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| Sammy Figueroa at the Jazz Standard Percussionist Sammy Figueroa and his Latin Jazz Explosion will be performing at New York's distinguished jazz venue, The Jazz Standard, on Monday, February 19th, 2007. In the tradition of Ray Barretto, Mongo Santamaria and Tito Puente, this band features a spectacular, charismatic percussionist as centerpiece of a group of virtuoso players. The group will be introducing the music from their upcoming CD “The Magician” (street date March 13th on Savant Records), along with music from their Grammy-nominated first album, ”...And Sammy Walked In”, also on Savant Records. Some of New York's finest musicians are expected to be making special appearances, joining Sammy and Venezuelan maestros Silvano Monasterios (piano) and Gaby Vivas (bass) and the amazing Australian sax player Troy Roberts (of the James Morrison Band and progressive band Void). Drummer Ludwig Afonso, trumpet player Michael Rodriguez and sax player John Michalak round out the ensemble. Sammy Figueroa has long been considered to be one of the world's premier musicians. Born in the Bronx, the son of singer Charlie Figueroa, Sammy went on to play with jazz icons such as Miles Davis, the Brecker Brothers, Sonny Rollins, Michel Camillo and many many others. He also became one of New York's premier session sideman, performing on countless recordings with artists such as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Ashford and Simpson, David Bowie, Natalie Merchant and Blues Traveller. Sammy is the host of one of South Florida's most popular Latin jazz radio shows on 88.9 Serious Jazz WDNA and is a mainstay with Paul Schaefer's David Letterman Band (his last Letterman appearance was on January 9th with Ben E. King). This dynamic Latin jazz ensemble has performed to enthusiastic crowds at the Puerto Rico Heineken Jazz Festival, the Hollywood Jazz Festival, the Cocoa Beach Jazz Festival, Sunfest, the Hal Leonard Series at the Pabst Theatre in Milwaukee, HotHouse in Chicago and the Arturo Sandoval Jazz Club in Miami. They invariably receive standing ovations, encores and have a growing enthusiastic fan base. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |