Conversations with Damian J Sanchez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Damian J Sanchez.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
What began as a play on words, replicating the various self-named bands that were popular, evolved into a movement of the people; “The Damian J Project.” “I play the music I love in a way people will love” is a way to describe what I do. At first, it was just the music, jazz. To truly understand my love for jazz and why performing is a part of me, let me tell you about how I got to where I am today. Little Havana, a subsector of the city of Miami in the early 1990s, was continuously developing culturally and economically with the influx of immigrants from all over but in particular, the island of Cuba. Since a very young age, my Cuban grandmother was very adamant in getting my musical ability to develop instead of getting caught up in the many gangs committing juvenile crimes occurring in Little Havana during my upbringing. She would ask me to sing her favorite song, “Guantanamera,” a popular Cuban melody known worldwide. I enjoyed the singing, but the microphone even more. She saw a future in this talent and had one of her friends teach me the guitar.

At age 12, formal musical studies began in the Miami-Dade Public School system. There was no budget allotted for any private instruction or own an instrument, but I remember my grandmother taking several buses to a place called “Carroll Music” to a man named Lenny Baker who would repair my first woodwind instrument, which issued to me by the school to practice. It was an oboe, the most difficult instrument to play in the entire band. I had chosen it as part of my reward for getting a good grade on my basic theory exam. The basic theory exam was the first part of the band course at Citrus Grove Middle School. A young teacher taught me, still in his 20s and fresh out of college. His name was Carlos Perez, and he was firm but fair and inspired me to excel in music, especially playing the oboe. He made me a deal, practice hard enough to perform with the advanced band during the Christmas concert at the end of the first half of the term- and I would earn a permanent chair in the advanced band at Citrus Grove. I did and got to the advanced band after playing oboe for only three months! This was definitely an important step for me and defined who I would become.

The practice was like my addiction to music, and I quickly discovered that I wanted to learn more than just the oboe. I picked up the saxophone by spring break. I kept performing with the advanced band, learned keyboard and guitar with another fine educator, Jon Hamm, there as part of my elective coursework at Citrus Grove- eventually, I even began learning the electric bass performing with the school jazz band at the end of my tenure there, 1995. High School brought about some amazing opportunities. I went to the oldest high school in Miami, Miami Senior High School. It had a longstanding musical tradition of which I quickly became a part. “The Million Dollar” Band welcomed me with open arms and I shortly thereafter began playing in the marching, wind ensemble and jazz band at Miami High. I transferred from Miami High to Southwest Miami in 1997 and then in 1998 for Miami Northwestern. I wanted to be a part of a diverse amount of environments for music.

The PAVAC program at Miami Northwestern enhanced students’ ability in the performing arts. It’s name, Performing Arts Visual Arts Center, was a federally funded magnet program as part of Miami Northwestern. There I graduated at the top of my class while performing all over the state of Florida with their award-winning jazz ensemble under the direction of Christopher Dorsey. In my short but memorable musical career until this point, I had been in the All-City/All-County Honors Music Festival in 1995 playing piano, 1997 playing saxophone in the jazz ensemble and in 1999 playing the oboe in the orchestra. I had performed alongside Chuck Mangione, Najee, and several other famous musicians. I had also begun learning the flute and singing backing vocals in a professional salsa orchestra. At 18, I was earning a living playing music in Miami. The sky was the limit. Before graduating from high school, I had auditioned for the United States Marine Corps Music Program to get accepted into one of their bands; my dream gig was being in “The Presidents Own” stationed in Washington, D.C. and performing for the president at all the White House functions.

I had passed my audition playing the oboe and was assigned as secondary MOS (Military Occupational Specialty): Naval Intelligence. Unfortunately, because of asthma, I could not join the Marines, and at that point, most of the scholarship offers to attend college were no longer available. I had put all my eggs in one basket with the military and now I had no way of attending a good school so I enrolled at Miami-Dade Community College which at that point, my mother could afford to put me through school there although the cost of materials was proving to be a strain on the one-income household. I remembered being a part of the All-State Orchestra, which had me attend a clinic in Tampa, Florida for oboists and double reed musicians. There I had met an amazing individual, Dr. Daniel F. Ross, a pioneer of the oboe reed making device known as the “Ross Gauger.” He had offered me a full-tuition scholarship to attend Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas. I did not even really know where that was, and neither did my mother or brother.

