Robert Sanae/The Crater Creek Project

Robert Sanae/The Crater Creek Project

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Growing up in a musical family, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Robert Sanae has chosen to follow in the footsteps of his forefathers, and fans of Contemporary Jazz and R&B are glad that he did. Mixing elements of jazz, funk, hip-hop and R&B in his music, Sanae’s writing style showcases all of the elements that make Contemporary Jazz great, while ignoring everything that makes one think of elevators when the genre is mentioned. By fusing together exciting horn arrangements, solid grooves, funky Blue Note inspired keyboard work and a strong sense of melody, Sanae reaches out to a broad audience, while injecting the highest level of musicianship into every note, phrase and song.
When one hears the word jazz, they automatically think about long-winded improvisations and music that sounds like aural versions of math equations, but this is not the case with Sanae’s music. Songs such as “Busy Bee” and “Breaking Thru” both feature interesting lead work by the soloists, but the focal point is always melody and groove, not how many fancy notes one can play. By choosing to improvise in a simple, yet effective fashion, the band is able to be creative in a manner that doesn’t lose the audience along the way, which is something that far too many jazz bands are guilty of, more often than not. As well, the music is not so simple that jazz fans will pass it by, it falls right in the middle area where fans of the genre and casual listeners can find something to enjoy in each song.
Hear it here: http://www.RobertSanae.com

Review by Matt Warnock
- Matt Warnock/Targetaudiencemagazine.com

Local musician hopes to propel Dayton's talent
0 Comments | Dayton Daily News, Nov 29, 2009 | by Matt Warner
Robert Sanae remembers the late 1970s and early 1980s as an exciting, productive time for Dayton's musicians.

Dayton-based funk bands like Sun, Dayton and Slave were heating up the airwaves across the country and setting the pace for the national scene.

Sanae watched this musical explosion up close -- his father, Robert Jones Kuumba, was a member of the Ohio Players, and one of Sanae's cousins played with the group Dayton.

Sanae, born Robert Jones, played with the group Zapp, one of the most popular bands of the era.

Sanae contributed horn arrangements and played on the group's smash hit "Computer Love."

"I was originally hired as a trumpet player to play with (Zapp's) horn section, back in 1984 when I was fresh out of high school," Sanae says. "Then they realized I could play keyboards, so I was doing trumpet and keyboards and backup vocals."

Sanae says he learned a great deal from the group's pioneering leader, Roger Troutman, and he wants to bring Dayton back into the national spotlight as a center of musical creativity. Under the umbrella of Platinum Strive Music Group, Sanae has started his own production venture, Robert Sanae Productions, and his mission is to make Dayton's musical talent known to the world.

"Dayton has so much talent still, but there is no real structure and nobody's trying to do anything big," he says. "My goal is to form a production company that will really harness the talent that's here in Dayton and put it back on the map in terms of music talent. I just want all the support I can get in making that come to fruition."

Sanae is soon releasing a CD, "The Crater Creek Project," that will showcase his skills as a musician and producer. A single from the CD, "Busy Bee" is available now for download on cdbaby.com.

Sanae played all the instruments on the project, which is a smooth--jazz venture.

Although Sanae has loved jazz his whole life, he says he's been reluctant to focus on jazz until undertaking this project.

"I always wanted to be in mainstream music, but it was never jazz per se," he explains. "The one thing I never wanted to do was be pegged as a jazz artist, as funny as it sounds. Once you become generalized ... then it makes it difficult to segue into whatever else that you do."

Sanae moved to California after his time with Zapp, where he says he was able to hone his craft.

He later settled in New Orleans, and says music was on the backburner.

He was still writing music and putting together recorded material during those years, but he lost almost all of that work when he was uprooted by Hurricane Katrina.

"In the storm I lost about 15 years worth of material," he says. "Luckily I had a couple of tracks already converted into audio files, but the MIDI files were all lost."

That's when Sanae decided to return to the place where it all started, Dayton.

"At that point in my life, I felt like I had to be around family," he says.

"At some point I decided I would just stay here ... it's not the same place it was when I was born and raised here, but its still home."

Matt Warner is a contributing writer on music for the Dayton Daily News. You can reach him at warner.matt@me.com. Jazzbeat appears on Sundays.

Copyright 2009
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved. - Dayton Daily News, Nov 29, 2009 | by Matt Warner

Local musician hopes to propel Dayton's talent
0 Comments | Dayton Daily News, Nov 29, 2009 | by Matt Warner
Robert Sanae remembers the late 1970s and early 1980s as an exciting, productive time for Dayton's musicians.

Dayton-based funk bands like Sun, Dayton and Slave were heating up the airwaves across the country and setting the pace for the national scene.

Sanae watched this musical explosion up close -- his father, Robert Jones Kuumba, was a member of the Ohio Players, and one of Sanae's cousins played with the group Dayton.

Sanae, born Robert Jones, played with the group Zapp, one of the most popular bands of the era.

Sanae contributed horn arrangements and played on the group's smash hit "Computer Love."

