Jazzman has new audience for his sound

By John Benson

The 56-year-old percussionist likes a change of pace.

For the last few years, Latin jazz conga player Poncho Sanchez has seemingly reinvented his sound and expanded his audience by playing a few annual dates with symphony orchestras.

This is the case on Saturday when Sanchez and his band share the stage with the Youngstown Symphony Pops at Powers Auditorium. Just as some music fans and symphony listeners may seem perplexed by this mix, Sanchez admits he was uncertain about such a merger until a legendary friend made the suggestion.

“First of all, the way it started was when Tito Puente called me and said he’d been doing some symphony shows with his band,” said Sanchez, calling from Whittier, Calif. “I said that was different, and he said, ‘You ought to get some symphony charts for your music and start doing some symphonies because it opened up a whole new market for us.’”

In fact, Sanchez said Puente wanted to put both of their bands together to perform with a symphony; however, the legendary Latin jazz and mambo percussionist died before the idea could come to fruition. Instead, Sanchez took the advice and has been performing with orchestras ever since. He even plans to record a live symphony album later this summer.

“It’s completely different from a regular Latin jazz band and a totally different approach,” Sanchez said. “It’s a unique sound and style. Tito was right, it opens up a whole new audience, and it’s cool because you can draw from the symphony audience, which is very sophisticated and knows classical music.

“So you teach them about Latin jazz and salsa music in general, and yet you also can invite the people who love Latin jazz and salsa music lovers to come to the symphony. Then they start learning about maybe going to different symphony orchestras. Actually, it’s a great trade off.”

After a lifetime of performance and recording, the 56-year-old percussionist said he’s always looking for a change of pace. The Grammy Award-winning Sanchez, who has worked with such esteemed Latin jazz artists as Cal Tjader, Mongo Santamaria, Hugh Masakela, ClareFischer and Tower of Power, said his 2007 album “Raise Your Hand” featured a unique blend of Latin jazz-meets-soul music.

Sanchez said he’ll be performing some of the newer material at the upcoming Youngstown date, which is truly designed to entertain jazz purists, as well as casual fans.

“Even though some people might not understand Latin jazz – they might be a little bit afraid or think we’re going to play mariachi music – my show has something for everybody” Sanchez said. “I’m very proud because Latin jazz was born here in the United States in the mid-‘40s

“So I think we all should be proud of that. It’s American music, and it’s for anybody who loves melody, harmony and rhythm, and just loves to dance.”