Bobby Sanabria & Ascension - New York City Ache! (CD)

All Music Guide

Though not a Latin superstar a la Tito Puente, Ray Barretto or Mongo Santamaria, Bobby Sanabria is a solid, New York-based percussionist known for salsa, Latin jazz and traditional Puerto Rican music. Sanabria excels in all of those areas on his diversw New York City Ache Salseros will want to savor "Brindando El Son," while engaging arrangements of Joe Henderson's "Caribbean Fire Dance" and Thelonious Monk's "Blue Monk" illustrate the puerrtoriqueno's mastery of Latin jazz. Quite different from the album's salsa gems, traditional Puerto Rican numbers like "Plenas En Cadenas" (an example of rhythmic plena) point to the fact that while Puerto Ricans have made great contributions to salsa, the vast majority of its influences are still Cuban rather than Puerto Rican.

- Alex Henderson, All Music Guide