My grandmother had passed away in November 1995. It was us three remaining in the house, and I was hesitant about leaving them alone. My mother told me it was with a heavy heart and great pain, but I must go to school- or go to work ha-ha. That was all I needed to hear to go to school. My mother was an amazing woman who was a central part of my life until the day she died. I went to school in Arkansas. It was a culture shock for sure. A Cuban playing salsa in the dorm in Jonesboro, Arkansas was very different from what they were used to. I loved it! It was an amazing experience. I really did not endure any type. Honest. Injustice or discrimination, honest, I only say this because most would think of Arkansas as being such a controversial state with the history there in Little Rock. I can truly say I grew up a lot in Jonesboro; it was truly like my home. All my friends there, especially the fellow RA colleagues (Resident Assistants, which was my other job besides studying hard) formed like a brotherhood of which we still keep in touch today!

I continued learning all the different woodwinds and honed my musicianship at Arkansas, learned to repair instruments. I learned to make reeds by hand; I studied hard and made the President’s List, National Hispanic Scholar, Who’s Who in American Colleges & Universities and the Dean’s List. It was a valuable part of my life I always dream of returning to the open spaces and quiet countryside that is Jonesboro. After I received my Bachelor of Music, B. Mus. in 2004 Cum Laude with Honors, I had (2) graduate assistantships that allowed me to further continue studying woodwind doubling and oboe. One was at the University of Memphis, one hour from my dorm in Jonesboro, the other was at Loyola University in New Orleans. I chose New Orleans. Unfortunately, Katrina happened days before my semester at Loyola began. With a bit of luck and much last-minute hustle, Dr. Jack Cooper, director of the jazz department at the University of Memphis, quickly guaranteed my entry into the graduate school at Memphis.

My graduate studies in Memphis, Tennessee were blissful, after I moved there semi-permanently returning to visit my family often to Miami but making Memphis my base. If Arkansas was home, my life and relationships enjoyed in Memphis was truly a dream! I played with the best musicians, tour high-paid the Mid-South, had a lot of high paid gigs with great bands, I learned tremendously all about woodwinds with Jack Cooper, and I became a refined oboist with my double reed mentor there, Dr. Michelle Vigneau. I was very excited and wanted to make Memphis my permanent residence. Shortly after receiving my Master of Music, M. Mus. in 2006 from the University of Memphis- I went on the road! My very first official professional tour as a musician occurred the summer after I graduated from Memphis. June 2006, I went on the road with the Inner City All-Stars after winning a lengthy audition process. Calvin Sexton and his Inner City All-Stars are a New Orleans style brass band with amazing arrangements of popular classics that showed the very difficult arrangements written by band members.

They had backed up Erika Badhu and performed on the “Showtime at the Apollo” program during this period. They added me to the team, and off we went playing lively funky arrangements and originals for folks all over the United States, traveling through RVs, planes, trains, and random automobiles. It was exciting, fast-paced and really an amazing introduction into my life as a touring All-Stars. Shortly after the Inner City All Stars tour, I got a call from one of my Memphis sax brothers. We had really gotten along together and had to stay in close touch; he played the finest clarinet and was quickly becoming an amazing saxophonist as well. Cedric Mayfield had graduated a year prior with his Master’s degree from Memphis and gone to perform as part of the United States Air Force. He called me to tell me one of his colleagues was being sent to Iraq and the band needed to fill the spot for upcoming performances immediately. Reaching billed me as a special guest, reaching out to the private sector for substitutes was very unheard of in the military band circuit, but they were in desperate need, and I got the gig!

