“The Annex Sessions” Wednesday, September 18, 2024, 6-8:30pm will continue our music series held at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex)
Javier Navarrette’s “Modupue Wednesday with The Global Percussion Ensemble”
Pezhham Akhavass
Jim Santi Owen
Javier Navarrette
Jeff Pierre
Sekhar Sarukkai
The Global Percussion Ensemble is a group of esteemed musicians trained in various world percussion and Afro-Cuban, Afro-Haitian, North Indian, Persian and South Indian musical traditions.
Musician Bios
Pezhham Akhavass is an accomplished musician, percussionist, multi-instrumentalist, educator, music director, Voting Member of the Recording Academy (GRAMMY), and instructor known for his mastery of the tombak and daf. Born in Iran in 1980, Pezhham embarked on his musical journey at a young age under the guidance of his renowned father, Mostafa Akhavass
Jeff Pierre grew up in Haiti surrounded by traditional drumming, dance and singing. He started producing beats in high school and from there he wanted to take the culture to a new route. Jeff has a unique and fresh style which is a blend of electronic music with traditional Haitian drumming and singing. His work has been featured in films, TV shows and documentaries. Jeff’s goal is to present the magic of his culture in a new and elevated light and give people a beautiful experience that they can take with them through life.
Sekhar Sarukkai studied Mridangam under late vidwan T.A.S. Mani at the Karnataka College of Percussion in Bangalore. Sekhar plays South Indian instruments including Mridangam, Kanjira and Ghatam. After moving to California, he accompanied several local and international artists. He played on the Mridangam and Kanjira for ‘Shiva,’ conceived and choreographed by late legend Pandit Chitresh Das, and accompanied the Toronto Tabla Ensemble in the US and Canada on the Mrudangam.
Jim Santi Owen is an American percussionist, educator, producer, performer, grant writer and funder based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Drumming since the age of eight, Owen began an intensive training in the North Indian percussion instrument tabla in 1991, studying under Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri at the Ali Akbar College of Music, the California Institute of the Arts, and in India. In 1995, Owen began studying South Indian percussion instruments including mridangam, ghatam, kanjiraand morsing with master percussionist T.H. Subash Chandran, and the temple drum, thavil, with K. Sekar. At Cal Arts, He studied North Indian music and tabla accompaniment from Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and the art of accompaniment for the North Indian dance known as Kathak from Pandit Chitresh Das. He served as the Music Director for the San Francisco World Music Festival from 2009 to 2014 and is on faculty at Dominican University, The California Jazz Conservatory, LINES Ballet School, the California Institute of the Arts, and the Ali Akbar College of Music.
Javier Navarrette studied with masters in Cuba such as Miguel Angá Díaz; Jose Luis “Changuito” Quintana; Folklorico Nacional de Cuba; and with Bay Area masters John Santos; Michael Spiro; and Jesús Díaz. In 2022, Javier received the artist scholarship award with Plaza Cuba Travels to study music at La Escuela Nacional de Arte in Habana, Cuba.
He teaches music in public/private schools and in adult workshops. For the past 10 years, Javier has been teaching with Living Jazz Children’s Music Project in the Oakland public schools and at the summer Jam Camp for Children.
Javier produces Modúpue Sundays with Arts at the Basin, Rocky’s Market, Brooklyn Basin, Oakland, and the Neighborhood Sessions at The Annex in El Cerrito, both musical events presenting the Bay Area’s legendary musicians in the Afro-Latin music scene.
The Natural Grocery Company is proud to present this series in partnership with SunJams and Javier Navarrette Music Productions.
SunJams is committed to funding children’s music education in underserved public elementary schools. Your donation will help support this ongoing program.
All of the proceeds will go directly to our network of local musicians, each of whom have been severely impacted by the lack of events during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whether you donate $10, $100, or $1000 – any amount helps and will allow us to keep bringing music to our community! As always, your donation to SunJams 501(c)3 may qualify as tax exempt.
Javier Navarrette Music Productions continues to bring live music to several venues around the Bay Area. Javier has been a professional musician and music educator in the Oakland Unified School District for the past 20 years. Over the past few years Navarrette has produced outdoors events that have proven instrumental in enabling musicians to deal with some of the fallout of the pandemic and shutdown that followed.
COVID RELATED SAFETY MEASURES
Please be safe. Feel free to wear a mask if you prefer.
TICKETS
Tickets are NOT required for this venue, you can simply come in, order food and beverages at the Annex counter and pay at the register.