"I was originally hired as a trumpet player to play with (Zapp's) horn section, back in 1984 when I was fresh out of high school," Sanae says. "Then they realized I could play keyboards, so I was doing trumpet and keyboards and backup vocals."

Sanae says he learned a great deal from the group's pioneering leader, Roger Troutman, and he wants to bring Dayton back into the national spotlight as a center of musical creativity. Under the umbrella of Platinum Strive Music Group, Sanae has started his own production venture, Robert Sanae Productions, and his mission is to make Dayton's musical talent known to the world.

"Dayton has so much talent still, but there is no real structure and nobody's trying to do anything big," he says. "My goal is to form a production company that will really harness the talent that's here in Dayton and put it back on the map in terms of music talent. I just want all the support I can get in making that come to fruition."

Sanae is soon releasing a CD, "The Crater Creek Project," that will showcase his skills as a musician and producer. A single from the CD, "Busy Bee" is available now for download on cdbaby.com.

Sanae played all the instruments on the project, which is a smooth--jazz venture.

Although Sanae has loved jazz his whole life, he says he's been reluctant to focus on jazz until undertaking this project.

"I always wanted to be in mainstream music, but it was never jazz per se," he explains. "The one thing I never wanted to do was be pegged as a jazz artist, as funny as it sounds. Once you become generalized ... then it makes it difficult to segue into whatever else that you do."

Sanae moved to California after his time with Zapp, where he says he was able to hone his craft.

He later settled in New Orleans, and says music was on the backburner.

He was still writing music and putting together recorded material during those years, but he lost almost all of that work when he was uprooted by Hurricane Katrina.

"In the storm I lost about 15 years worth of material," he says. "Luckily I had a couple of tracks already converted into audio files, but the MIDI files were all lost."

That's when Sanae decided to return to the place where it all started, Dayton.

"At that point in my life, I felt like I had to be around family," he says.

"At some point I decided I would just stay here ... it's not the same place it was when I was born and raised here, but its still home."

Matt Warner is a contributing writer on music for the Dayton Daily News. You can reach him at warner.matt@me.com. Jazzbeat appears on Sundays.

Copyright 2009
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved. - Dayton Daily News, Nov 29, 2009 | by Matt Warner

Robert Sanae: The Real McCoy/Can The Next New Sound In Jazz Spring From Dayton? Follow the URL to review this article. - Jazz Advocate By Ron Gable

Robert Sanae – The Crater Creek Project
2010 February 3
tags: Robert Sanae, Smooth Jazz, The Crater Creek Projectby smoothjazzdailyRobert Sanae presents his new album The Crater Creek Project. Smooth Jazz, with influences from many genres, with classic jazz feel. Extremely contagious and timeless melodies and grooves. Ron Gable of the Jazz Advocate states, “Robert Sanae is a a credible player on all instruments, his forte is the composition and blending of sounds. What comes out is the real McCoy, a truly new version of an old art form”.

A native Daytonian, Robert Sanae is a product of a rich musical heritage with relatives that are accomplished musicians themselves, some being members of noted Dayton groups as ‘Sun’ and ‘Dayton’, and his father, Robert Jones Kuumba, an original member and a percussionist of the acclaimed Ohio Players. Robert was inspired groomed and nurtured by his grandmother, Ollie Tyler Brame, and her passion for music, as a pianist and organist for her church. He was also reared in a household where his parents unwittingly exposed he and his three sisters to a diverse range of music which indelibly has had its affect and influence on him to this very day.

Robert began his professional career as a member of the R&B Group ‘Zapp’ featuring Roger Troutman, where he was a trumpeter, keyboardist, vocalist and also learned numerous other skills, including audio engineering and editing. During his tenure with the Troutman organization, Roberts’ performance credits encompassed five albums out of the Troutman camp, which included ‘Zapp IV’ and its hit track “Computer Love”, Robert composed and arranged the horn parts for several tracks as well as singing background and some small lead vocals on that project; Roger Troutman’s solo project, The Human Body, Shirley Murdock’s debut album As We Lay, Sugarfoot’s solo Project Kiss. While touring Robert was a valuable addition to the show and was featured throughout, creating choreographed routines and performing gymnastic stunts.

After ending his tenure with the Troutman organization, Robert moved to California to further his career as a writer, composer, artist as well as a producer and later moved to New Orleans, La. Over the years Robert has created an extensive catalog of productions ranging from R&B, Hip Hop, Neo-Soul, Pop, Adult Contemporary Smooth/Contemporary Jazz and Rock and continues to develop as a producer/composer/musician, aspiring to soon be one of the most sought after producer/composer in the industry today.

Throughout the past several years Robert developed the smooth jazz project titled The Crater Creek Project. Which would not only highlight his abilities as a writer/composer/producer and performer, but it was designed with the sole intention of featuring an array of instrumentalist, both known and unknown. The Crater Creek Project also embodies performances of Robert on trumpet, keyboards, vocals and bass guitar. Please join Robert Sanae as he continues his journey to capture the ears and the hearts of the world and all who would listen now at CDBaby.

from ? Smooth Jazz
- smooth jazz daily