Guitarist Rick Zunigar to perform at Troesh center

On Wed., Jun. 28 at 7 p.m., Zunigar will perform at La Sierra’s Troesh Conference Center, accompanied by Pierce Street Jazz regulars Henry “the Skipper” Franklin on bass, Theo Saunders on piano, and Ramon Banda on Drums.

Zunigar's wide-ranging career includes a Francis Ford Coppola film sound track performance, appearances on Stevie Wonder videos, television shows, and alongside a long list of famous acts including Queen Latifah, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, and Mary J. Blige.

Zunigar, born in Queens, New York, derived his varied musical interests from his parents, natives of Puerto Rico. His mother sang and performed at Radio City Music Hall in New York, and Zunigar grew up listening to salsa and jazz. He discovered a love of the guitar and by age 17 hit the professional circuit. He began building a track record of performances and recordings with a many famous acts, his biography states. Zunigar's primary musical genre is jazz, although he incorporates bebop, Latin, rhythm and blues, and fusion into his repertoire.

His performance credits include years touring with Stevie Wonder, stints on late night talk shows David Letterman and Jay Leno during the 1990s, performance on the Soul Train 25th Anniversary show, on a PBS program with the Freddie Hubbard and Pat Metheny Group, and musical tours around the world.

Franklin has organized the Pierce Street Jazz concerts at La Sierra University since their inception as a summer jazz series in 2009. His broad experience includes recordings on more than 150 albums and compact discs including gold releases, many of which he produced.

Saunders, one of the busiest pianists in the music business, has performed in many of the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals and concert halls with distinguished artists including Freddie Hubbard, Carla Bley, David “Fathead” Newman, Barbara Morrison, Gladys Knight, and many others. He has directed music for opera productions and international musical theatre. As a composer, Saunders has numerous compositions to his credit as well as original scores for theatre, radio and multimedia production.

Banda performed 24 years with the Grammy award-winning Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band. He is a current band member with famed jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco. Banda grew up in Norwalk, Calif., part of a large musical family. Over the past two decades, Ramon has performed on more than 22 recordings and recorded and played with such music greats as Dizzie Gillespie, Tito Puente, Freddie Hubbard, Chick Corea, Arturo Sandoval, Diana Reeves and others.

Pierce Street Jazz admission is free. The concert will take place at the Troesh Conference Center, Zapara School of Business. For further information, call 951-785- 2148. La Sierra University is located at 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside. A campus map is available at https://lasierra.edu/campus-map/.