Random Notes 5/4/15-Palmieri and more!!
10 time Grammy Award winner Eddie Palmieri and his Salsa Orchestra put on an incredible show on Sunday at the kick off of the 15th Annual Yerba Buena Gardens Festival in downtown San Francisco. Palmieri played splendidly as his all-star band that included sonero Herman Olivera, trescero Nelson Gonzalez, bongocero Anthony Carrillo, conguero “Pequeno” Johnny Rivero, trombonist Doug Beavers, bassist Loques Curtis, trumpeter Jonathan Powell and timbalero Camilo Molina smoked throughout the almost 2 hour set. John Santos and Karl Perrazo sat in and contributed their share of percussion fireworks to the fiery orchestra. The packed sun-drenched crowd went berserk over Palmieri classics such as “Palo Pa Rumba”, “Azucar”, “Muneca” and “Pa Huele”. What an afternoon to remember! Palmieri will return to the Healdsburg Jazz Festival on Sunday, May 31st with his Latin Jazz Septet….Pacific Mambo Orchestra will be celebrating the release of their latest single with a cd release party at SF’s 550 Barneveld on Friday, May 15. Look for PMO to headline a big free show at the Stern Grove Festival on Sunday, June 21st at 2 pm. ….Carnaval San Francisco will take place on May 23rd and 24th. The two day festival will be held on Harrison between 17th and 22nd Streets. Latin Jazz legend Pete Escovedo will be celebrating his 80th Birthday and 60th year in show biz on Saturday performing with Ray Obiedo’s Mambo Caribe. Pete’s daughter…the one and only Sheila E will be the grand marshall of the parade on Sunday, May 24th starting at 9:30 am at 24th and Bryant Streets. Info: carnavalsanfrancisco.org….One of the best Salsa bands, The Spanish Harlem Orchestra will be at Yoshis, Jack London Square in Oakland during Carnaval weekend on May 23rd and 24th….Can’t keep a good club down…Max Jose Enrique’s “Sabroso” will now be open on Thursdays at Santa Clara’s Taste nightclub starting on May 14th!….The phenomenal Jane Bunnett and her new all-female Cuban band Maqueque will make a rare bay area appearance on that same date at Oakland’s Piedmont Piano Company….Ciao 4...
Read MoreHot Offerings at SF International Film Festival
The 58th SF International Film Festival now through May 7th with showings at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, Castro Theatre, Landmark’s Clay Theatre and the Roxie Theater in San Francisco and the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley are featuring great music films and hot new Latin cinema among their vast offerings this year. Music films include Eden (which parallels the rise of France’s Daft Punk), The Theory Of Obscurity: A Film about the mysterious godfathers of experimental rock music, The Residents and Beats Of The Antonov which focuses on musicians from civil war torn Sudan region in Africa are among the intriguing music films. I heard great things about the “What Happened To Nina Simone” documentary which I missed and will be available on Netflix according to reliable sources. Several live music offerings pairing the hip hop infused electro pop of Cibo Matto with wild and abstract short films are playing the Castro on May 5th at 8 pm. While the esteemed classical/New music icons Kronos Quartet providing instrumental backing to Bill Morrison’s Beyond Zero – World War 1 footage on Wed, May 6, 6:30 pm at the Kabuki. Among the fine Latin films, the intriguing moral drama “El Cordero” from Chile, the heartfelt Mexican documentary “All Of Me” which focuses on the Patronas, a group of women who prepare food and water to hand out to men and women who ride a speeding train towards the US border, “Magical Girl”, a Spanish/French production that is a heartbreaking tale of grief, a tense thriller and a deeply unsettling film noir, the Brazilian documentary “Sunday Ball” which is both a work of poetry and a sports doc that captures the spirit of a championship soccer game between rival teams from Rio De Janeiro’s impoverished Sampaio neighborhood, the nuanced romantic drama “Sand Dollars” from the Dominican Republic featuring Geraldine Chaplin and the engrossing “NN” from director Hector Galvez. There are more Latin films in the festival line up! For more information on these films and the entire SF International Film Festival, visit...
Read MoreNew Swing Is The Thing!
The San Francisco Salsa Festival, produced by John Navarez and Elizabeth Rojas of the Salsamania dance troupe, now in its 7th year has always catered to the Salsa congress type of dancing crowd. Unlike Salsa festivals of the past, it is not targeted to just music fans. However, they did raise the musical bar on their event by having the New Swing Sextet as their headliners this year. The N.Y. based veteran act is now celebrating its 50th year in existence although they did take 30 years off somewhere down the line. That fact doesn’t matter because the band is an explosive ensemble in the Joe Cuba vein. The New Swing Sextet on Saturday evening were tight, swinging and having a great time on stage being cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd of DJ’s, musicians, dancers and fans. They delivered the goods with scorchers such as “Vete Pa Ya” driving the salsa crazy dancers to the floor and the aficionados to the space in front of the stage to watch the band. I was among the aficionados who couldn’t get enough of watching these pros playing with precision, style, grace…and yes SWING!! These great musicians led by vibraphonist George Rodriguez are busy putting together their 50th Anniversary recording which should be out in the fall. Members of a similar ensemble: the SF based vibes salsa band Vibrason joined New Swing on stage for an east-west summit of swinging descargas that had the place...
Read MoreIbeyi – A Fresh take on Afro-Cuban Yoruba Fusion
French-Cuban duo Ibeyi wowed the sold out crowd at S.F.’s The Independent on Thursday evening. The twin daughters of the late conga legend Miguel “Anga” Diaz seduced the crowd with their dynamic fusion of yoruban chants, soulful vocals, electronica, beats and hip-hop. Ibeyi is the charismatic duo of Lisa-Kainde Diaz on lead vocals, electric piano, keyboards, samplers, percussion and Naomi Diaz on lead vocals, percussion, cajon, bata, beatbox and samplers. They performed without a back up band. The duo played a huge chunk of their latest recording “Ibeyi” on XL. The crowd cheered on their original tunes that are a sonic evolution of the traditional santeria drums and chants augmented by modern electronics, samples and studio produced beats. Blessed with angelic voices singing in French, Yoruba and Spanish that blended beautifully over sparse arrangements, the magnetic duo took turns singing lead that had the adoring crowd screaming for more. Ibeyi has evolved this religious art form by making the Yoruban chants accessible to a secular public through their unique music. They have also seen their popularity soar as indie darlings in the process as evidenced by their performances at the recent South By Southwest Music Festival and this stunning SF Bay Area performance. They represent the new wave of Afro-Cuban expression in...
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