David Sanchez with GSU Jazz Band April 7, 2006

By age 22, Grammy Award-nominated saxophonist David Sánchez had already been invited by Dizzy Gillespie to join the jazz great's United Nations Orchestra. Today the talented young jazz musician is one of the genre's most compelling and original artists. Sánchez is constantly expanding the vocabulary of mainstream jazz to incorporate the Afro-Latin influences of his native Puerto Rico. Backing Sánchez, the 20-piece Georgia State University Jazz Band-founded over 30 years ago and currently led by Dr. Gordon Vernick-which has previously backed such notables as Nicholas Payton, Kenny Garrett, Ron Blake, and Joe Lovano.