"Sanchez, the iconic conguero, is the reason they came, and rightly so. His solos were jewels of syncopated accents and time-twisting," -Tad Dickens, The Roanoke Times

Poncho Sanchez, © Devin DeHaven

Poncho Sanchez is widely respected as one of the top American percussionists of our time, will be performing with his Latin Jazz Band in the Bay Area on Friday, January 7th through Sunday, Janury 9th at Yoshi's in Oakland, then on Monday, January 10th at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz.  Seasoned, versatile, finely meshed, and deeply, masterfully percussive, the Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band is perhaps the premier Latin jazz ensemble working today. They’ve recorded prolifically and have been honored with a Grammy award and four Grammy nominations.  The band includes longtime members Francisco Torres (trombone), Ron Blake (trumpet), Javier Vergara (saxophones), David Torres (piano), Tony Banda (bass), George Ortiz (timbales), Joey De León (bongos & percussion), and of course the master conguero himself, Poncho Sanchez.

"Pharoah is a man of large spiritual reservoir, always trying to reach out to truth. He's trying to allow his spiritual self to be his guide. He's dealing, among other things, in energy, in integrity, in essences." - John Coltrane

Pharoah Sanders

Jazz legend Pharoah Sanders will appear for three nights at Yoshi's at Jack London Square in Oakland on Wednesday, December 22nd through Friday, December 24th with sets at 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm. Pharoah Sanders possesses one of the most distinctive tenor saxophone sounds in jazz. Harmonically rich and heavy with overtones, Sanders' sound can be as raw and abrasive as it is possible for a saxophonist to produce, and although he made his name with expressionistic, nearly anarchic free jazz in John Coltrane's late ensembles of the mid-'60s, Sanders' later music is guided by more graceful concerns.