David Sánchez (musician)

David Sánchez (born 9 September 1968 in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) is a Grammy-winning jazz tenor saxophonist from Puerto Rico.

Sanchez took up the conga when he was eight and started playing tenor saxophone at age 12.

His earliest influences were Afro-Caribbean and danza but also European and Latin classical. At 12 Sanchez attended La Escuela Libre de Musica, which emphasized formal musical studies and classical European styles and was much taken with a Miles Davis album, Basic Miles, featuring John Coltrane, as well as Lady in Satin, a 1958 album by Billie Holiday with strings, arranged and conducted by Ray Ellis. Sanchez considered a college career in psychology but auditioned at Berklee and Rutgers University. Sanchez chose Rutgers because he got a better scholarship and was near New York which was Sanchez' goal. While at Rutgers, Sanchez studied with Kenny Barron, Ted Dunbar, and John Purcell.

Sanchez joined Dizzy Gillespie's United Nation Orchestra in 1990 and Dizzy became Sanchez' mentor. Dizzy's group toured 27 countries, and 100 U.S. cities in 31 states, and also saw other notable musicians (Flora Purim for example, another Grammy Award nominee). After the United Nation Orchestra, Sanchez continued to play with Dizzy until Dizzy died in 1993, mainly in Dizzy's Trio with Mike Longo. Since then he has toured with the Philip Morris SuperBand, recorded with Slide Hampton and his Jazz Masters, Charlie Sepulveda, Roy Hargrove, Kenny Drew, Jr., Ryan Kisor, Danilo Perez, Rachel Z, and Hilton Ruiz, and headed his own sessions for Columbia Records.

After joining Columbia Records, Sanchez released seven albums. In 2005 Sanchez won the Grammy award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for Coral, which was two years in the making. Recorded in The Czech Republic with The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Coral features a sextet: alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón, pianist Edsel Gomez, bassists John Benitez and Ben Street, drummer Adam Cruz, and percussionist Pernell Saturnino.

As leader

• The Departure (1994)
• Sketches of Dreams' (1994)
• I Miss You John (1995) - Mike Longo tribute album to Dizzy Gillespie with Cecil Bridgewater, Frank Wess, and James Moody
• Street Scenes (1996)
• Obsession (1998)
• Melaza(2000)
• Travesia (2002)
• Coral (2004) - Grammy Award-winning
• Cultural Survival (2008)

As co-leader

• Ninety Miles (2011) - w/ Stefon Harris and Christian Scott

As sideman

• La India - Llego la India Via Eddie Palmieri (1992)
• Jonny King - Meltdown (1997, Enja Records)
• Kenny Barron - Spirit Song (Verve, 1999)
• Antonio Sánchez - Migration (2007)
• Gabriel Vicéns - Point In Time (2012)
• Gabriel Vicéns - Days (2015, Inner Circle Music)

As guest artist

With Dizzy Gillespie

• Bird Songs: The Final Recordings (Telarc, 1992)
• To Bird with Love (Telarc, 1992)

With Charlie Haden

• Nocturne (2001, Verve)

With Harold López Nussa

• El País de las Maravillas (2011, World Village)