CONCERT | Bobby Sanabria and Tres Magos (Three Magicians)
Wallkill River Center for the Arts (WRCA) is pleased to present Bobby Sanabria and Tres Magos (Three Magicians), the 2nd concert in the 2026 concert series.
Sunday, May 31, 3 – 5 pm
Goshen Green Farm, 3301 NY Route 207, Goshen, NY
“Bobby Sanabria is equally adept at the swinging big band sounds of drummers Buddy Rich and Louis Bellson along with other boyhood heroes, fusion pioneer Billy Cobham and timbale titan Tito Puente.” – Bill Milkowski, Jazz Times
“(Mr. Sanabria) expands the possibilities, moving the sounds of bands like that of (Puente and Machito), with all the heft, intricacy and clave-based dance rhythm, into the harmonically oriented sophistication of current New York jazz players. It’s New York up and down, and back and forth across the last century, from the streets to the mambo palaces to the conservatories.” – Ben Ratliff, The New York Times
Presented by WRCA, this is the second of a four-concert series curated by vocalist and composer Judi Silvano.
PLEASE NOTE, the concert series is free and open to the public with a suggested donation of $20/person. Due to the intimate nature of concert locations and limited seating, advance registration is recommended but not required. To reserve your seat, register by purchasing a FREE ticket – at bottom of event page.
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About the performer:
Bobby Sanabria, a graduate of the Berklee College of Music, is an accomplished drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, documentary film producer, activist, radio host, writer and multi-Grammy nominee. He is a native Nuyorican son of the South Bronx.
Sanabria’s versatility as both a drummer and percussionist from small group to big band has become legendary. He’s performed and recorded with every major figure in the history of Latin jazz, salsa, and jazz, with such legends as Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Eddie Palmieri, Paquito D’Rivera, Candido, Charles McPherson, Larry Harlow, Ruben Blades, Celia Cruz, and the Father of Afro-Cuban jazz, Mario Bauzá (as his drummer for 9 years touring and recording on his major Grammy nominated albums).
Sanabria is the Leader of Quarteto Aché, Sexteto Ibiano, Ascensión, and his Multiverse Big Band. His big band albums have all been nominated for Grammys, most notably Multiverse (double Grammy nominated 2012) and recently West Side Story Reimagined, a two CD set recorded live at Dizzy’s, NYC which was awarded the Jazz Journalists Record of the Year Award (2019) and hailed as a masterpiece by the Wall Street Journal.
He has composed music for award winning documentaries From Mambo to Hip Hop: A South Bronx Tale (2006) and La Madrina: The Savage Life of Lorine Padilla (2020), also appearing in The Palladium: Where Mambo Was King (2003), Latin Music USA (2006), We Like It Like That: The Story of Latin Boogaloo (2015) and Let’s Get The Rhythm (2016).
NUMEROUS AWARDS include:
DRUM! Magazine, Percussionist of the Year (2005)
Jazz Journalists Association, Percussionist of the Year (2011, 2013)
Voted one of the Top 10 Percussionists in the world by the Readers and Critics Polls of Downbeat Magazine for the last 12 years
Member of Max Roach’s legendary percussion ensemble M’BOOM.
Selected by legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock to represent Latin Jazz with his Quarteto Ache’ for the first Annual UNESCO International Day of Jazz at the United Nations
Induction into the 2006 Bronx Walk of Fame, Jazz Education Network’s LeJENS of Latin Jazz Award in 2018
His name being read into the U.S. Congressional Record by Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio in 2008.
Named Godfather/Padrino of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City in 2019.
AS AN EDUCATOR:
Honorary Doctorate by Lehman College in New York.
Formerly on the faculty of his alma mater the Berklee College of Music, NYU, The Manhattan School of Music (20 years) and is still on the faculty of The New School University (30 years).
Co-Artistic Director of Bronx Music Heritage Center/Bronx Music Hall. Host of the Latin Jazz Cruise by leading jazz radio station WBGO FM
His Lifelong commitment to Educating a New Generation of players, composers, arrangers has no parallel.
RECENT WORKS:
His latest critically acclaimed double CD with his Multiverse Big Band, VOX HUMANA, recorded live at Dizzy’s, NYC, features vocalists Janis Siegel, Antoinette Montague and Jennifer Jade Ledesna and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Latin Jazz recording (2024).
His current CD project ARSENIO AND BEYOND, recorded live at the Bronx Music Hall with his Multiverse Big Band (released 2026) honors Arsenio Rodriguez, the true “Father of Mambo”.
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About the concert location:
Goshen Green Farm ‘committed to building community through food, art and education’, has hosted many events with the WRCA in the past 10 years for which we are grateful.
This a family-owned farm specializes in pesticide free, biodynamic, and permaculture growing techniques, without the use of chemicals or GMOs. Incorporating principles such as crop rotation/composting/cover cropping/ natural fertilizers and companion planting, they add vitality to the plants and soil and nutritional value to their harvest.
A variety of products made from the plants grown at the farm are available on their website and at their Market which is open seasonally Saturdays & Sundays, 11am-4pm.
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WRCA’s 2026 concert series has been made possible thanks to the support of (as of 3/3/2026):
Wallkill River Center for the Arts programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
