Born in
Fort-de-France,
Martinique, he moved to Paris, where in March 1967, he was one of the pianists, the others being
Joe "Stride" Turner,
Errol Parker,
Claude Bolling,
Stuart de Silva, and
Aaron Bridgers, accompanied on some tracks by bassist
John Lamb, among others, who recorded the 90-minute session known as
Tape for Billy, dedicated to
Billy Strayhorn, who was in hospital.
Duke Ellington, also in Paris, personally supervised the recording. However, he did not perform on it himself, and wanted to use the proceeds from its sale to create a Billy Strayhorn scholarship in Paris, similar to the one at
Juilliard in New York. Sardaby's first album
Five Cat`s Blues was recorded in October 1967 in Paris with 5 compositions created by the pianist. In 1970, he led a trio comprising
Percy Heath and
Connie Kay for his second album,
Night Cap. A 1972 New York recording has him leading a line-up comprising
Richard Davis,
Billy Cobham and
Ray Barretto (Sound Hills Records 1997). His album,
Gail (1974), won the 1976
Prix Boris Vian. For his 1989 album,
Going Places, he was accompanied by
Rufus Reid and
Marvin "Smitty" Smith, and in 1993, he recorded with his quintet, which comprised
Ralph Moore,
Louis Smith,
Peter Washington and
Tony Reedus. Sardaby died in Paris on 6 December 2023, at the age of 88. ==Discography==