Sandro Satta is an Italian alto saxophonist born in Rovereto, in the province of Trento, on August 7, 1955. He started out on classical guitar and trumpet before settling on alto saxophone, and in 1973 he moved to Rome, where he worked his way into the city's jam-session circuit alongside Massimo Urbani, Maurizio Giammarco, Tommaso Vittorini and Roberto Della Grotta. His earliest Discogs-documented recording dates from 1976, an appearance on the various-artists set Jazz Al Folkstudio, taped at Rome's long-running Folkstudio club.

By the late 1970s Satta was part of the circle around pianist Antonello Salis, whose trio I Cadmo had relocated from Alghero to Rome in 1975. Sources differ on the details: Satta's own biography places him in a group billed as "Cadmo" with Salis and bassist Riccardo Lay from 1978 to 1980, while Salis's own account describes the same lineup expanding into a quintet called G.R.A., with Satta and trombonist Danilo Terenzi, that ran until 1982. No Discogs release documents either billing directly, so the connection is treated here as bio-sourced, not independently confirmed at the credit level.

His first solidly Discogs-confirmed outside dates both came in 1983: tenor saxophone on Mario Schiano's live free-improvisation record Out Of Date (A Live Concert), and alto saxophone on Marcello Melis's Angedras (Black Saint), a four-part suite dedicated to the elements that also featured Don Pullen and Famoudou Don Moye. Through the rest of the 1980s he became a regular sideman across Rome's free and contemporary-jazz circuit: alto saxophone on Pino Minafra's Colori (1986, with Antonello Salis and Paolino Dalla Porta) and on the Riccardo Lay Quartet's Totem (1988, a trio recording built around the Sardinian launeddas), and a first turn as a billed co-leader on Canguri Urbani (1988, Splasc(h)) alongside bassist Paolino Dalla Porta, Salis and drummer Manhu Roche.

From 1985 he became a recurring member of pianist Riccardo Fassi's Tankio Band, appearing on the group's debut LP that year and returning across decades of releases, including its programs devoted to Frank Zappa (1995, 2017) and Eric Dolphy (2005), through to Cum Grano Salis (2025). In 1990 he joined trumpeter Flavio Boltro, trombonist Danilo Terenzi and bandleaders Pippo Cataldo and Giuseppe Costa on Picture Number Two (Splasc(h)), and in 1992 he contributed the original composition and featured solo "New One" to Great News From Italy, a various-leaders big-band project helmed by Gerardo Iacoucci that also gave individual features to Paolo Fresu, Enrico Pieranunzi, Pietro Tonolo and Gianluigi Trovesi.

Satta spent much of the 1990s and 2000s working in small, close-knit units. He and Salis recorded as a duo on Live In Como (1994) and Live @ Radiotre (2001), and together with bassist Riccardo Lay and drummer Fabrizio Sferra he co-wrote and recorded the Mèta Quartet's Sintesi (Via Veneto Jazz, 1997), on which he also doubles on flute and voice. In 1995 he joined Giancarlo Schiaffini's quintet for As A Bird, and in 1999 he recorded Mediana (EGEA) with cellist-leader Paolo Damiani, percussionist Michele Rabbia, Carlo Mariani and tamburello player Carlo Rizzo. He returned twice more to Pino Minafra's projects, on Canto Libero (2001) and Terronia (2005, Enja), and in 2010 he played on trombonist Massimo Pirone's Directly From The Heart.

In 2011 Satta stepped back into the leader's chair for Re-Union (Rudi Records), a live trio recording with British-born, Rome-based bassist Roberto Bellatalla and drummer Fabrizio Spera. He has performed at major Italian festivals including Umbria Jazz, Clusone Jazz and Siena Jazz, and at international festivals across Germany, the Netherlands, France, Austria, Switzerland and beyond. He also teaches jazz ensemble (Musica d'insieme jazz) at Rome's Conservatorio Santa Cecilia.

Satta's playing sits at the meeting point of two strands of Italian jazz that don't always overlap. One is the free and avant-garde vocabulary of Rome's 1970s-80s improvised-music scene, shaped by his association with Mario Schiano, Giancarlo Schiaffini and the duo work with Antonello Salis. The other is tighter, composed big-band and small-group writing, heard in his long tenure with the Riccardo Fassi Tankio Band and in his own compositions for the Mèta Quartet and Great News From Italy. Across both settings his primary voice is alto saxophone, with occasional outings on tenor saxophone and flute.