Poncho Sanchez

Poncho Sanchez is a jazz percussionist and bandleader whose music draws on Latin jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms. This concert at Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood brings the project to a club stage.

Poncho Sanchez is a Latin jazz percussionist and bandleader associated with Los Angeles. The project grew out of the conga playing that Sanchez brought to the Latin jazz ensemble of vibraphonist Cal Tjader, a formative association in the Latin jazz scene of the 1970s. Since then, Sanchez has led a band that combines Afro-Cuban rhythms with jazz harmony, salsa and soul-jazz grooves.

The music is built around percussion-driven rhythms and the conga, with the leader's playing at the center of the sound. Audiences who follow Afro-Cuban jazz, Latin dance music or the West Coast jazz tradition will find the style familiar, and the program is rooted in the rhythmic language of Latin jazz rather than in pop or rock.

Catalina Jazz Club hosts concerts and shows in Hollywood, and this performance places the band in a room dedicated to live jazz. The evening suits listeners who want to hear a long-running Latin jazz bandleader in a club setting close to the Los Angeles jazz community.