SOUNDS : VALLEY WEEKEND : Poncho Sanchez’ Salsa, R & B Jazzes Up the Holiday Weekend : Conga player’s Latin band will include musical tributes to late vibist Cal Tjader at La Ve Lee shows.

Poncho Sanchez cherishes the memory of the late vibist Cal Tjader.

Tjader, along with Dizzy Gillespie, was the most renowned artist to blend be-bop with Latin rhythms and instruments. And Sanchez played with him from 1975 until Tjader’s death in 1982. That association established Sanchez as a conga drummer of the first order.

“He was such a great musician,” Sanchez said. “He could play so many different kinds of tunes so well.”

“Soul Sauce-Memories of Cal Tjader,” recently released on Concord Picante Records, is Sanchez’s tribute to his friend. The congero’s 13th album for the label, it spotlights the relatively unknown Oxnard-based vibist Ruben Estrada, whose fat, ringing sound recalls Tjader’s. About half the album’s selections are done without vibes, and these numbers, such as Sanchez’s “Song For Cal” or Tjader’s “Liz Ann,” will be on tap when the drummer plays on Friday and Saturday at La Ve Lee in Studio City.

Sanchez appears at the cozy room almost every month, and for good reason: He can do what he wants and the people enjoy it. “We can play jazz tunes, some of our authentic salsa, some R&B;, and we get a great response. We’re there to entertain the crowd,” said Sanchez.

It is also easy for Sanchez to get to the club: He is a native of Norwalk and still lives there with his wife, Stella, to whom he’s been married for 23 years. They have two sons, Mongito, 23, and Julian, 13.

Some might be surprised to find a Latin band that explores such a wide swath of music, but Sanchez said he’s just offering a musical portrait of his life. “This is the music I heard and played growing up, so I’m just expressing myself,” he said. Sanchez has in the past decade evolved from local hero to international Latin jazz star, regularly appearing in Europe and Japan.

“The be-bop standards like ‘Night in Tunisia’ or ‘Jordu’ show how much I appreciate jazz, and the salsa is what I heard early on when my sister and brother used to play mambo records at home. Of course, in the ‘60s, I played in black soul bands, sang tunes like ‘Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag.’ So when we do those songs now, it’s like ‘This is who I am, folks, this is what I love, I hope you love it, too.’ ”

* Poncho Sanchez’s Latin jazz band plays Friday and Saturday, 9:30 and 11:30 p.m., at La Ve Lee, 12514 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City. Cover charge, $10, two drink minimum. Information: (818) 980-8158.

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Sal Marquez, who appears Saturday at Chadney’s, is a first-rate trumpeter known for his lyrical, persuasive improvisations in the modern mainstream mode. He says he loves to play because “it’s such a great escape, working with really good musicians and getting immersed within the chord structures of tunes.”

Marquez, from El Paso, Texas, toured with the big bands of Buddy Rich and Woody Herman, was a member of Branford Marsalis’ “Tonight Show” orchestra and has a fine album out, “One For Dewey” (GRP). At Chadney’s, he’ll team up with Mike Lang (piano), Dave Carpenter (bass) and Joe Brancato (drums) for what should be grand interpretations of standards and originals.

“I want to play some things that are fresh,” said Marquez from his home in Mar Vista. “Like Dave and I may play some duos. We’ve done that lately.”

Marquez left jazz in the mid-’70s and entered the world of rock, playing and/or recording with Frank Zappa (“Hot Rats,” and “Grand Wazoo”), Gregg Allman, Robbie Krieger and others. But he says as much fun as he had, his heart was always in jazz. “I didn’t hang out with those guys at rock clubs,” he said. “I’d always be over at a jazz club like Donte’s.”

Still, after several years of just playing keyboards, it was an offer from rocker Allman that got Marquez back to his horn. “Gregg wanted me to play on a tour,” he said. “So I practiced for two or three weeks. It was pretty shaky at first, but then it went fine. Then when I left Gregg, I decided I’d enough of rock and I decided to get serious. I really started practicing and playing.”

He hasn’t looked back since.

* Sal Marquez plays Saturday, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., at Chadney’s, 3000 W. Olive St., Burbank. No cover, no minimum. (818) 843-5333.