationship?

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When I graduated from from Berklee back in 1979, receiving my Bachelor’s Degree in Music, I started working with a little known yet very historically important pianist, Marco Rizo. Maestro Rizo hailed form Santiago, Cuba and in 1940 he had come to New York to study at the Juilliard School on a full scholarship. In Cuba he was Ernesto Lecuona’s (Cuba’s greatest composer) protege. He served in the army in World War II in the entertainment division and after the war he became Desi Arnaz’s pianist and musical director. Desi had the highest paying Latin orchestra in the country. His wife was Lucille Ball and they later developed the "I Love Lucy” TV show, virtually inventing the situation comedy show. Their company Desilu Productions would later produce ‘Star Trek’ and other famous TV shows. Marco continued in his role as Desi’s musical director, pianist for the TV show while studying composition with Igor Stravinsky at UCLA. He would later become Bob Hope’s conductor and a movie score composer for Republic Pictures. I played drum set in Marco’s small group and big band. That’s how I met Candido in 1980. That band was made up the crème of the crop of NYC’s studio elite; baritone sax legend Ronnie Cuber, trombonist Barry Rogers, alto saxophonist Jerry Dodgion, tenor saxophonist Mauricio Smith, trumpeters Victor Paz, Lew Soloff, Jon Faddis and bassist Victor Venegas who recommended me to Marco and many more. Candido was the conguero. 

 

At that time Candido was just doing high level club dates and studio work. My generation had completely forgotten him or were not aware of his importance. Mind you, I had seen Candido when I was a little kid backing up Puerto Rican vocalist Lucecita Benitez on the Ed Sullivan TV show and here I was playing alongside him! After that first gig I did with him, the very next day I started doing studio work alongside him and basically all the players I mentioned. Then I started to call Candido for my own gigs. I’m very happy, because not only was I honoured that he accepted, but it also helped to bring him back into the public eye. And the best part was that he became a second father to me. Two things I can say about him. He was a human metronome. It was uncanny, he would literally cover the click track. The other was that he was a total gentleman. I never heard him say anything bad about anyone and I literally never ever heard him curse. His innovations as a player, inventor, developing multiple percussion, co-ordinated independence, melodic content on the congas, tuning, the first to use fiberglass drums, were game changing. A lot of people don’t know, besides congas and bongó, he also played very good drum set, Cuban tres and bass. Anyone that plays congas, multiple percussion today, whether they know it or not, has something of him in their playing and owes him a debt of gratitude.

 

Congratulations on the new recording, remarkable energy and such a refined performance in the big band that you direct. I know you have been directing your big band for a long time, can you tell me more about its early development and its ongoing process?
 

Thank you so much Alex. It all started in 1998. I remember our first gig was that year at the Nuyorican Poets Café in New York. I had been teaching a big band at the New School University, which I still do today and had always wondered how the music would sound played by professionals. By that time, I had the experience, knowledge and courage to finally do it. In 1999 we recorded our first album live at Birdland in New York, ‘Afro-Cuban Dream: Live & In Clave!!!’ and it was nominated for a mainstream Grammy in 2000. Every subsequent album, ‘Big Band Urban Folktales’, ‘Multiverse’ (nominated for two), ‘West Side Story Reimagined’, have all been Grammy nominated. This year we celebrate our 25th Anniversary with the ‘Vox Humana’ release. 
 

Love the vocalists in this new album, great showcase of voices, beautifully delivered, also with such great multi-lingual repertoire, how did you develop the vocal concept for this particular album?

I had always wanted to do this, a project with three vocalists. The trick was finding the right three. We’ve occasionally featured a vocal track on previous works, but on this one we feature on the entire album three of the greatest contemporary jazz vocalists on the scene; Janis Siegel from the Manhattan Transfer, blues and jazz titan Antoinette Montague and musical polyglot Jennifer Jade Ledesna. I had already worked with Antoinette and Jennifer and definitely had them in mind for the project. I was always a fan of Janis’s work and I had finally met her through pianist Edsel Gomez a few years ago. We had never worked together, but I knew she was the missing link. I’m so happy she said yes! What’s great about all three of them is that they’re all individually unique. The one thing in common they all have is that they are all fantastic jazz improvisors. 

 

In discussing this album, how long did it take you to get this large ensemble ready for this live showcase? The arrangements, rehearsals, how long was this on the planning?

