Big Band Urban Folktales...NPR's interview with Bobby Sanabria

I was listening to NPR in the car and scribbled down the name of the person being interviewed so I could read about it later. Bobby Sanabria is a Latin percussionist, composer, bandleader and former Berklee college student. In 1975, he was one of the few Puerto Ricans attending the school, now those from Latin America dominate the jazz program.

Says Bobby Sanabria:

"The principal thing that we inherited from West Africa," Sanabria says, "is this concept of many rhythms happening simultaneously [by] many musicians — polyrhythms. That initiates also what we call polymeters: many meters at the same time. We inherited that from West Africa, and it's been transferred to all of the music that we listen to today, from rock 'n' roll, funk, hip-hop, jazz."

and more interesting to me, he had this to say about Desi Arnaz:

"Desi Arnaz kind of gets short shrift sometimes, especially in the Hispanic community, because he's looked at only as an entertainer," Sanabria says. "But he was very much in touch with his Afro-Cuban roots, in terms of the culture. When you hear the song 'Babalu Aye,' mainstream America was probably laughing it up, going 'Babalu!' Little did they know that they were being exposed to this incredibly deep West African culture we inherited in the Caribbean."

Miguelito Valdes, a contemporary of Desi Arnaz:



The Desi Arnaz/Ricky Ricardo version: