The Brothers are coming to the SF Bay! Cuban born virtuosos, violinist Ilmar and pianist Aldo Lopez-Gavilàn (pictured left), subjects of the documentary Los Hermanos/The Brothers will be appearing this coming Sunday, Jan. 23, 5 pm at Zellerbach Auditorium, UC Berkeley. At 14, Ilmar was recognized as a child prodigy, he outgrew his island teachers and was sent to the U.S.S.R. to study violin. He never lived in Cuba again, ultimately landing as a working chamber violinist in the U.S.. Ilmar has had a distinguished career playing for world leaders from the Obamas to Queen Sofía of Spain. Ilmar has helped form the Harlem Quartet to mento young classical musicians of color and has recorded with both giants in Classical, Jazz and Latin music such as Paquito D’Rivera, Eddie Palmieri, Gary Burton, Chick Corea, Itzhak Perlman, Stanley Clarke and others.
Younger brother Aldo grew up mentored by Cuba’s impressive jazz and classical pianists, his extraordinary talent achieving renown on the island, but stymied elsewhere by the 60-year-old U.S. embargo. Aldo excels in both the Classical and Jazz worlds as a recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber music collaborator and performer os his own electrifying Jazz compositions. He has been hailed by none other than master pianist Chucho Valdes as “simply a genius, a star” during a performance at the Havana Jazz Festival. Aldo has a recorded 8 acclaimed solo recordings including his latest “Aldo Lopez-Gavilàn” and scored Los Hermanos/The Brothers film.
The Los Hermanos documentary tracks their parallel lives, poignant reunion and momentous first performances together on stages across the U.S. Now SF Bay Area audiences will have the opportunity to see these two virtuosos live. I have seen Aldo Lopez-Gavilàn perform a few years ago at the SF Jazz Center. His talent and gift of improvisation is simply astonishing! This concert is a must see for Classical, Jazz and Cuban music aficionados. For more information, visit calperformances.org.
These dates are still scheduled for this coming week: Braulio Barrera’s Somos El Son are appearing at Blondie’s Bar, 540 Valencia in the SF Mission district Wed, Jan. 19 and the Seahorse in Sausalito on Sat. Jan 22nd at 6 pm. Percussionist Christian Pepin and his Orquesta Bembe will also be at the Seahorse this coming Sunday, Jan 23rd at 5 pm. The Cigar Bar, 850 Montgomery, SF is presenting N’Rumba on Fri, Jan 21 and La Clave Del Blanco celebrating their CD release “A Mi Estilo” on Sat. Jan 22nd.
El Sonero De La Juventud…Victor Manuelle and his orchestra will be appearing at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 1333 Old Bayshore Highway in Burlingame on Saturday, Feb. 5th. Doors open at 8 pm. Producers Bosco Vega and J.C. Coral are presenting the show. For ticket information, visit tickeri.com.
Look out for the return of the legendary mighty train of Cuba…Los Van Van plus Cuban sensation Alexander Abreu and Havana d’Primera for a terrific double bill of Musica Cubana in May to hit the SF Bay Area. More details to be announced in future blog entries on this website.
The latest variant of the coronavirus pandemic, Omicron has created the latest wave of cancellations in live Latin music in the SF Bay Area/Northern California during January 2022. Live shows and DJ nights for locally based Salsa and Timba nights in various clubs have been rescheduled or cancelled as recently as this past weekend. Hopefully, this outbreak will subside with more immunizations and awareness. A lot of folks are staying away from clubs due to this current situation. Perhaps if everyone would do the right thing and get themselves fully vaccinated including booster shots, wear their masks, wash their hands and keep their distances for now, the situation could turn around. So do your part to keep yourself and others safe during this difficult time.
That’s it for this time. Ciao 4 now!!
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