2013

SF International Film Festival

Posted on Jun 3, 2013

The 56th annual edition of the San Francisco International Film Festival which took place in late April showcased a series of Latin films dealing with youth and the coming of age.  Be sure to look for the Brazilian film “They’ll Come Back” dives into that scenario focusing on the story of a privileged 12 year old girl Cass who is abandoned on a desolated road along with her brother by her parents.  Her brother goes off by himself to get help.  She discovers a Brazil that is foreign to her defined by class, poverty and immigrants.

Read More

Memories of Jelly’s…What A Scene!

Posted on Jun 3, 2013

I was one of the resident dj’s that help carry the throne at the late San Francisco club Jelly’s from 1998 to 2010.  There were many memorable evenings that I experienced from behind the dj booth.  The bands and the dj were always pushing each other to take the music higher in those days.  There was a tremendous communication between the band, dj, dancer, party goer, a regular and an aficionado.  But the real connection was the music.  The music soared on most Sunday evenings where the band and the dj was jamming, the dancers packed the wooden floor and outside concrete patio.  I wasn’t there when it started when Linda Wosskow (who now runs the Seahorse) and KPOO DJ Chata Gutierrez started the Sundays in the mid 90’s.  I was asked to do a late Sunday night following a typical Sunday tardeada at Jelly’s around 1998.  It was a short run disaster but I did get hired by Jelly’s owner Clarice Lacau to rotate Sundays with PR salsa maniac DJ Ivette “La Coqui” Fuentes.  It was a great period of time for me personally in terms of dj’ing my particular mix of new and classic salsa brava, timba, cha cha, merengue y mas to a mixed, packed and enthusiastic crowd.  The crowd didn’t care about taking proper dance lessons or having bottle service at their table, they were there to dance and listen.  Those were good times.  I always looked forward to eating “el maestro” Jesus’s cooking!  I was addicted to my combination of ribs and pollo…rico!!!  Ivette was later replaced with rotating DJ’s Walt Digz and DJ Antonio who were first known primarily as Timba DJ’s.  During the last 10 months of the club’s existence, I was reduced to a monthly residency as a cost cutting measure at the club…lo bonito y lo feo.   Jelly’s finally went kaput in October 2010 after a fatal shooting incident during an off night hip hop event which eventually sunk the club.  They were forced to close by the Port Commission and the club closed.  We closed the club in typical Jelly’s fashion with Julio Bravo and Salsabor, DJ Walt Digz and myself doing the spinning honors that evening.  It was a packed crowd from start to finish.  Ever since the club closed, promoters have been trying to capture the Jelly’s magic but they haven’t been able to do it.  However, they have developed their own distinctive scenes such as the Seahorse in Sausalito and Cana.  I have been hearing about new clubs opening up on Sunday.  The advance hype is that they are “the new Jelly’s” hoping to appeal to sentimental ex-patrons who perhaps are frustrated with the current Sunday salsa scenes.  Those folks who have this notion have completely missed the point of what was happening at Jelly’s during those days…it was a special time and place.  There was an unpretentious vibe.  It didn’t matter if the place was a dump, it was your Sunday meeting place where you could hear and dance to great music.  It was the real thing not hype.  R.I.P. Jelly’s con...

Read More

Clefs and Notes – Tito Puente’s 90th Birthday

Posted on Apr 21, 2013

Yesterday would have been Tito Puente’s 90th birthday!  So I played a short but sweet tribute to El Rey Del Timbal on my radio program “Con Sabor” last night.  Playing just one set of TP is a challenge because of the volumes of material that this late prolific master produced during his lifetime.  So I played a special set of (in order) “Tito On Timbales”, “Barbarabatiri”, “Cuando Te Vea”, “Happy Cha Cha Cha”, “Nina Y Senora”, “Picadillo Jam” (with Eddie Palmieri!) and ended with “Celia Y Tito” featuring Celia Cruz.  I probably would have done the whole set differently in another program.  But that was the beauty of Tito’s music.  The range, scope and depth of the recorded music that he came out with was astonishing.  You also have to mention the powerful live performances that I will remember and...

Read More

Carnaval

Posted on Apr 18, 2013

During the last couple of years, I had the great pleasure of working in Carnaval San Francisco as Entertainment Coordinator by the late SFCAT organization.  I had previously worked in that capacity in 1983 and from 1986 to 1998 for the late MECA organization.   I go back to Carnaval to when I marched in the first Carnaval parade in Precita Park back in 1979.  I was asked by SFCAT to coordinate one of the stages in 2011.  Last year was particularly sweet since I oversaw and ran the entire outdoor Entertainment operation (like the old days) assisted by a great crew of emcees, backstage help, stage veterans and sound pros.  I felt that we did San Francisco proud with a varied, exciting and eclectic show that featured the best in Salsa, Brazilian, Caribbean, Cumbia, African, World, Funk, Hip Hop and Rock in traditional and contemporary forms.  In other words, we presented great music that complimented the other parts of this unique massive event!   The operation ran well despite the obvious challenges, trials and tribulations that come with the territory.  I was looking forward to possibly repeating my role this year but a funny thing happened on the way to the repeat.  SFCAT went kaput!  Apparently the organization was in substantial debt and wasn’t able to fundraise and maintain their infrastructure.  There was talk that the two day festival that framed the spectacular Sunday Carnaval parade was in danger of being cancelled.  SFCAT’s management negotiated with a community based coalition led by my former MECA boss Roberto Hernandez, a master of reinvention and charismatic media manipulator, to take over the festival.  Because of SFCAT’s financial woes, Roberto and the community coalition have taken over the entire Carnaval operation.  Hernandez even came up with a catchy sound bite that I will paraphrase “You don’t cancel Christmas, You don’t cancel Carnaval”.  An emergency community meeting took place where the call was sounded for 500 volunteers to help with the event and to solicit possible sponsors and for money to be donated.  I wasn’t able to make the Brava Theater meeting because I had a DJ gig with Bajofondo at Bimbo’s that evening.  Roberto already had installed his own team of players to run the event.  Due to these developments, I wasn’t asked to be involved in this year’s event.  However, I’m not bitter, I have fond memories of my Carnaval years.  After all, life runs in cycles.  I wish the Mission community a tremendous amount of luck in their noble quest.  It looks like it may be downscaled due to the economics and tight time schedule.  Hopefully they’ll succeed in pulling it off because Carnaval has to survive.  There is no other event that comes close to creating that...

Read More