# Christian Sands

Christian Sylvester Sands (born May 22, 1989) is an American jazz pianist and composer. His third album for Mack Avenue Records, Be Water, was released in 2020 and received a Grammy Award nomination in the Best Instrumental Composition category for the song "Be Water II".

## Life and career

Sands was born on May 22, 1989. He grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, and later moved to the nearby town of Orange. He started playing the piano at a very young age, and took lessons from the age of four; he commented that "I grew up with it in the house, in the classroom and on stage so it has always been a huge part of my life".
Sands was mentored by pianist Billy Taylor, who allowed the teenager to close one of the sets that Taylor played at the Kennedy Center. Sands went on to study at the Manhattan School of Music. The school's Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, led by Bobby Sanabria, recorded the album Kenya Revisited Live in 2009; it was nominated for a Latin Grammy.
After graduating, Sands joined Inside Straight, one of bassist Christian McBride's bands; they have toured internationally.
Sands became a Steinway artist in 2012. In 2014, Sands cited as influences McBride, Wynton Marsalis, Kenny Garrett, and Marcus Roberts, because "They're coming from the tradition of bringing people into the music, but also moving it forward into new directions". In the same year, Sands became an American Pianists Association Jazz Fellowship Awards Finalist.
His composition "Be Water II" was nominated for the Best Instrumental Composition Grammy Award in 2020.

## Discography

An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.

### As leader

| Year recorded | Title | Label | Personnel/Notes |
| 2002* | Footprints | Stanza | Trio, with Jeff Fuller (bass), Jesse Hameen II (drums) |
| 2004* | Harmonia | Stanza | Trio, with James Cammack (bass), Arti Dixson (drums) |
| 2007* | Risin' | Christian Sands | With Michael Asseta (bass), Jesse Hameen II & Ryan Sands (drums), Josh Evans (trumpet), Bill Evans (sax) |
| 2008 | Furioso | M&I | With Craig Handy (flute, tenor sax), Randy Brecker (flugelhorn, trumpet), Ugonna Okegwo (bass), Louis Hayes (drums) |
| 2014 | Take One | Storyville | Trio, with Thomas Fonnesbæk (bass), Alex Riel (drums); in concert |
| 2017 | Reach | Mack Avenue | With Marcus Baylor (drums), Yasushi Nakamura (bass), Gilad Hekselman (guitar), Christian McBride (bass), Cristian Rivera (percussion), Marcus Strickland (tenor sax, bass clarinet) |
| 2017–18 | Reach Further | Mack Avenue | Most tracks trio with Yasushi Nakamura (bass), Jerome Jennings (drums); some tracks trio with Nakamura (bass), Marcus Baylor (drums); EP; Jennings tracks in concert |
| 2018 | Facing Dragons | Mack Avenue | With Yasushi Nakamura (bass), Jerome Jennings (drums), Marcus Strickland (sax), Keyon Harrold (trumpet), Caio Afiune (guitar), Cristian Rivera and Roberto Quintero (percussion) |
| 2020 | Be Water | Mack Avenue | With Yasushi Nakamura (bass), Clarence Penn (drums), Marcus Strickland (sax), Sean Jones (trumpet), Marvin Sewell (guitar), Steve Davis (trombone) |
| 2023 | Christmas Stories | Mack Avenue | With Jimmy Greene (sax), Stefon Harris (vibraphone), Marvin Sewell and Max Light (guitar), Yasushi Nakamura (bass), Ryan Sands (drums), Keita Ogawa (percussion) |
| 2024 | Embracing Dawn | Mack Avenue | With Yasushi Nakamura (bass), Ryan Sands (drums), Marvin Sewell (guitar), Warren Wolf (vibraphone), Grégoire Maret (harmonica) |

### As sideman

| Year recorded | Leader | Title | Label |
| 2009* | Bobby Sanabria | Kenya Revisited Live | |
| 2012* | Ulysses Owens | Unanimous | Criss Cross Jazz |
| 2013* | Christian McBride | People Music | Mack Avenue |
| 2013* | Christian McBride | Out Here | Mack Avenue |
| 2017* | Gregory Porter | Nat King Cole & Me | Blue Note |
| 2019* | Jordan Pettay | First Fruit | Outside in Music |
| 2019 | Alexa Tarantino | Winds of Change | Posi-Tone |