Marlon Brando Rocked the Conga Drums -- in Fact He Invented One
Was it a marketable product? "It'd be too expensive to make and people would be sending it back all the time. You'd be fixing more products than selling them. But it was a cool idea."
Although Brando never got his own line of conga drums, Sanchez did. The self-taught drummer plays a colorful set of Remo conga drums of his own design with his name emblazoned on the side.
"Nowadays, the younger guys have learned the new technique," says Sanchez. "They're really fast. It's like wow, I can't even think as fast as they play. But speed is not everything. It's not what you play that makes it happen. It's what you don't play. I'm from the old school. I'm one of the heavy hitters. I lift my arms and my hands and I smack the thing!"
Sanchez performs tonight at Walt Disney Concert Hall alongside trumpeter Terence Blanchard
See also: Poncho Sanchez Played the Weekend Wedding Circuit, Until a Gringo Changed His Luck
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