Jazz / Cuban Jazz; Latin Jazz
Poncho Sanchez's long string of recordings for the Concord Picante label are all easily recommended to fans of Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz. On this fine effort, Sanchez's octet welcomes guest Tito Puente (heard on timbales) to "TiPon-Pa" and "Lover, Come Back to Me." Otherwise, one hears Sanchez's regularly working band, a group that features trumpeter Sal Cracchiolo, trombonist Art Velasco, the reeds of Gene Burkert, pianist Charlie Otwell, bassist Tony Banda and three percussionists; several songs have group vocals. Otwell contributed five spirited originals, which are joined by such numbers as Cal Tjader's "Soul Burst," "Will You Still Be Mine" and a medley of "Cold Sweat" and "Funky Broadway." Accessible and very danceable music that is also creative within the boundaries of the popular idiom.
---Scott Yanow, allmusic
Poncho Sanchez - congas, bata, lead vocals
Gene Burkert - saxophone
Sal Cracciolo - trumpet, flugelhorn
Art Velasco - trombone, vocals
Charlie Otwell - piano
Tony Banda - bass, vocals
Tito Puente - timbales
Ramon Banda - timbales, bata, drums
Jose "Papo" Rodriguez - bongos |
