The Yin and the Yang – Noticias/Live Music
I just found out that the scheduled Elio Reve Jr. Y Su Charangon show on the 23rd of this month has been cancelled. What a bummer since I missed Reve in Barcelona last summer. Hopefully, he will be rescheduled soon. The David Calzado/Charanga Habanera show has also been cancelled for the beginning of next month. That leaves Juan Formell and Los Van Van as THE big Cuban show to look forward to in the future. They will be appearing at Yoshis in June with 2 nights in San Francisco and 2 nights in Oakland. In the meantime, the revamped Seis Del Solar featuring original members pianist/musical director Oscar Hernandez and timbalero Ralphy Irrizary will be performing this coming Wednesday and Thursday at Yoshis in SF. Now this isn’t the reunited original band that has been working with Ruben Blades on dates outside the country this past year. However, they have some dynamic firepower with the dynamic talents of bassist Ruben Rodriguez, saxophonist Bobby Franceschini, drummer Dafnis Preito and conguero Bobby Allende. Should be one hot show. If that wasn’t enough, Omar Sosa and his acclaimed Afreecanos group visit Yoshis, Oakland on Friday, April 16 through Sunday, April 18. Check him out on Art Sato’s “In Your Ear” program Saturday, April 17 from 4 to 6 pm on...
Read MoreVariety is the spice…
I caught the amazing Janelle Monae at an intimate gig at Cafe Du Nord in the city last night. This petite striking beauty who sports a fluff of a pompadour of sorts was both original in her look as she was in her music. You could say that she was reminiscent of a Grace Jones of 2010 but had an abundance of talent and style. Fronting a powerful three piece band consisting of guitar, keyboards and drums, Monae performed her version of a movie musical entitled “The Archandroid”. Monae amply displayed her powerful, soulful voice on top of a bed of angular, rn’b influenced modern rock. She had the sold out crowd going wild while she was singing songs from her “movie” complete with stage sets, film credits and tons of atmosphere....
Read MoreShows I did miss somehow, etc.
I managed to introduce Tito Gonzalez Y Su Son De Cuba’s first set at Yoshis in Oakland before I had to run to my station’s sponsored show with Bassekou Kouyate at Slims in SF’s South of Market district – so I missed Tito’s set! I also missed Pepito Gomez with a SF based timba band…but I wasn’t the only one who missed it-I heard that it was a light crowd. I’ll probably miss the upcoming SF Salsa Festival as well. I must be old school but back in the day, the salsa festivals in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s had big groups like the Fania All Stars, Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri or a ton of our local salsa heroes at the Greek Theater, the Cow Palace or the huge ballroom at the Marriott or the St. Francis Hotel. Although this affair has selective “dancer’s” dj’s such as Fab Fred & El De La Clave, they only have one band: Doug Beavers’ Conjunto Rovira and their primary focus is on salsa dance troupes. Now with all due respect to all the great salsa dance troupes that are out there and I do enjoy attending the annual Salsa Congress that features great headliners, dancers, dj’s, etc. I also dj to a lot of fine dancers myself at both Cocomo and Jelly’s. I think that they should have named the gig “The SF Salsa Dancer’s Festival” which would have been more accurate. In my opinion, you need to have a cavalcade of great bands and other essential elements if you’re going to live up to the name “The San Francisco Salsa Festival”. That’s what this great city deserves! Nuff...
Read MoreCatching Up
Well, this was the week I didn’t make down to my annual trip to the South By Southwest Music Conference and Showcase in Austin, Texas due to complications. Although nothing can compensate for the missed interviews, networking, showcases, panels, parties….but I did manage to catch amazing sets by Gil Scott Heron (who did a hilarious standup comedy routine in addition to his great soulful songs!) and Malian gnobi master Bassekou Kouyate who plays a wicked spiked lute that sounds like a banjo. An enthusiastic Taj Mahal was cheering Kouyate on from the audience until he was called up on stage to deliver a soulful blues. The world is so small and the connections are deep! Brazilian music icon Gilberto Gil was also performing in the Bay Area with his son Bern and cellist Jacques Morlenbaum. SXSW? There’s always next...
Read MoreLive Appearances
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