Joint Effort

Jazz has a friend in the American Assn. of University Women, Thousand Oaks, and the kindness is reciprocal. The AAUW has been responsible for bringing notable jazz performers to the area, including Dorothy Donegan and Gerald Wiggins, who in turn donate part of the proceeds to the hosting organization.

The two-way pact continues this Sunday, when the veteran jazz singer Bill Henderson plays in the acoustically friendly Forum Theatre of Civic Arts Plaza. Henderson’s resume includes mainstays of the jazz scene, from Miles Davis to Count Basie, Thad Jones and Oscar Peterson. As an actor, Henderson has appeared in the film, “White Men Can’t Jump,” and TV’s “NYPD Blue.”

In Thousand Oaks, Henderson will be backed by a band of some of L.A.’s finest: pianist Mike Melvoin, bassist John Heard and trusty drummer Sherman Ferguson. It has all the makings of another feather in the AAUW’s jazz impresario cap.

* Bill Henderson performs Sun., 7:30 p.m., at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza Forum Theatre, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd. Tickets are $20; 449-ARTS. Picnicking before the concert is welcome at 5:30, on the Civic Arts Plaza lawn.

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Latin-Jazz Hero: The evolution of Latin jazz largely has been tied to a contingent of players based in New York, but the West Coast has played its part, as well. A primary icon out here was the late vibraphonist Cal Tjader, and, by extension in the last decade, conguero Poncho Sanchez, whose band will perform at the Jazz Hall in Santa Barbara on Saturday.

The Los Angeles-based Sanchez, who has led a powerful band and built up a catalog of albums over the past 15 years, essentially cut his teeth as Tjader’s right-hand percussion man for more than seven years. When Tjader died in 1982, Sanchez picked up the legacy and has become a primary contender in the field.

By that point, Sanchez had already started a band of his own, but Tjader’s death, of a heart attack while on tour in Manila, shook his will to forge ahead. “I was right next to him when he died,” Sanchez said. “That hung on me. I was in a depression state for two years. I didn’t want to play anymore. Cal Tjader was like my musical father. He was such a wonderful guy. I still miss him today.”

Born in Laredo, Texas, and raised there and in Norwalk, Sanchez actually picked up the congas only after playing guitar and singing in R & B groups as a teenager.

He said, “That’s when I learned how to be a front man in a band, and got my leadership training through that. I started playing drums before I played timbales or congas. Right around the ninth grade, I got some congas and timbales and was self-taught.” He learned fast, and well, and after sitting in with Tjader, landed the conga chair.

As it happens, Sanchez’s first gig under his own name took place in Santa Barbara 17 years ago at the Lobero Theater. The opening act was a band out of East Los Angeles called Los Lobos. As the ‘80s went on, so did the growing influence of Sanchez’s band, which established a strong following in the crossover turf spanning the jazz and Latin markets.

By this point, Sanchez noted, “we travel all over the world. I see my CDs everywhere. It’s out there now and it’s definitely growing. Plus, you hear the congas, the timbales, the bongos in all types of music. In the old days, you didn’t.”

As relatively new as the Latin-jazz merger is, a rich tradition has gained momentum. The continuum rolls on, through the generations.

“We love this music, Latin jazz,” Sanchez said. “And we like to play it authentically. Some people have said, ‘You should add drums, guitars and synthesizers and girl singers.’ And I say, ‘No, no, no, I’m not into that. We love and respect the music too much to do that.’ I like the real deal. That’s why I’m at it.”

* Poncho Sanchez plays Sat., 8:30 and 10:30 p.m., at Jazz Hall, 29 E. Victoria St., Santa Barbara. Tickets are $25.; 963-0404.