I travelled all over the Southwest of the country with them playing in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California. It was an amazing experience, playing with all those seasoned musicians and working together with Cedric closely again. The Air Force was not the only calling. Through a mutual friend in Memphis, I got a call from the Columbia Queen Paddlewheel Steamboat out in Portland, Oregon. They desperately needed a “doubler” someone that played all the woodwinds to come aboard. At this point I then on tour with the Air Force twice, they had called me in to do a special tour in Las Vegas, Nevada, a showcase called “The Fremont Street Experience” in February 2007. In the summer of 2007, I bought a plane ticket and headed west to Oregon. I had split my apartment with my girlfriend at the time and took off to play jazz out West. Going to Oregon and living on a small riverboat (500 passenger max) was incredible! I made memories and learned tremendously from the culture out West. It was an unforgettable time in my life and no matter what I did… or do… in with life… I make lifelong friends who I can rely upon to make the best music with, and we also love hanging out. I played on the boat until October 28, 2008. That was the last season of the CQ. They docked her for the last time and the company went bankrupalso performedstic Cruises last run.

I had performed also on the Delta Queen from Little Rock to Fort Smith, Arkansas, and the American Queen from New Orleans, Louisiana to Minneapolis, Minnesota, on the Mississippi River. Every one of those voyages marked my life immensely. I sti. Theyam of those days playing on the boats, they were nothing like the international ocean liners. I am such a social butterfly; I would typically learn all the passengers’ names and build friendships with many by the end of the cruise. Following my “Riverboat Career,” I turned to making movies and started acting. I was in several Memphis independent films as an actor, extra and having music credits along the way. The independent film out of Nashville, Tennessee, “Ariadne’s Thread,” landed my first lead role as “Theseus,” a Mexican that immigrates to the United States to change working conditions for immigrants. They also illustrated my musical role in the movie throughout different scenes, and I love writing music for film, having studied it with Jack Cooper at Memphis.

In February 2009, I auditioned for (2) possible important career moves. The United States Air Force “Airmen of Note” Jazz Orchestra in Washington, D.C. had a vacancy, and I sent in an audition tape, and The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra had a vacancy as well. Obviously, I would have been ecstatic over playing in either ensemble. The Glenn Miller Orchestra was the first to return my submission following careful consideration of over 100 different applicants that had met their strict requirements. They asked me to meet them in Homewood, Alabama, at an actual concert on their ongoing tour where I played for the band. After being hired temporarily, I had to work hard to catch on quick enough before my trial concluded and I would return to Memphis. My fate lied in their hands as they had to decide whether I could stay on the band. With a lot of late practice sessions on the bus and a lot of listening to that 1930s World War II sterling sound, I did it and performed in all 48 contiguous United States, Canada and Japan from 2009 until 2012 with the Glenn Miller Orchestra leaving my mark as a part of this timeless American ensemble.

I truly paved my way as a professional touring musician with this important ensemble, becoming a part of history. Glenn Miller had the first award record, A “Gold” Record for the song, “Chattanooga Choo-Choo,” sponsored in part by Chesterfield. My grandfather had passed away in 1998 and left behind an amazing record collection, and this white Glenn Miller album had a $100 bill stuck to the pages of the liner notes. I think he left it there for me, who discovered it because he knew I would be listening. It was also foreshadowing what was to come. I was the first Cuban to play with the Glenn Miller Orchestra for four years, performing over 250 days a year! In 2012, I had auditioned for my old friends in the river boating industry. I had heard that a philanthropist, John Wagoneer, had bought all the remaining riverboats and launched them under a new company, The American Steamboat Company, out of Memphis, Tennessee. It was a sign; I had to get back home somehow, after missing my apartment, my girlfriend at the time and my musical brothers all waiting for my return; I had to make my way back and keep making music in the land of the Delta Blues.

After auditioning for the new American Queen Steamboat Company- I once again got the gig! It would be my first cruise gig since 2008. Everything was just like I remembered it- Magic on the river. We made amazing music, connections and made history preserving this almost extinct American art form of jazz and paddlewheel steamboatin’! On one of my leaves from the boat that summer of 2012, my mother had a ministroke. Her health was quickly declining. On July 4th, 2012, instead of watching fireworks with my aunt, cousins, and brother, I was in the hospital ER with my mom. She had come out ok at first, but the signs of her declining health were clear. She needed me to come home. Luckily, I had a little time before she would absolutely need me to take care of her, so I finished my riverboat contract. On December 23rd, 2012, I flew from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Miami, Florida. Two days before the Christmas holiday, my life was about to change before my very eyes. Memphis was a distant dream. I had dissolved my apartment. The relationship with my longtime girlfriend had reached its toll from traveling and was over.

