Pablo Sanhueza has been deemed as “Kansas City’s Heart & Soul of Latin Music” by JAM Magazine, and recognized as the region’s premier first wave Salsa & Latin Jazz percussionist and bandleader. Since his arrival to Kansas City from Santiago, Chile in 1996 Pablo has dedicated the past 20 years of his distinguished career to the music of the Latin American experience, as a percussionist, bandleader, and educator who has worked with three generations of musicians.
In 2018, Sanhueza co-founded the Kansas City Latin Jazz Orchestra. KCLJO is the first performance & education non-profit in the Midwestern United States dedicated to Salsa & Latin Jazz. Reaching an audience of nearly 40,000 in 2018 the Kansas City Latin Jazz Orchestra is an intercultural, intergenerational organization, bringing transnational experiences to the stage, the dance floor and diverse communities.
Sanhueza studied with Jesus Alfonso, Sandy Perez, (Muñequitos de matanzas), and shared the stage with Poncho Sanchez, David Valentin, Titos Sompa, and toured Europe with saxophonist Bobby Watson appearing at Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Red Sea Jazz Festival in Holland and Champs Elysees in Paris, France.
Representing latino leadership in the arts, Pablo is a Missouri Arts Council Touring Artist and Missouri Humanities Council Speakers Bureau Member. Since, 2014 Pablo has returned to Chile where he has studied and established cultural exchange with Afro-Chilean folk ensembles across Chile. In 2019, Sanhueza welcomed Pedrito Martinez to Kansas City for the historic Folly Jazz Series & Artist Talk. Sanhueza & KCLJO are endorsed by the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz for cultural & education outreach in Chile and the Midwestern United States. Through these accomplishments and community involvement Sanhueza continues to distinguish himself as one of the foremost exponents of Latin American and Caribbean music across the Midwest.
Pablo sees himself as a village musician whose presence and impact in the community is experienced through live performance and perpetuated through relationship building with the youth and local institutions.
RECENT MEDIA APPEARANCES:
ST. Louis Public Radio: Afro-Latin Music’s Foray Into the Midwest
KCUR Central Standard: Cuban and Afro-Latino Influence in Kansas City Culture
KKFI ArtSpeak: October Extravaganza
KC STUDIO Magazine October 2018
COMMUNITY SUPPORTERS:
HERBIE HANCOCK INSTITUTE OF JAZZ STUDIES
INTERNATIONAL JAZZ DAY
KKFI 90.1 COMMUNITY RADIO
KANSAS HUMANITIES COUNCIL
KANSAS CITY KANSAS PARKS & REC LEVEE TRAIL
LATIN PERCUSSION
LA PAZ HOUSE & GRANDVIEW PARK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
MISSOURI HUMANITIES COUNCIL
MUTUAL MUSICIANS FOUNDATION
PROSPERO’S BOOKSTORE
POLIS: CULTURAL PLANNING
THE NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART
KEMPER MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
YJ’S SNACK BAR
KANSAS CITY PARKS & RECREATION
AMERICAN JAZZ MUSEUM
ArtsKC
