It’s Carnaval Time in the streets of San Francisco!!! The 46th Annual Carnaval San Francisco will take place this Saturday, May 25th and Sunday, May 26th. The theme for this year is “Honoring Indigenous Roots”. Dr. Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate of 1992, is this year’s Grand Marshal of the Parade. The festival will feature four headliners on various stages including the hot Salsa-Timba-HipHop-Reggaeton hybrid of Pirulo Y La Tribu from Puerto Rico, Mexican Regional recording star Noel Torres, the infectious Punta sounds of Banda Blanca whose huge hit “Sopa De Caracol” is a party classic and the smooth Cuban crooner Franco will be singing his repertoire of timeless romantic classics.
There are also four stages of multi-cultural entertainment!. The stages will also feature some of the best entertainment anywhere including Jesus Diaz Y Su QBA, Momotombo SF, Sentimiento Y Manana, SambaDa, Agua Pura, Samba Funk w/King Theo, Puro Bandido, Los Kimberos, Banda Super Clave, the Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble, Afro-Cuban Ensemble of SFSU, Loco Bloco and more!. There will also be DJ block parties, a skating rink for the kids, a job fair and the Grand Parade which takes place on Sunday morning, Sunday 26th starting at 9:30 a.m. on 24th and Bryant Streets. The parade will also be broadcast on CBS Channel 5 co-hosted by Roberto Hernandez of CANA. For more info on all aspects of this year’s Carnaval SF, visit www.carnavalsanfrancisco.org.
Pacific Mambo Orchestra, the SF Bay’s Grammy Award winning orchestra will be playing a few local dates before they go to Europe for dates in Italy and back to a triumphant return at the Tempo-Latino Festival in Vic-Fezensac, France as headliners during their upcoming European tour this July! One of these dates will be this Friday, May 24th, 8 pm at the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley as part of the John Santos curated “Raices” series. Other dates include the radio station KCSM’s free Annual Jazz On the Hill at the College Of San Mateo campus on Saturday, June 1st. from Noon to 6 pm and in Sausalito on Sunday, June 23rd.
Pacific Mambo Orchestra is co-led by the phenomenal duo of pianist Christian Tumalan and trumpeter Steffen Keuhn who are two excellent players who have assembled the creme de la creme of Latin and Jazz players based here in the San Francisco Bay Area. For a complete list of these 20 plus great musicians, I suggest you to visit Pacific Mambo Orchestra’s web site: www.pacificmambo.com. From their beginnings at the late Salsa palace Cafe Cocomo on Monday nights to releasing three highly regarded cd’s including their Grammy winning first cd “PMO”. Fronting this phenomenal all-star orchestra are the powerhouse duo of stellar vocalists Christelle Durandy(pictured top left-Photo: Luis Medina) and Armando Cordova who are excellent. For more information on this Friday night’s show, go to www.thefreight.org.
Since this weekend is both Carnaval San Francisco and the three day Memorial Day holiday, there are a lot of parties and hot music to check out. There will be an official Carnaval after party featuring such stellar players as Jesus Diaz, Anthony Blea and other luminaries will keep the fire burning at the Mayes Oyster House on Polk Street in San Francisco. The 2nd official Carnaval after party will be at The Midway, 900 Marin in SF with Olea, Von Kiss, Chulita Vinyl Club & more! Always a party with Karabali, the amazing all star group led by two tremendous percussionists: Karl Perazo of Santana and percussionist/producer Michael Spiro will perform at the Seahorse on Sunday!
Blondies with rotating artists such as Carlitos Franco Salsa all-stars and El Rio with Pacho Y Su Orquesta Evolución will also feature parties in two of the Mission district’s favorite bars. Speaking of all-stars, the hot Peruvian salsa star Daniela Darcourt brings her “Atrevida and Teatral” tour to The Palace Of Fine Arts on Saturday night while legendary vocalist Charlie Aponte will play his repertoire of hits from his popular solo recordings and from the El Gran Combo to the present will be headlining at Club Fuego in Sunnyvale on Sunday evening. Orquesta Timbalero will be also performing at San Jose’s Mama Kin, the hot spot for Salsa, Bachata, Mambo, and more on Sunday starting at 5 pm.
See you next time!
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