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Poncho Sanchez
Raise Your Hand
(Concord)
First Appeared in The Music Box, July 2007, Volume 14, #7
Written by Douglas Heselgrave
Raise Your Hand, the 22nd album of Poncho Sanchez’s career,
is a curious affair. On the effort, the legendary conga player teams up with
several of the greatest musicians from the Stax label’s heyday in the 1960s. The
result is a nostalgic collection of songs that honors the music from the era,
but still finds room to expand upon the Latin musician’s trademark sound.
When heard in sequence, from start to finish, Raise Your Hand sounds
like a well-executed but thoroughly disorganized hodgepodge. While the playing
is singularly wonderful — and Sanchez’s rock-solid conga keeps things moving —
often the trademark Stax sound — as characterized by Booker T’s organ and Steve
Cropper’s soulfully minimalist guitar playing — feels like an afterthought. Even
saxophone great Maceo Parker’s contributions to Shotgun and Maceo’s
House, two of the disc’s stronger tracks, are embellishments rather than
essential components of the songs. While the connections between Latin and soul
music surely exist, the way that they are thrown together on Raise Your Hand
feels generic and forced rather than like a natural progression or sharing of
traditions.
When Sanchez sticks closely to traditional Latin jazz — on Tropi Blue
and Rosarito, for example — the music takes off, and the stylistic
breadth and soulfulness of his playing are made evident. Here, the interplay
between the trumpet, piano, and congas is magical, innovative, and truly moving.
On these tracks, it is easy to see why Sanchez’s group is the most popular Latin
band in the world today.
Born in Texas and raised in Los Angeles by Mexican-immigrant parents, Sanchez
is the recipient of one Grammy award and several other nominations. He also was
voted the best Latin jazz percussionist for each of the last three years in the
Downbeat and Jazz Times readers’ polls. Sanchez began his
professional career in 1975 when he joined respected vibraphonist Cal Tjader’s
ensemble, with which he remained as its percussionist until the bandleader’s
death in 1982. He subsequently formed his own group, which has released an album
nearly every year since then for the Concord label. His own style is grounded in
Afro-Cuban traditions, but he frequently has crossed over into other styles,
such as bebop and funk.
In many ways, Raise Your Hand simply continues Sanchez’s search for
interesting sounds to merge with his own distinctive conga rhythms, but unlike
many of his previous forays outside of Latin music, the disc is ultimately
unremarkable. Rather than hearing the band and its admittedly stellar lineup of
guests jump into a workout of tired standards like Knock on Wood, it
would have been nice to hear these legendary performers venture deep into
territory that was new and challenging. As it stands, Raise Your Hand is
much less than the sum of its formidable parts. Those wanting to experience
Sanchez’s music for the first time would be better served by exploring his early
classic recordings, such as Poncho at Montreux or Conga Blue. 
Raise Your Hand is available from Amazon.com.
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2007 The Music Box
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