My musical career in the land of the Blues was over. I had to do what was right for my mother. It was very difficult, but I had made a permanent move back to Miami, to Miami Beach to be exact, South Beach, South of 5th & Alton to an elderly community condominium building with federal funding. My mother could secure housing there, and I was to be her live-in nurse. I quickly shifted roles. My mother was now completely blind in dialysis and losing her ability to walk. All the results of ignoring diabetes since 1989 when first diagnosed until 2012 when she had her first collapse. She was the strongest woman I knew, and now her organs suffered terribly from this disease, particularly her eyes and kidneys. She would laugh it off often throughout the years, saying it would take more than sugar to bring her down. Now we know how long it took. At first, Miami seemed like a foreign land. I had grown up from the age of 19 until the age of 32 in the Mid-South. Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, Missouri was all I knew. Miami was nothing like this. During all these years, not only did I study music, but I studied languages. It was my official hobby, religiously translating and studying grammar in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese and lastly, Italian. It helped me to communicate with everyone I meet, mostly. I came across a lot of German tourists on South Beach and could only say a few words; I want to tackle “Deutsche” next. But apart from cooking, cleaning and caring for my mother in her new tabulated state, I also studied her condition and ways of getting her back to normal so I could eventually return to touring. I was in denial. Once the kidneys are so damaged from the insulin levels or therefore lack of- it is too late, and a kidney transplant is your only hope of regaining normalcy again. The hard part was getting my mother’s levels stable enough for her renal doctor to approve her request for placement in the national transplant list. It would be four years, and my mother would be dead from renal failure and its complications. My life would never be the same.

During 2013 I would take turns with my brother in caring for my mother so I could get out and experience the city. I went all over and found the lack of jazz, real jazz in the city. It was in very few places and closed off to most people because of the high prices at the door or the standoffishness of the musicians themselves. I love people, all people; I thought I should bring the music to them. I began collaborating with different amazing musicians and created “Miami’s first open-source musical collaboration dedicated to the preservation, development and education of jazz”- the Damian J Project. A collection of different small ensembles, playing live jazz, of all different eras, different periods, relived, revamped and enjoyable by all! The TRAD305 with traditional jazz, Los Havana Knights with Latin Jazz, Made from Scratch with Electronic Fusion. Each group had different musicians, and the only common thread between them all was me, Damian J, heading all the music production, promotion, management, arrangements, and logistics. My life on the road and around the world was paying off in that I knew what worked in the music business. I had backed up many celebrity musicians, each an artist in their own right, and now I could use what I learned from them to create this network of musicians.

My fans would be happy listening to the real deal live, and my musicians would be happy knowing someone like them is working hard to make sure they got well compensated. A common problem in Miami’s diverse music scene! My first album release party for the Damian J Project had enormous success; “Sessions 33 1/3” hangs proudly on my wall today and continues to be the standard of excellence set forth by this organization in 2016, shortly after my mother’s passing. In its liner notes, I dedicate my first official self-produced album to my mother, Librada Sanchez to honor her memory and serve as a testament to my undying appreciation for everything she gave up leaving Cuba for Miami to give us a golden opportunity to excel in what ever we would decide to do with our lives. She always wanted me to be a lawyer, a doctor or an engineer- she got a musician, a jazz musician with vast ability to make people smile. What better way to mark your existence on this earth. The project continued to jettison touring in Portland, Oregon in 2014, recording as part of winning the “Miami-Made Concert Series” in 2016 as well. Several local festivals featured Los Havana Knights in stages around Miami for live Latin Jazz selected for its authentic mixture of cultures. The TRAD305 continues to be our most popular group playing jazz that is mostly public domain, meaning it is over 75 years after the passing of its composers. Made from Scratch had the tremendous honor of performing at the 2016 Heineken International Jazz Festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

