When Barbara Walsh bought tickets for her great nieces to see and hear the legendary Poncho Sanchez in an intimate late afternoon demonstration held exclusively for a handful of ticket holders, she figured it would be a real treat. The Castaic woman didn’t have a clue, though, that she would end up winning a raffle prize, a conga drum by Remo, the company that makes Sanchezs’ conga drums.
The demonstration held at the College of the Canyons’ Performing Arts Center was the preamble to an amazing performance by Sanchez and his Latin Jazz Ensemble the same night.
In an exclusive interview prior to the June performance Sanchez spoke about his fortunate career traveling the world performing for fans, including the King of Thailand at his palace and Presidents of the United States.
With a true appreciation for life and music, Sanchez came from meager beginnings.
“We were poor folks and grew up struggling just to stay alive. We didn’t have any running water,” said Sanchez.
But alone as a youngster, he’d practice the drums in the garage.
“It was just me, the record player, the drum and Jesus Christ,” says the Grammy Award-winning musician.
His extraordinary drumming touches people the world over and he is continually talking with and leaving a mark on the fans he meets.
On a trip to Lima, Peru, a group of six skinny-looking young boys were watching as he de-boarded the airplane.
“I was surprised they recognized me. They were calling my name. So I gave them some stickers, t-shirts and caps. Then I asked them if they were coming to the concert,” says Sanchez, who didn’t realize the price of the tickets for the boys was cost-prohibitive.
He then told them to meet him at the back door to the concert hall. When Sanchez arrived for the performance, he inquired about the whereabouts of the boys to which a police officer explained how he’d chased them away. He pointed about where they were still hiding behind bushes down the alleyway.
“I whistled them back to the theatre and let them in, although they were still afraid to go through the door. Then I had six chairs set up for them backstage,” explains Sanchez to me as he carefully taped each of his fingers for the pending COC concert.
He continued to explain how one of the grateful boys named Juan was waiting for him at the airport departure gate.
“Look me up if you ever come to America,” said Sanchez, to which Juan said, “I can’t get outta here, nobody gets outta her.”
It was at that moment that Sanchez said he realized how good he has things. But then, to his surprise Juan added, “It doesn’t matter though because I get outta here every night with these,” as he pointed to his headphones on his music player, “When I listen to your music.”
Those kinds of worthwhile moments make every callus on the performers hands worth it. He asked me to feel them as he finished taping them, proud of the scars and who wouldn’t be?
photography by Ken Capozzi