Sarahbanda

Meet Sarah Willis & the Sarahbanda, the Cuban band with a difference!

The idea for the Sarahbanda came out of my Mozart y Mambo album (also available at NativeDSD) with the Havana Lyceum Orchestra, a three-album fusion of the music of W.A. Mozart with Cuban rhythms. With the Mozart y Mambo album, as well as recording all of Mozart’s horn concertos (with a Cuban twist!), we also included a few pieces which experimented with the French horn joining the traditional Cuban band mix of saxophone and rhythm section.

Being part of a Cuban dance band with my French horn was something I found I absolutely adored. I’ve been a passionate salsa dancer for years and love the atmosphere of the dance clubs. My Mozart y Mambo experience made me want to play more Cuban music and take the horn/salsa band combo to the next level – despite the horn traditionally having no place in any such band, not just in Cuba.

So I asked some of Cuba’s most talented popular musicians to join me in a new band and thus, the Sarahbanda was born.