So my project won so many distinctions and awards that it has kept me going, jamming despite so many pitfalls. I can honestly say if it was not for the music part of me died with my mother while I keep the other part of me alive thanks to this art form. I perform with all the groups in my project and do all the marketing, promotional work, management and production of recordings. Apart from performing music throughout the magic city either as the Damian J Project or alias Damian J, hired gun freelancing the South Florida music scene- I write short stories (novelette fiction), I home roast coffee, Damifè and I teach. As a professor at the Kendall Conservatory of Music on staff, I am chosen to teach all my knowledge and share my experience of almost 30 years in making music: oboe, English horn, flute, piccolo, bassoon, recorder, all saxophones, all clarinets, guitar, bass, piano, voice, theory, composition & arrangement and digital recording, editing and scoring software.

Currently, since March 13, 2020, all Damian J Project functions have temporarily halted because of this pandemic, and so this year, I have been repairing instruments again (since my college courses in instrument repair came in quite handy) and electronics such as computers and cell phones. I have begun an online music studio where I teach via Skype, WhatsApp, and Zoom. I have also made ends meet by doing virtual one-man concerts from home via the live internet streams and continue to add content to my YouTube channel and social media all under the umbrella: damianjproject. What began as a play on words turned into a profitable affair hosting a multitude of services, opportunities, and jazz. Lots of jazz on top of it all! The Damian J Project continues to evolve and change into different avenues of the music industry from writing to recording to performing. I continue to reach out to the community any way I can and help anyone I can help.

One of my fondest memories took place one night after returning to Miami, my collaborator, Jorge Gomez Abrante on the banjolele (famous little banjo from the TRAD305) went to Miami’s infamous underground jazz jam at “The Corner” and not allowed a chance to play, not being from that circle. Rather than getting depressed, Jorge says to me, “Hey, want to play for the homeless down that street…?” I looked down the street where a white fence propped up a line of homeless people, all wondering how the “better half” lived. I quickly agreed and walked over to those unsuspecting citizens and just gave them a live concert. I close my eyes before I perform. It helps me concentrate and not be nervous. I started singing and playing “What a Wonderful World,” and people’s eyes grew, some tearing up and others just closed to drift off to better times in their lives. In the end, that is all we have, our memories, and I feel most blessed for having made so many amazing, unforgettable memories with so many incredible human beings.

I could and am writing about my life and times as a jazz musician, not because I think I am better or more famous than anyone, but because I think the way I have experienced life, the long list of connections I have made with people of all walks of life throughout my life- will bring love, light and happiness to so many people. I feel as my greatest gift is that. Either through playing, writing, acting, reading, cooking- I have made an alternate personality, the “SAXCHEF” because I love to cook and people love to eat my food- I make people happy. Smile often, laugh even more and love life’s every twist and turn because remember one of my favorite lines from my favorite movie, “Vanilla Sky,” “the sweet would not be as sweet without the sour…” How true it is and to this day I am constantly inspired, pushed to do more, help more, give more back as our lives hang delicately because of this awful coronavirus. We only hope to unite, do what is right for everyone, and ensure our future generations can outlive all our mistakes. In the meantime, I will play music, cook some good food, and live the life that is jazz!

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
“Life has not been crystal stairs,” as Langston Hughes would say. There have been definite obstacles. To this day, I would say my greatest challenge is living with financial woes. That as a musician, as an artist, we do not have a way of producing a stable income hinders my ability to create freely. Figure out a way to maintain daily life while still making music. That is an enormous problem. If you do not have health insurance, in the United States, musicians are on their own with health insurance, as are many others. It is in sharp contrast to other countries around the world, where this is part of their career placement package. They also sponsor musicians contracted by orchestras in part by several of the government’s funded organizations to keep the artist going in all their musical endeavors. Another issue I struggle with is the question of where to go? Why stay in the United States and be struggling as a musician when I can live in Europe and thrive in the arts, which with much support from so many more adoring fans, and live free without the hassles of thinking how else to make money.

