He graduated from a performing arts high school in 1986, spent a year studying psychology, and then moved to New York City in 1988, having decided to become a musician. Sanchez attended Rutgers University, studying with Kenny Barron, Ted Dunbar, and John Purcell. After a period freelancing in New York with many top Latin players (including Paquito D'Rivera and Claudio Roditi), Sanchez joined Dizzy Gillespie's United Nation Orchestra in 1990, also getting the opportunity to play with Dizzy's small group. Since then he has toured with the Philip Morris SuperBand, recorded with Slide Hampton's Jazz Masters, Charlie Sepulveda, Kenny Drew, Jr., Ryan Kisor, Danilo Perez, Rachel Z, and Hilton Ruiz (among others), and headed his own sessions for Columbia. David Sanchez is a tenor player whose music mixes together Afro-Cuban rhythms with advanced bebop on releases like 1994's Sketches of Dreams and 1996's Street Scenes. Obsession followed two years later and Melaza in mid-2000. Since that time, Sanchez has kept busy releasing Travesía in 2001, Coral in 2004 and Cultural Survival in 2008. ~ Scott Yanow