Over the past couple of decades, David Sanchez has built a reputation as a modern giant of improvisation in both straight-ahead and Latin Jazz worlds. He built his jazz chops with a number of legendary straight-ahead innovators, including Dizzy Gillespie, Jimmy Heath, and Elvin Jones. These experiences gave him a creative melodic sensibility and a keen ability to respond to spontaneous musical events. Sanchez spent the beginning of his musical career studying percussion, and that knowledge informs his work in a Latin Jazz setting. His understanding of Latin music structures gives him powerful insight into the music. He has applied these skills to both performance and composition, building a promising career as a leader. Before his debut as a leader though, he spent years as a sideman - including some strong performances with pianist Hilton Ruiz.

Sanchez’s solo on “Home Cookin’” from the Ruiz album Manhattan Mambo showcases those improvisational skills with a melodically powerful and rhythmically inventive statement. The song utilizes a variation on a common blues form in the key of F, riding over a driving cha cha cha rhythm. Sanchez takes the first solo after the melody, and then proceeds to fill two choruses. The rhythm section includes some heavy weight players including Ruiz, Andy Gonzalez, Steve Berrios, and Giovanni Hidalgo. They push the song consistently, but Sanchez pushes back, showing that his musicality stands tall in any context.

Some Points of Interest:
* Sanchez Establishes Interesting Rhythmic Ideas In Pick-up Measures
Sanchez quickly makes a very clear statement that he means business with an attention grabbing line in the stop break immediately preceding his solo. He firmly plants a rhythmically interesting idea into measures 1 & 2, doubling the effect with an ascending melodic line. Both these strong musical elements provide major forward motion into his improvisation. He uses this technique again in measures 13 & 14 as he moves into his second chorus. He accentuates a difference by using 16th notes instead of 8th note triplets.

*Sanchez Uses Off-Set Groupings of Three In 8th Note Triplets
In measures 9 & 10, Sanchez moves the pitches of an F triad through a series of 8th note triplets. He repeats each note 3 times, but he offsets the pitches by one 8th note. He starts the grouping of 8th notes on the second note of the triplet though, intensifying the rhythmic tension created by the triplets. He resolves this idea in measure 11 with straight quarter notes.

*Assertive Use of Blues Scale Intermingled With Mixolydian/Chromatic Runs
Sanchez reinforces the song’s down home blues feel with a healthy dose of blues scale licks. He cleverly intermingles those phrases with mixolydian and chromatic scale runs though, giving the solo a solid tastes of jazz virtuosity. Look at the contrast between blues scale phrases in measures 3 - 5 and the more traditional run in measures 6 - 8. The variety created by superimposing these two sounds maintains interest throughout the solo.

*Sanchez Uses Groupings of Two In 8th Note Triplets
Sanchez understands Cuban percussion well, and he showcases that knowledge here. He employs a very common percussive technique - putting groupings of two over a series of triplets. Sanchez carries these triplets through two measures (18 & 19) before resolving the tension with a straight-ahead quarter note phrase.

Make sure that you check out the recorded version of “Home Cookin’” on Manhattan Mambo to fully capture the spirit of Sanchez’s solo. He plays with a confidence and forward motion that drives the song forward - it’s an essential piece of the style. Check out his current release Cultural Survival as well to see how his improvisational voice has evolved. I’ve included links to transposed versions below - enjoy!

David Sanchez “Home Cookin’” Solo (Bb)
David Sanchez “Home Cookin’” Solo (Eb)
David Sanchez “Home Cookin’” Solo (BC)

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