Poncho Sanchez and His Latin Band featuring Terence Blanchard: Cubano Be Cubano Bop

Also, Vermont All State Jazz Ensemble

Friday, June 10 at 8 pm on the Flynn MainStage

Poncho Sanchez, congas; Terence Blanchard, trumpet; Tony Banda, bass; David Torres, piano; Francisco Torres, trombone; George Ortiz, timbales; Ron Blake, trumpet; Ron Hart, saxophone; Joey De Leon, bongos, percussion

"[Poncho Sanchez is] one of the top Latin jazz artists of our time."—All About Jazz

With nearly 25 recordings for Concord records, Grammy-winning conguero Poncho Sanchez's interpretation of traditional Afro-Cuban music, rooted in his Tejano-Chicano roots, fuses Latin jazz, swing, bebop, salsa and other infectious grooves that collide and churn in a fiery swirl, with results that are no less than dazzling. During his fertile 30-year career, trumpeter, bandleader, composer, arranger and film score composer Terence Blanchard has worked with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, served as the Artistic Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz and scored nearly 50 film scores, including nearly every Spike Lee joint. These music titans set the 2011 Festival ablaze with their project Cubano Be Cubano Bop: A Tribute to Chano Pozo and Dizzy Gillespie. The 1947 Carnegie Hall concert uniting Dizzy Gillespie and the original Conga King Chano Pozo changed the face of musical history and the course of American Jazz. Poncho Sanchez and Terence Blanchard have put together a fiery program that recreates that seminal concert's Afro-Cuban standards, plus their own compositions and fresh new collaborations.

The Green Mountain State boasts highly competitive high school jazz programs and the Vermont All State Jazz Ensemble will present the best of the best from across the state.