Not long. We rehearsed once and had done a few live shows. By the time we got to the last night of the three-night engagement at Dizzy’s, where it was recorded live, the band was firing on all cylinders. It’s a testimony to their great musicianship.

 

Fantastic repertoire, so varied. The range of songs you put together with such great arrangements, can you tell me more about your idea and concept behind the choices?

That’s a great question. The original concept I had was to do an album of all Puerto Rican composers in tribute to my ancestral homeland. We had rehearsed, played the music and were all set to record it live at Dizzy’s. But then Covid hit. It got cancelled. I was pulling my hairs out in frustration. But then I started to think about it and said to myself, “That idea I had with the three singers… maybe I should revisit that.” The rest is history. It was a blessing in disguise. The tunes ‘Capullito De Aleli’, ‘Puerto Rico’, and ‘Mi Congo’ are carry overs from the what the original project was supposed to me. The album itself is very autobiographical. Each song represents a part of my childhood and development as a musician. It all worked out beautifully. Elegua works in strange and wonderful ways.

 

I love the way you incorporate such a variety of rhythmic styles in your repertoire, this album incorporating an array, including Puerto Rican and Brazilian rhythms, is that your conscious desire to showcase a wide-ranging Latin American sound? How do you see it?
 

Oh yes, I guess you could call it a Pan Afro-Latin Jazz concept. I don’t just want to play Afro-Cuban, or Brazilian rhythms, or just funk, or just straight-ahead jazz. I don’t want any pre-preconceived musical boundaries placed on me or the band. There’s so much to draw upon from the entirety of what Latin America and frankly the African diaspora represents that it’s endless. That’s why I call the band the Multiverse Big Band. It’s inspired by the writings of the Mexican author Octavio Paz who looks at the entirety of Latin America as that. The other person it’s inspired by was the person who was the ultimate musical futurist, Don Ellis. People today talk about Afro Futurism. Don beat everyone to the punch doing that back in the 1970s with his own big band. And frankly, that’s the musical eclecticism I grew up with. I’d have a Mahavishnu Orchestra album in one hand and an Arsenio Rodriguez one in the other. I have my father José to thank for that. That’s why I play the drum set. It’s the most versatile percussion instrument. 

 

I also love the rhythm section in the recording, could you elaborate on the development of the chosen rhythms for the pieces and the instruments with the particular ensemble members, of note is the featured cuica for example, beautifully played.
 

Great question. The arrangement dictates that. It’s my job as the musical director and captain of the rhythm section to decide what goes where, especially with the percussionists. I’m lucky to have some of the most talented individuals in that regard, Oreste Abrantes on congas, who is also a great vocalist featured on the album. Matthew Gonzalez plays bongó, cencerro, Puerto Rican, Cuban and Brazilian percussion and is a great dancer. Takao Heisho handles all the smaller hand percussion in whatever style is called for. When called upon they can play batá as well. Takao was my student at the Manhattan School of Music and he took my advice. I told him that if he was going to study at the school for his undergrad and master’s degrees, then he’d be wasting his time if he didn’t study arranging as well. He’s become great at it contributing the arrangements of ‘Puerto Rico’, ‘Partido Alto’, and ‘Mi Congo’ that you hear on ‘Vox Humana’, he is also the one doing the great cuicawork you heard. They all make my job easier as well, not only because of their versatility, but because they’re great sight readers as well and learn very quickly. It saves a lot of time in rehearsal. Gone are the days when Latin percussionists couldn’t read. But first and foremost, Ori, Matt, and Takao are team players.

 

In terms of your own set up, what does your drum set consist of?
 

I’m a proud Tama, Sabian cymbals, Vic Firth, Remo Drumheads, and LP endorser. I’ve been with Tama since 2006 and still use the same drums from when I became associated with the company. Extremely happy with the quality of the instrument, especially from a jazz perspective. People don’t associate Tama with jazz, but they’re sadly mistaken and are missing out. I’ve been with LP, Vic Firth, and Remo since the days I was with Mongo Santamaria which goes way back to 1983. I’m equally happy with the products and the support they’ve all given me through the years. 

