ABSTRACT
Within the past twenty years, Poncho Sánchez has emerged as one of the major stylists and leaders in the cross-genre known as Latin jazz (fig. 9.1). Since the innovations of Machito, Mario Bauzá, Dizzy Gillespie, and Chano Pozo in the 1940s, this style has blended, in dynamic fashion, essential elements of Afro-Cuban music and jazz. Sánchez, a Mexican American from Los Angeles, California, has maintained this progressive, stylistic blend while at the same time continuing with a traditional Cuban base of interpretation and performance practice. Previous to performing and recording with his own ensemble, he spent more than seven years as the conguero for Cal Tjader (till the latter's death in 1982), one of the major constituents of Latin jazz. After various nominations, he was awarded a Grammy Award for his 1999 CD Latin Soul.
