Bobby Sanabria

Latin percussionist Bobby Sanabria will bring his band, his warm, enthusiastic outlook on life, and his deep knowledge of percussion in Latin music and jazz to a concert at Walker Recital Hall on the evening of November 7, and to a workshop, also at Mercyhurst, that afternoon. Sanabria has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Paquito D’Rivera, Candido, Mario Buaza (a name less knows in the U.S., but with godlike status in the Latin music world), and a panoply of jazz greats. He has played on multiple Grammy-nominated albums, and now heads his own ensemble.


Remembering the enthusiastic reception that saxophonist Eric Alexander earned in his appearance in Erie last year, JazzErie has rescheduled him for a return visit for our midwinter Christmas/New Year’s week concert at the Ambassador this year. He will be bringing the High Note All-Stars, an organ quartet with whom he has recorded and frequently tours. You and your family can get a dinner at the Ambassador before the show.

Alexander has become one of the most sought-after saxophonists in the U.S., Europe and Japan. After a fruitful apprenticeship with jazz greats pianist Harold Mabern, saxophonist Joe Lovano, bassist Rufus Reid and organist Charles Earland, he has emerged as a mature soloist and composer, playing with a Who’ Who of NYC and international musicians, and recording as a sideman and leader on over 70 discs. He is a regular member of a number of groups (including One For All, featured in this week’s Jazz Times), and leader of at least three, of which the organ quartet is a favorite.