FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 13, 2004    
Contact: Jean Wasp, Media Relations Coordinator, (707) 664-2057

Poncho Sanchez Headlines Latin Jazz and Cuban Salsa Concert on Aug. 1

From his signature blend of Latino and African-American styles to his smokin’ R&B covers of James Brown, Poncho Sanchez hits the Green Music Festival stage at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 1 with a feast of joyously infectious rhythms guaranteed to pull Festival goers to their feet. Gates open at 2 p.m. for the event in the Main Quad on the Rohnert Park campus.

Tiempo Libre, combining some of the hottest musicians in Miami today, opensthe program at 4 p.m. with its unique mix of jazz, traditional Cuban and Afro-Cuban music. Free salsa dance lessons from local dance teacher Jose Santamaria and his Salsa Kids will be offered to all ages at 3 p.m.

GRAMMY-winner Poncho Sanchez has been an unswervingly passionate exponent ofthe bedrock style of Afro-Cuban Latin jazz pioneered half a century ago by such legendary musicians as Machito, Tito Puente and Dizzy Gillespie. The bearded, jovial conguero and the members of his veteran octet are today symbols of the best of the modern jazz and tropical Latin traditions.

“Sanchez is to Latin jazz what Count Basie was to blues-based swing: a musician who knows how to find precisely the right tone, pace and attitude for each composition,” the Chicago Tribune writes. The band is like “ a magnificent Swiss watch ticking on a Latin beat,” The Cleveland Plain Dealer states.

Tiempo Libre is made of seven extraordinary Cuban musicians who came together to realize their collective musical dream: to create a new musical style by fusing their diverse individual talents. These Cuban immigrants and old friends were schooled in different Havana conservatories and enjoy thriving careers in Latin music.

Each has vast experience performing, touring and recording with such artists as Albita, Cachao, Arturo Sandoval, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Issac Delgado and Roberto Torres, to name a few.

Ticket prices for the concert range from $10-$28. Special group rates are available. Lawn rates for adults are $28, seniors $23, and youth, $10. Table seating is $45 and $340 for a table of eight. To order by phone, call (866) SSU-FEST. Order via the Internet by visiting www.cityboxoffice.com. For more information and updates on this event, please visit www.greenmusicfestival.org.