Members

Bruce Goldman was born and bred in New York. At the age of 15, Bruce saw a kid at school wearing an army trench coat with a picture of a guitar player on the back of it. When he inquired as to who the guitar player was, Bruce was told it was the one and only Jimi Hendrix. Bruce got turned on to Jimmy’s music and decided that instead of learning to play the guitar like his new found idol, he would play the bass; that way he could play alongside Hendrix and take part in his incredible music. This was the beginning of his love for playing music.

Bruce’s first band was formulated in high school and they called themselves Twilight. At the age of 24, Bruce sang in a choir with the famous rock band, Foreigner, at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Bruce (and the “kid with the jacket”) started a group called The Bayou Blues Band, which played together for seven years. In 2001, they opened the Croton Music Festival, which featured such artists as Clarence “Gate Mouth” Brown and the Neville Brothers.

Bruce took a hiatus from music to raise his family. Later, he moved to Yonkers Waterfront and reunited with his passion with playing music There he played in a variety of local venues where he met and played with Kimberly Thompson (Beyonce’s drummer from her all female band) on numerous occasions at local festivals.

From there he ventured to “the Emerald Mile”... 

The Emerald Mile is a term used to describe an area in Yonkers, New York, on Mclean Avenue. It is inhabited mostly by Irish folk fresh from the MotherLand. While at one of the local pubs, Bruce’s curiosity was piqued by the local music and upon inquiry, one of the musicians told him to go home to get his bass, come back and play with them. Since then, Bruce has been accepted by and has been playing amongst the tight knit Irish community’s many bands.

Bruce found his way into Sangha Tierra by way of introduction to Leslie (the band leader) while working out at the gym. Sangha Tierra’s Latin infused World Music was another new experience for Bruce, yet he took on the challenge and has now been a beloved member of the band for the last six years.  Bruce looks forward to his continued journey with The Sangha!

Benny Diaz was born in North Bergen, New Jersey. Raised in a Dominican household, He grew up listening to salsa, merengue, boleros, cha cha cha, and many other Latin genres. He has a bachelors in Classical Performance from New Jersey City University and currently is a freelance musician. At a young age of 9, Benny started his journey in music through trumpet earning many achievements throughout Lincoln Elementary school, North Bergen High School, and New Jersey City University. Notable accomplishments are: performing with the New Jersey Allstate symphonic band and Orchestra in NJPAC, and performing in Weill recital hall, located in Carnegie hall, for the Si-Yo Music Society Foundation. Outside of school, Benny has gathered experience from a variety of different genres of music ranging from Classical, Jazz, rock, reggae, and Salsa.