 

I own both a Tama Starclassic maple and a Starclassic bubinga sets with various size bass drums, toms, and snares. I normally use the bubinga kit to record, but for ‘Vox Humana’ I decided to use the maple kit. The mounted toms are 8, 10, 12 inches, normal depths. The floor toms were 14 X 14 and 16 X 16. I have an 18 and a 20-inch bass drum, but for this I decided to use a 22 with 18-inch depth for a bigger sound. Believe it or not there was absolutely no muffling inside the bass drum and no hole on the front head. I used a Remo Power Stroke 3 head on the batter side and Black Ambassador on the logo side. The snare is 5 1/2 X 14 matched to the kit which is in a beautiful blue green finish that I’m told is no longer available. The batter head on the snare is a coated white Ambassador with a clear one on the snare side. The heads on the toms are coated white Ambassadors with clear Ambassadors on the bottom. 

 

The cymbals I used for this project are pretty interesting. They’re all hand hammered Sabian’s. I use a Sabian 21 inch Signature Series Salsero Ride which was designed by Richie ‘Gajate’ Garcia. It’s an extremely versatile cymbal that’s dry and wet at the same time. In other words, it has a lot of definition because it’s heavy, but it still has a nice full bodied sustain. The bell is killing. A lot of people haven’t checked it out because I guess its name doesn’t sound resonate with jazz or rock players, but just listen to it on the recording and you’ll hear why I like it so much. Next to it on my right is an 18-inch HH China mounted upside down which I mostly crash on, but I will occasionally ride on it. It’s a direct influence from one of my heroes and fellow Tama endorsee Billy Cobham. The crash on the other side I used next to the hi-hat is a Sabian 18-inch HH Crash Ride. Again, just from its name you can tell it’s another versatile cymbal that gives me a lot of options. Between them above the mounted toms is a 10-inch HH Mini China Splash which I mount upside down. Having a splash in a big band setting is a throwback to the 30s and 40s, but using a Mini China gives the concept a different spin with an explosive fast sound that has volume. The hi-hats are 14-inch Sabian HH Fusion. For a big band you need to be able hear the chip sound. I also flange them a lot with my left foot to simulate the sound of a guiro, maracas or shekere. But I have also used these hi-hats in quieter settings as well, to great effect. It’s all in the control.

 

The bells are all LP. I use a mountable Songo silver bell with a deluxe Black Beauty chrome cha-cha bell mounted on top of it mounted to the bass drum. Over the 14-inch first floor tom I use an LP claw. Attached to it is an LP Red Jam Block. On the 16-inch floor tom I use another claw and attached to it is a black LP Mambo bell (the one with the raised center line down the middle) and on top of that I have a LP silver Salsa cha-cha bell mounted. Next to the hi hat I use an Tama Iron Cobra bass drum pedal with a Gajate bracket attached to it (something Candido invented back in 1952) with an LP silver Salsa Cha-Cha bell low attached to that. I also use a Tama Iron Cobra double pedal. The seat I use is a Tama throne with a revolving bass because I’ll occasionally adjust the height it on the fly in mid performance.

 

What are the plans for the promotion of this record with the big band? Are you touring nationally, internationally?
 

I would like to let as many people know about this new album as possible. But it goes beyond that. I’m on a mission to get this music and the genre the proper exposure it rightfully deserves. Our performances are not only meant to entertain people but to educate and inspire them as well. It’s hard because this band in its entirety is twenty-four people. Anyone reading this is thinking, “this guy is crazy!” But we have been very successful in terms of being able to book it. And why not? Broadway shows, which have numerous cast members at times larger than what we have in the band and carry wardrobe, sets, etc. travel all the time. We’ve performed in Europe at the Verona Jazz Festival, The Ravinia Festival in Chicago, The Chicago Jazz Festival, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center just to give you a few examples. 

 

And Bobby to close, what are your personal future plans?
 

I’m the Co-Artistic Director along with Elena Martinez of the Bronx Music Heritage Center. It’s an art gallery space where we’ve been putting on concerts, film screenings, panel discussions, given dance, percussion, piano classes, and more, for the last ten years. We’re finishing the construction this year of the forthcoming Bronx Music Hall which is a multi-use theatre which will accommodate 250 seats, has a multi-use dance studio, an incredible lobby art gallery space, has an outdoor stage which we’ve already been utilizing, and a small amphitheatre in the back which accommodates about 100 people. It will be the home base of the Multiverse Big Band. I’m still continuing my educational activities, this is my 28th year teaching at the New School. Continue working as a side person for whomever calls, composing, arranging, producing, band leading my smaller groups Quarteto Aché, Sexteto Ibiano and Ascensión, and most of all exploring and going where no band has gone before with the Multiverse Big Band.

 

bobbysanabria.com


© 2024 Alex Pertout. Published by Drumscene Magazine.