I am very fortunate to have learned how to live within my means when I was living in Memphis; however, those means quickly turned out to be unascertainable in Miami, where the cost of living is much higher than in the Mid-South. I used to pay $480 a month in rent with all the utilities and internet included for my one-bedroom 1200 square foot apartment in Memphis, Tennessee. That same apartment in 2020 went for $550 a month. That still would not be enough for an efficient room living inside someone’s larger home in Miami! The cost of food in Memphis since I never eat out and prefer to source local produce and eat at home was approximately $150 a month, eating meat on average twice a week. In Miami, I typically spend that on one trip to the market, buying the best quality I can afford. Unfortunately, in this equation, the wages as a musician, unfortunately, do not change and are the same regardless of the location. My mother’s passing destroyed me in 2016, but newfound strength and a drive to push past all that pain submerged. I want to make it, make a life for myself that she would be proud of knowing she created along with my brother’s who is a chef. We are her legacy and must make her proud.

Challenges such as my language barrier early on became a thing of the past after truly working hard to perfect not just my English but French and Spanish as well to maneuver well within a largely Tri-lingual community, as is Miami. I can cook, clean, repair, build, play music and so speak so many languages fluently but have yet to learn to drive an automobile. I do not own a car out of partial financial limitation, and the other reason is lacking the money to take the classes to get my license. At my age, there is no free course in learning how to drive, and so that is an unnecessary expense since not having a car has allowed me to afford other things such as food and shelter. Mostly, I travel via the bus, train and other public forms of transportation throughout Miami, Memphis, Chicago, Boston, New York, Paris, Buenos Aires – you name the city and chances are I was on a bus there. I use my time wisely to read, learn, study, compose, manage the bands I created- it increases all productivity. I have never had a parking ticket, a DUI; I have never faced arrest charges for vehicular infractions or had to pay for car insurance, gasoline, auto tag renewal fees, or monthly payment on the car itself. It has literally saved me $100,000 by the time I was 30! As far as productivity, I am a perfectionist with just about anything.

In exchange for such high-quality output, there is a limited amount of output. I could not care and produce more- everything from my videos, audio recordings, compositions to dinner, coffee preparations or repairs. I hear my mother’s voice in the back of my head- “Do it right or don’t do anything at all!” The internal struggle I can overcome but choose not to. Some days very little at all gets done and it frustrates me not getting results soon enough. I am extremely patient, however, and I think that is part of my overall unique personality. I am careful to be patient with everything and everyone and constantly remind myself there is no rush to get to the top because, as my great oboe mentor Dr. Dan Ross taught me, “it’s lonely at the top…” There are few things to list frankly because I am a problem solver and most struggles I endure or typically solve in order to make things work. I enjoy the challenge and rise to the occasion rather than crumble under the pressure of additional problems. I am sensitive, overly sensitive, with music- that- along with my struggles- is what makes the music so good!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a musician, a performer, an entertainer- a man of the people. I love putting smiles on people’s faces while enjoying making their lives just a little better as I help them forget their troubles for that moment in time. I play all the woodwinds: oboe, flute, saxophone, bassoon, piccolo, and clarinet. I play guitar classically and the piano as my primary compositional tool. I also write original music in different styles, from classical to pop to jazz to Latin. I arrange music, which means I take a known melody and write it out in different styles for different amounts of musicians and instruments. Besides performing, I do all the music business for my bands, which I direct. I am the manager, the promo guy. I am the designer for all the flyers and logos; I maintain the social media presence of myself as an artist, interacting daily with fans across the world to promote my music and services.

