Preview
PONCHO SANCHEZ
Thursday, February 17
Jack Singer Concert Hall (Epcor Centre)
Conga virtuoso Poncho Sanchez likes to stir the cauldron when it comes to his music and his cooking. Combining smooth Latin jazz with spicy Cuban rhythms and American R and B, this legendary performer favours a melting-pot approach to his creative ventures – be they musical or culinary. Salsa, jazz, soul – it all comes naturally to this master of the mambo.
"I like to mix everything up," says the broad-bearded percussionist of his latest release, the entertainingly eclectic Out of Sight! "This album is the 23rd or 24th I’ve done, so there’s a lot of material behind it. Right now my travelling book of songs contains over 200 tunes. So, when we perform live, we have a huge amount to draw on. Even so, we will be treating our audiences on this tour to some brand new, previously unreleased material.
"My music may have changed, but I never let the standards go. People still ask for those old tunes from way back then. I remember a time when this style of music wasn’t that popular, but now I travel the world and Latin music is everywhere."
Pointing to the examples set by his mentors Tito Puente, Cal Tjader and Mongo Santamaria, the Grammy-Award winning drummer respectfully acknowledges the roots of his art, but continues to encompass the wide variety of genres and influences that pervaded his adolescence in suburban Los Angeles. He still fondly recalls the sights and, especially, the sounds that nurtured the formative years of his musical education.
"I was the youngest of 11 children and I clearly remember my earliest experience of listening to Latin jazz and salsa," says Sanchez. "Of course, that was before the ’70s. Back then it was referred to as musica Latina, Cubana, mambo or simply the cha-cha-cha. I also loved soul music, so it was a natural progression for me to find a way to put the two together. Most of the stuff at that time was instrumental, and that’s when I started to sing Latin groove in English, which was unheard of."
Delving into the heart of the soul-music sound once again, Sanchez rounded up some of the biggest names in classic R and B and invited them to join his ensemble of players for the recording of Out of Sight! Blending his signature ultra-tight Afro-Cuban beats with a smooth concoction of soul and Latin jazz, he successfully reinvents both genres and raises the bar for neo-traditional music makers around the globe. Ray Charles, Sam Moore (of Sam and Dave), Billy Preston, Pee Wee Ellis and Fred Wesley (of James Brown Horns) have all gathered under Sanchez’s banner to swing the grooves. Busting out such red-hot tracks as "One Mint Julep," "El Shing-A-Ling" and "JB’s Strut," Sanchez and friends bring the house down with one highly energized hit after another.
"It was an honour and a pleasure to play with those guys, they are my heroes. I was so nervous to sing in front of Sam Moore," says a humble Sanchez. "But we wound up hitting it off right away, man. And it didn’t take long for us to lay down those tracks. He still has a great voice. Ray is one of the greatest legends I’ve ever played music with. Fred Wesley and I played together many years ago – I like to think of him as a grandfather."
A preserver of an authentic musical tradition, Sanchez is pleased to be able to share his craft and to grant up-and-coming musicians an opportunity to gain exposure and success.
"I think a lot of the growth in conga music is because of this year-round touring that we do. I’ve taken it to all kinds of workshops and lectures, and I encourage the younger generation to take advantage of the learning resources that are out there.
"When I first started out, there was nothing, or very little, in books, on TV, or on the radio, so I had to teach myself the basic fundamentals. Back then, if you walked into your local music store and asked for conga lessons they’d laugh you out of the place, man! All they had to offer was piano, guitar or accordion."
Well, let’s be glad Sanchez passed on the accordion and went on to become the hard-fingered master of the conga that he is. |
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