Sammy Figueroa | tl

Master Percussionist

Sammy Figueroa was born in the Bronx, New York, the son of the well-known singer Charlie Figueroa. His first professional experience came at the age of 18 with the band of bassist Bobby Valentin. During this time he co-founded the innovative fusion Brazilian/Latin group Raices, which broke ground for many of today’s bands.

After releasing a classic album on Atlantic Records, the band moved to New York where Sammy was soon discovered by jazz flautist Herbie Mann. Tours and albums with the Brecker Brothers, Average White Band and John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra followed, culminating in recordings and tours with the legendary Miles Davis.

Since then Sammy has played with a multitude of distinguished jazz and Latin jazz artists including Sonny Rollins, Dave Sanborn, Quincy Jones, Dave Grusin, George Benson, Chet Baker, Stanley Clarke, Grover Washington, Jr., Al Jarreau, Lena Horne, Joe Williams, Mark Murphy, Mike Mainieri, Nestor Torres, Chico O’Farrill, Mike Stern, Dave Grusin, Chuck Loeb, Bobby Watson, Dave Valentin, Arturo Sandoval, Paquito D’Rivera, Luis Salinas, Ruben Blades, Eddie Palmieri, Bobby Valentin, Tania Maria and Michel Camillo, who wrote the song “And Sammy Walked In” in his honor (this song was also recorded by Giovanni Hidalgo.)

Sammy also played with most of the world’s major pop stars. He appeared on Mariah Carey’s MTV Unplugged album and video and has recorded or performed with James Taylor, Dr. John, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Celine Dion, Blues Traveler, Natalie Merchant, David Lee Roth, Hall & Oates, Joe Cocker, Rickie Lee Jones, Annie Lennox and many, many more. Sammy played on many classic r & b hits such as Chic’s “We Are Family”, “Luther Vandross’ “The Night I Fell In Love” and Ashford and Simpson’s “Solid Like A Rock”. He also recorded with Whitney Houston, Anita Baker, Grace Jones, James Ingram, Diana Ross, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin and can be heard on most of the Nile Roger and Bernard Edwards disco hits such as Chic and Sister Sledge.


As one of New York’s most sought after session players Sammy played on countless albums, jingles and film scores. His famed sense of humor, ebullient personality, and open-heartedness are famous within the music industry and have enabled him to develop close relationships with artists and fellow musicians.


In the spirit of experimentation he has collaborated and appeared with artists such as Paul Winter, Glen Velez and Michael Schrieve. He has also worked with Wynton Marsalis on an educational program for children and taught a shaman/percussion workshop called Thunder Drums.

Sammy’s sounds and rhythms are also featured on “Percussionworks” (Big Fish Audio), a highly popular sampling and “beats” collection used by producers and recording engineers throughout the world.

In 1993 Sammy was invited to play at the Havana Plaza Jazz Festival where he played with Cuban bands such as Irakere and Grupo Afro-Cuba. This trip had a profound effect on his life and music and since then he has been to Cuba countless times, researching the music and extending his relationships with the musicians there.

Soon after he formed a production company, Faro Figueroa Productions, with producer/musician Rachel Faro. This team soon became one of recording industry’s most promising progressive Latin record producers, with releases out on several major and independent labels, including: “Una Forma Mas” and “De Vacaciones” by the phenomenal a cappella group Vocal Sampling (Warner Music Group), “Cantos: Lazaro Ros con Mezcla” (Intuition) and “Cuarto Espacio”, featuring Omar Hernandez and Ernan Lopez-Nussa (Ashé), and the INDI award-winning “Celebremos Navidad” (Universal/Ashé) by cuatro legend Yomo Toro, “Una Sola Casa” with Seis Del Solar (Messidor) and many others.

Recently, Sammy has been integrating drum & bass, jungle, trance, ambient sounds and R&B with Latin rhythms and sounds. He is featured on 'Gran Riserva' (Six Degrees Records) by the Viennese electronica d.j./producers dZihan & Kamian and has been performing regularly with Miami’s famed DJ LeSpam & the Spam All-Stars. He recently completed "Sammyworks", a sampling album of loops and breaks for the use of d.j.s and producers, using his extensive knowledge of rhythms and vast collection of percussion instruments.

Sammy relocated to Miami in 2001 and joined the band of Raul Midon, a remarkable singer/songwriter who has since moved to New York, and Rose Max, a popular Brazilian singer. In Miami, Sammy also performed and recorded with Nestor Torres, Arturo Sandoval, Son By Four, the Chirino Sisters, Franco Da Vita, Nicole Henry, and Prem Joshua.

In November 2002 Sammy traveled to Cuba on an intercultural exchange by the Miami Light Project to collaborate, along with DJ LeSpam, with hip hop artists on the island. In May 2003 these same artists performed with Sammy in the Miami International Hip Hop Exchange. He is also planning to record an album of percussion-oriented dance music with Couch Records in Vienna.

In the fall of 2002, with the encouragement of the South Florida Friends of Jazz Sammy debuted his own Latin jazz band, Sammy Figueroa and his Latin Explosion at the Hollywood Jazz Festival in Hollywood Florida, with special guests Dave Valentin and Ray Vega. Since that time Sammy and his band have become the most exciting group in Latin jazz today. His first album, “And Sammy Walked In” (on Savant Records) was released in 2005 and included music by Michel Camillo, Hermeto Pascual, Eugene Uman and trumpet-player John Lovell. His second album, “The Magician”, (also on Savant Records), was released in March 2007 and features spectacular original compositions by Venezuelans Silvano Monasterios and Gabriel Vivas alongside jazz classics such as Seven Steps and Cedar Walton’s Firm Roots. Both albums received Grammy Nominations for Best Latin Jazz Album. The group has appeared at countless festivals and clubs, including the San Juan Heineken Jazz Festival, the JVC Jazz Festival Miami, New York’s Jazz Standard, Cleveland’s Nighttown and Milwaukee's Pabst Theatre.


Sammy is also a radio personality. His show “Latin Jazz Quarter”, every Friday afternoon on 88.9 FM Serious Jazz Radio in Miami, Florida is one of the station’s most popular. On this popular show Sammy has taken the definition of “Latin Jazz” to a new level, playing music from Turkey to Africa to Native American.



Sammy has also been written about in several important books on music and its legends. His relationship with Miles Davis is described at length both in Miles' own words in his autobiography entitled "Miles" and in "The Last Miles: The Music of Miles Davis From 1980 - 1991" by George Cole. Anecdotes about Sammy are also included in Paquito D'Rivera's amusing book "My Sax Life" and Sammy has also been included in The Grove's Dictionary of Jazz.



Sammy endorses Shure Microphones, Pearl Percussion, Zildjian Cymbals and Vic Firth Sticks. In addition, he also plays the ZenDrum, which midis the sampled sounds of Sammy’s percussion, and a set of unusual steel pans called Panart HandPans.


copyright 2008 Attune Marketing all rights reserved



.