Spotlight on Ramón "Chunky" Sánchez, NEA Heritage Fellow


By Adam Kampe
Portrait of Ramon "Chunky" Sanchez
2013 NEA National Heritage Fellow Ramón "Chunky" Sánchez. Photo by Michael G. Stewart
With the incredibly amazing NEA National Heritage Fellowships Concert happening TONIGHT!, we wanted to highlight a 2013 Heritage Fellow whose music makes a cameo on the new Big Read audio guide for Luis Alberto Urrea’s fantastic novel, Into the Beautiful North. Selecting the music, as always, is a joy and a challenge when producing the Big Read programs, but it's wonderful when the mood of a book fits the tone of a song. Musician Ramón "Chunky" Sánchez was kind enough to permit us to excerpt a short piece from “Chicano Park Samba" from the album, Rolas de Aztlan. At a later date, we'll dig deeper into the novel and the eye-opening story Urrea tells. But for now, enjoy the song and spread the word about this year's astonishing crop of NEA Heritage Fellows. And if you're not in DC for the free event tonight at 8 p.m. EST, please tune in online and watch from wherever you are.