LP Artists Berroa, Dennard and Sanabria
Receive Ultimate Honor from KOSA

From left to right: Ignacio Berroa, Kenwood Dennard and Bobby Sanabria with their KoSA Lifetime Achievment Awards 2008

LP is proud of its artist team, a group of talented percussionists. And now, with the conclusion of another summer KoSA session in August 2008, LP has even more reason to beam with pride. At the annual percussion week-long summer camp cum master class, where students breathe the same Vermont mountain air as top drummers, three LP artists were cited for exemplary careers. Ignacio Berroa, Kenwood Dennard, and Bobby Sanabria each of whom has steered the course of contemporary music, received prestigious lifetime achievement awards. LP is honored to have served each artist well on their respective missions to advance the cause of drums, percussion and music.

During the awards ceremony, which marked the thirteenth annual KoSA gathering, founder Aldo Mazza cited the accomplishments of the LP artists in a historical context. “The first person who struck a hollow log with a stick,” Aldo noted, “initiated the human experience with music. It was an enormous accomplishment, given that music has become an instrument of harmony, a truly universal language.” Aldo urged attendees to “change their world” in the same manner as the lifetime achievement award recipients.

Bobby Sanabria is a role model for artistic accomplishment, so much so that the City of New York has named a street in the Bronx after the acclaimed percussionist. Bobby rose up from the Fort Apache section of the Bronx to tour the world and wave the flag for Latin culture and music. A Grammy nominee with albums under his own name, and the ultimate accompanist for the legends of Latin jazz such as Mario Bauza, Bobby Sanabria is acknowledged as a top drummer, percussionist, writer, ethnomusicologist and cultural advocate.

Similarly, Ignacio Berroa is an artist whose youthful, exciting approach to drum set belies a long, distinguished career. Ignacio’s seamless integration of indigenous Afro-Cuban rhythms with the heartbeat of American jazz warrants wider acclaim. A Grammy nominee, recording artist, composer, and innovator on his instrument, Ignacio is truly a drum set pioneer, known as much for fusing Latin and funk as for his nimble and sensitive jazz concept.

Kenwood Dennard has contributed his rousing drum set approach to top artists the likes of Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Sting, Pat Martino and Maceo Parker. It would not be exaggeration to suggest that Kenwood’s recorded work points to the future of drum set in contemporary music. His style features an expanded role for each limb and a finely honed sense of phrasing irrespective of musical genre. His nimble, dynamic delivery sparks fellow musicians to great performances. Atop all this, Kenwood is a renowned educator, a mainstay at Berklee College in Boston.

LP is at once honored and humbled to have accompanied Berroa, Dennard and Sanabria on their respective paths to greatness. We salute Aldo Mazza and KoSA for conferring lifetime achievement awards to such deserving members of our artist family.