The beat lives on at The
Village Trip musical showcase
An enthusiastic crowd at The Village Trip festival on Sept. 25, 2021.
BY TEQUILA MINSKY
Bobby Sanabria and his 21-piece big
Multiverse Big Band took the stage
on Saturday, Sept. 25, afternoon at
Garibaldi Plaza, the capstone performance
of the weeklong The Village Trip festival.
The Bronx-born and multi-Grammy
nominated Sanabria is a drummer,
percussionist, composer, arranger, conductor,
and educator. Among other institutions,
he is on the faculty of NYU.
To a crowd fi lling the plaza and all the
nearby park benches, Sanabria’s drum
set frames his musical brilliance as he
interlaces the prowess of the band by also
celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.
Sanabria is prideful of his Puerto Rican
PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY
and Bronx-honed heritage while being inclusive.
He mentions King of the Timbales,
Bobby Sanabria, a drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, conductor
and educator, is also on the faculty of NYU.
Tito Puente, and maracas-playing Machito
who brought together Cuban rhythms with
big bands refi ning Afro-Cuban jazz. He
points out how the roots of unique New
York salsa are in the high energy Bronx.
With his extensive cultural knowledge
and music facility, Sanabria wants to
expand the audience’s appreciation of the
legacy of Latin music. And his passion for
the music and history is contagious.
If folks weren’t dancing to the music he
admonishes them in order to get the crowd
grooving — even giving a mini mambo lesson
from the stage. It didn’t take much to
get the audience excited.
“This is what New York is all about,”
says Ericka Hamburg, who traveled from
Staten Island to join the fun. “Live music,
community-based, for free that everybody
can enjoy, we’ve been missing this. This is
a late summer explosion before the weather
shuts us down. Let’s enjoy what the city
has to offer.”
Also on stage, Grammy-winner Janis
Siegel performed jazz-fusion and pop vocals
for a number of songs and as the sun
was setting, Antoinette Montague joined
the band to change gears offering up some
soulful blues numbers.
Subtitled “Bring It All Back Home,”
The Village Trip festival highlighting the
arts — particularly music in the Village and
centered on Washington Square Park —
fi rst started in 2018. This year’s celebration
opened on Sept. 18with David Amram on
8th Street, who gave a special tribute to
Village icon Doris Deither who passed
away just days before.
The Village Trip included a plethora
of walking tours (Amram gave one) and
musical gigs.
The multi-venue celebration honoring
the history and heritage of Greenwich Village
wrapped up on Sept. 26 at The Bitter
End with a hootenanny celebrating the
New York folk revival. And, at the same
renowned Village music scene, Hannah
Reimann and Michele Temple performed
Joni Mitchell’s album “Blue” in its entirety,
vocalist Reimann playing guitar, piano, and
dulcimer. This performance marked the
album’s 50th anniversary.
Michele Temple, part of the Blue album, homage marking the 50th
anniversary.
44 September 30, 2021 SScchhnneeppss MMeeddiiaa