Other additional skills include Damife- fresh home roasted coffee I roast to each person’s specific liking. I also blend my different roasted coffee beans- improvising like in jazz to make the perfect blend of coffee for everyone to enjoy! I am also a repairman and teacher. I can fix the woodwinds that I play and be able to teach all the disciplines of music I know. I am also the vocalist for my bands; it helps us save money and promote my classical vocal training I had at Arkansas State University with an amazing professor of voice from Illinois, M. Ellis Julien, a lifelong teacher to this day. My original songs are a testament to my eclectic nature, demonstrating a wide variety of elements in what I compose. Writing love songs, pop songs, jazz etudes, small jazz band arrangements to large works- anything is possible if I sit to write music. My favorite is writing for film and television. That is fun when you have some visuals to play off of. I am known as the “professor” because I love to educate people about music, coffee, computers, just about anything I read about I love to fill my friends with that same knowledge and equal welcome exchanges with them about anything they may know.

I am most known for being a “fighter”, a “survivor,” someone that will not give up his dream of making jazz for the masses no matter what. A string of unfortunate occurrences have taken place throughout my career as I have suffered ridicule, criticism; I have been spit on, bashed, physically attacked, left unpaid, unwanted and dismissed from many establishments in and around Miami. I keep going- no matter what- I keep going. One of my favorite characters is “Rocky,” and my favorite line of his is: “It’s not about how many times you get knocked down, it’s about how many times you get up…” those words inspire me. Even if people are laughing at me, what I do, playing jazz, walking with my instruments all in a bag, all around the city on a bus- it doesn’t matter as long as one person “gets me” I am most proud of having at least (1) album; it is nothing compared to most people my age in this business, but I can say my one CD amounts to many more in many other libraries. I have been a part of a lot of amazing musical moments, but this one is mine! It will be around for generations to come, a record of what I stood for, that along with my words, is all I leave for humanity. I did not have children, so there is no direct lineage, but the jazz I leave, that’s for the world to enjoy- forever!

I would say that what sets me apart is the tenacity for learning. Science, Food, Literature, I thirst for knowledge more and more each day. I once said I attributed it to my diet. I lost 66 lbs in 2017, learning about food and your body’s role in its proper digestion. Now I continue to scrutinize everything I consume, although I may have gained 20 lbs. In 2020, thanks to the limited mobility of the pandemic, I gained a lot of weight, yet I continue to eat as health-conscious as before, and everything I eat has a purpose. What sets me apart is caring enough about knowledge to learn. It would surprise you how many people know very little about any subject and do not care to learn. Having observed firsthand that in Miami especially, everyone seeks to make money, I feel that money does not solve every issue, and for me, it does not really solve as much as you would think given my complete adaptation to living within my means. I would say that money is an important part of everyone’s life in 2021, but it is not what I think about whenever I… well… just about do anything… I think that also sets me apart.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
One of my many finer tastes in life is being a wine connoisseur and would describe my perfect happiness as a chain of events beginning with opening an excellent fruit-forward Beaujolais or Bordeaux right before beginning my perfect gig. An evening filled with delightful music, brilliant musicians and an even better, full audience to perform for. Happiness is that perfect club that is intimate yet friendly, great vibes emanating, and an amazing ambience about to witness a soulful experience about to take place. I am wearing my favorite suit, all my reeds are warmed up and ready to go, the band is all set, tuned up and ready to play. Tomorrow people will read about this evening as the place to have been.

I am calm, looking out into the crowd from behind the curtain, ready to fall in love with the music all over again. The wine is foreplay. The real action starts at the downbeat. A rhythmical, whimsical, blissful experience I will never forget. My happiness allots for all the space in the world. A room overwhelmed with all the love in the world. That audience is mine. Everyone held captive to the thought of our music, attentive, hanging on my every word, my every note. No rush here, just sheer symmetry between musician and patriarch ready to embark on an unforgettable musical journey. Dreaming happiness to me would look like this. It would resemble- The Perfect Gig. Jazz is not just a type of music; it’s a way of making love to your audience- one note at a time.

Pricing:

• $25 special for (2) lbs. of any Signature Blend

Contact Info:

• Email: damianjproject@gmail.com
• Website: https://www.damianjproject.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/damianjproject
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/damianjproject
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/damianjproject
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/damianjproject
• Yelp: https://www.scribd.com/document/492619217/2020-Artist-Bio-Headshot
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-488777685
• Other: https://www.scribd.com/document/492619081/Sanchez-Damian-21jan2021