Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band to Play Hostos Center, 11/1

To kick off Puerto Rican Heritage Month, the Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture will present the multi-Grammy nominated Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band on Friday, November 1, 2013 at 7:30 p.m., performing a tribute to Puerto Rico's greatest composer, Rafael Hernández, affectionately known as "El Jibarito Bohemio." Sanabria's 19-piece Multiverse Big Band will be joined by ten members of the Bronx Arts Ensemble string section and three guest vocalists performing arrangements of Hernández' music. The performance will open with the 319th U.S. Army "Statue of Liberty" Band honoring Hernández's service during World War I as a member of the legendary U.S. Army 369th "Harlem Hellfighters" Band and performing re-creations of repertoire of that esteemed ensemble.

Sanabria will lead the Mutiverse Big Band and the members of the Bronx Arts Ensemble String Section in a contemporary Latin jazz treatment of Hernández's most celebrated works, including "Preciosa," "El Cumbanchero," and "Cachita," among others.

"Wherever they may be in the diaspora, the music of Rafael Hernández represents the soul of the Puerto Rican people," says Sanabria. "He is considered by many to be not only Puerto Rico's, but also Latin America's greatest composer. By the cognoscenti he is considered to be on the level of America's two greatest composers, Ellington and Gershwin. It has long been a dream of mine to produce a program totally devoted to this aspect of his music with my big band, along with the addition of a string section. That dream is realized with this concert."