Sanabria has remained the jazz artist for the common man. “Unfortunately, jazz has become the music of the culturally elite and the very snobbish, among some musicians. It is not supposed to be that way, it is the music of the people. It is ironic to me (considering the roots of jazz) that it has now become this snooty, elitist art form. I am totally against that. All of my recordings are the antithesis of that. That is not to say that there is not some deep thought going on, but besides the deep thought there is also a visceral connection with the African American down south, the Puerto Rican or someone from another island.  As they would say, ‘Man it’s got to have some grease on it.’ It has to have something from deep within that touches you on a visceral, emotional level,” he says.

I have only been able to capture here a small portion of my wonderful conversation with Bobby Sanabria at the beginning of July. To explore the man and his music further you are encouraged to check out his website by clicking here, and his current CD Big Band Urban Folk Tales from the Jazzheads label.

August 2007

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