Considered to be one of the top sax players in the Latin scene, Ivan Renta has been a featured collaborator with greats like Eddie Palmieri, Willie Colon, Ray Barreto, Paquito D’Rivera, and the legendary Tito Puente. For more than the last 15 years Ivan Renta has been the leader of the saxophone section for Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of composer and pianist Arturo O’Farrill. Ivan has been a featured soloist on all their Grammy award winning and nominated albums, including the most recent, Fandango at the Wall Live in New York and Four Questions, both awarded the “Best Latin Jazz album” in 2022 and 2020, respectively. Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Ivan Renta began playing the alto sax at age 13 in his hometown of Coamo. By age 15, he was already performing with local bands in the southern part of Puerto Rico. As a teenager he studied with local saxman Jose “Cheguito” Encarnación, who introduced him to jazz harmony and improvisation. In 1998 at the age of 17, Ivan moved to New York to attend the prestigious New School Jazz and Contemporary Music Program. While in college, he began performing with top artists such as Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, William Cepeda, and Bobby Sanabria, among others. In February 2000 he contributed to the album Masterpiece, winner of multiple GRAMMY awards, and Tito Puente’s last recording. During the past years, Ivan Renta has kept quite busy performing with everyone in the New York jazz scene. His collaborations with top musicians such as Conrad Herwig, Brian Lynch, Jon Faddis, Paquito D’Rivera, Jazz Master Jimmy Heath, Dave Valentin, Ray Barretto, Arturo O’Farrill, Willie Colon, Ralph Irizarry, Terrell Stafford, Ray Vega, John Benitez, Luis Bonilla, Oscar Hernández, and Horacio “El Negro” Hernández, just to name a few, have taken him to the world’s biggest venues. Ivan currently performs with the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and has been called “the New Caribbean phenom” by Eddie Palmieri.