Departures of note

Born in 1945 in Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo (Córdoba), the son of a professional pianist, José Sánchez Lianes studied piano and composition at the Real Conservatorio de Música de Madrid and later furthered his training with Berklee professor Larry Monroe. He began working as a session musician after meeting composer and arranger Adolfo Waitzman, and one of his first recordings was with Juan Carlos Calderón's Dúo Dinámico, before collaborating with producers and composers such as Rafael Trabucchelli, Waldo de los Ríos, Antón García Abril and Carmelo Bernaola. As a drummer he accompanied Julio Iglesias, Raphael, Rocío Jurado, Joan Manuel Serrat, Paloma San Basilio, Nino Bravo, Camilo Sesto and Luis Cobos, as well as international figures such as Barbra Streisand, Barry White, Diana Ross, Henry Mancini and Michel Legrand, earning the nickname "el batería de las estrellas". He released albums including Regresión, Signo de Cáncer, Whiskey y Jazz, Mis Raíces and Encuentros en la 5ª dimensión, worked on the television music programme Gente Joven, and led the Orquesta Ligera de Televisión Española between 1987 and 1989. He also taught at several music schools, served as professor and director of Modern Music at the Universidad Alfonso X el Sabio, was a fixture of the Madrid jazz scene at clubs such as Whisky Jazz alongside Pedro Iturralde and Eduardo Medina, and directed editions of the Criptana Jazz Festival. He served as secretary general of the Sociedad de Artistas AIE and was a founder and board member of the Academia de la Música de España. He died in Madrid on September 19, 2026, at the age of 81.