Raise Your Hand

Performer: Poncho Sanchez
Artist: Maceo Parker
Engineer: Seth Presant; Francisco Torres; Keith Gretlein
Producer: David Torres; John Burk; Poncho Sanchez
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Poncho Sanchez (bells); Javier Vergara (flute); Ron Blake (flugelhorn); David Torres (Hammond b-3 organ); George Ortiz (timbales); Francisco A. Torres, Joey De Leon, Jr., Tony Banda (background vocals). Additional personnel: Eddie Floyd, Jos� "Perico" Hern�ndez, Andy Monta�ez (vocals); John Burk, Steve Cropper (guitar); Mace Parker (alto saxophone); Booker T. Jones (Hammond b-3 organ); Joe Heredia (drums). Conguero Poncho Sanchez grew up on salsa and Latin jazz, but his musical influences also included large doses of Stax and Muscle Shoals R&B. So for his latest album, he decided to pay tribute to both traditions: the result is a strange but seriously fun jumble of soul, salsa, son and jazz. Gratefully, he generally avoids trying to fuse them all into a single hybrid musical style; instead, he jumps from one to the other. The album opens and closes with classic-style soul songs: "Raise Your Hand" and "Knock on Wood," both featuring singer Eddie Floyd, organist Booker T. Jones, and guitarist Steve Cropper. In between is a range of material that includes a brilliant straight-ahead salsa number featuring Andy Monta�ez titled "El Agua de Belen," the gorgeous "Amor con Amor," a very fine Maceo Parker showcase titled "Maceo's House" (which actually does blend soul and Latin influences, and carries it off nicely) and a couple of less compelling numbers as well. But even the nice-but-not-earthshaking "Gestation" offers plenty of fun, and there really is not a single track on this album that is anything less than thoroughly enjoyable. Highly recommended overall. ~ Rick Anderson

Down Beat (p.p.72) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Sanchez puts vintage soul on the bill, with breezy spins through a pair of vintage Stax-Volt gems that open and close the disc." JazzTimes (p.108) - "[T]he old hits are still worthy of another spin, beginning with the album's title track, which features Floyd, Jones and Cropper joyously evoking the sound of Stax Records while collaborating with Sanchez's Latin-jazz ensemble."

The American-born percussionist Poncho Sanchez is one of the leading congueros in the world, and has mastered a dizzying number of styles and genres, including salsa, mambo, funk, and various gradations of jazz. He got his start in the 1960s, playing with vibraphonist Cal Tjader's outfit, and lending his zesty playing to countless albums, including those by Latin heavy-hitters Tito Puente and Mongo Santamaria. Sanchez eventually started his own brass-heavy group, Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band, whose recordings have garnered consistent critical praise and a Grammy in 2000.

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