The Annex Sessions will continue Wednesday, February 7, 2024, 6-8:30pm at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex)

Adam Theis Quartet

featuring:

Adam Theis – trombone

Josh Jones – percussion

Colin Hogan – drums

Julian Hogan – piano

Performing Jazz & Latin Jazz

Adam Theis (pronounced “Thēese”) is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, bandleader and composer based in Oakland, CA who plays trombone, trumpet, tuba, bass, keyboards and anything/everything else he can get his hands on. In 2000, Theis co-founded Jazz Mafia – an eclectic artist collective of some of the most forward thinking and accomplished players in the fields of Electro, Hip-Hop, World, Classical and of course, Jazz. As Jazz Mafia’s director, Adam has assembled over 100 different live projects over the past 20 years and led/co-led dozens of acclaimed bands. He is also the Director of SFJAZZ’s Monday Night Band, Director of the Truckee Jazz Camp, and winner of the Gerbode-Hewlett Foundation’s “Emerging Composer” Grant.

Theis has produced and co-written music for notable artists such as Lyrics Born, Zion-I, Rebelution, Latyrx, Galactic, Ledesi, Blackalicious and many more. As a sideman, Adam and his horn section have created eclectic collaborations with a wide range of top level artists including: Bobby McFerrin, Roy Ayers, Chali 2na, Booker T. Jones, Spearhead, Zigaboo Modeliste, Zap Mama, Eric Lindell, Making Movies, St. Panther, DJ Qbert, Dead Winter Carpenters, KRS One, Wax Tailor, The New Master Sounds, Peter Rowan, Coultrain, J Boogie’s Dubtronic Science, The Velvet Teen and dozens more.

Adam’s commitment to bringing high quality, creative, independent, and diverse music to the Bay Area (and beyond!) lies at the center of the Jazz Mafia movement. He is a cornerstone of the music community – shaping the sound of San Francisco and influencing the lives and careers of hundreds of musicians and audience-members all over the world.

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 registers.

The Annex Sessions will continue Wednesday, January 31, 2024, 6-8:30pm at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex)

Julio Bravo & Friends

featuring: Julio Bravo – vocals

with special guests:
Jose Soto – piano & guitar

David Pinto – bass guitar

Alberto Palomino – percussion

Raul Ramirez – percussion

and possibly others!

Salsa from Peru and beyond!

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 registers.

The Annex Sessions will continue Wednesday, January 24, 2024, 6-8:30pm at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex)

Marina Lavalle Trio

featuring:

Marina Lavalle – vocals

Santiago “Coco” Linares – guitar

Pedro Rosales – cajon, vocals

The Music of Coastal Peru

Musician Bios:

Marina Lavalle (Vocalist)
Afro-Peruvian singer Marina Lavalle is one of the most distinctive performers in the Bay Area and one of the great voices of modern Peruvian music. An important figure in the resurgence of Afro-Peruvian music being Peru Negro Cultural Association Lead vocalist during 70s, Marina nurtures a carefully crafted blend of contemporary and traditional sounds. Accompanied by guitar, base and Peruvian cajón, she renders a soulful and vibrant interpretation of an array of rhythms in her musical heritage such as: Landó, Festejo, and Zamacueca, just to name a few.

Santiago “Coco” Linares (Guitar)
Coco Linares is a Peruvian guitarist, composer, and musical director born on October 12, 1955 in the district of San Luis, province of Cañete1. He studied classical guitar at the National Conservatory of Music for six years and was named a FAT (Early Artistic Training) level professor due to his outstanding guitar skills while still a student at the center1.

In 1978, he was invited to direct the Philharmonic Orchestra of Channel 5, presented by the renowned researcher and artist Nicomedes Santa Cruz. The same year, he won the award for Best Young Arranger1. During his tenure as musical director of Eva Ayllon, in 1993, he was a guest conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Peru, a historic event, as it was the first time in the history of Peruvian music that an academic director handed over the baton to a popular music director1. He was also the musical director of the first double compact disc made in Peru, Qué lindo es mi Perú, in which he directed practically all the great artists of Peruvian Creole music, such as Arturo “Zambo” Cavero, Oscar Avilés, Jesús Vásquez, Rafael Matallana, Pepe Vásquez, Cecilia Bracamonte, Cecilia Barraza, among others1. Linares has also been the musical director of other renowned Peruvian artists, such as Pepe Vásquez and Julie Freundt1.

In 2015, he was recognized by the Ministry of Culture as a “Meritorious Personality of Culture”

Pedro Rosales (Cajon-vocals)

Proyecto Lando director Pedro Rosales is a renowned cajon player celebrated for his fierce, energetic playing, his expressive vocal interpretations, his sensitivity as an accompanist, and his creative and prolific compositions.

Born in Lima, Peru, Pedro discovered his passion for the cajon at the age of fourteen, taking classes with maestro Ernesto Sandoval at the Museo de Arte de Lima. By 1989, he had joined folklorist Julio Casanovas’ Tradiciones Peruanas ensemble as a percussionist. In 1992, Pedro moved to San Francisco, where he co-founded the experimental ensemble Malambo Kombo with pianist Jorge Molina. In 1995, he co-founded De Rompe y Raja Cultural Association, who released four albums under his musical direction through 2013: “El Retorno” (2001), “Diaspora Negra” (2009), children’s album “Huaranguito” (2011) and Marina Lavalle’s “Sutil” (2010). In 2009, Pedro founded Proyecto Lando, releasing a number of original compositions in collaboration with arranger Felipe Pumarada, and performing extensively throughout Northern California.

Pedro’s skills as a cajon player developed under the guidance of his mentors, master Afro-Peruvian percussionists Manuel “Manguey” Vasquez, Eusebio “Sirio” Pititi, Braulio Barrera, and “Lalo” Izquierdo (founder, choreographer, percussionist/dancer of Peru Negro Cultural Association). Pedro is honored to have accompanied many of the most celebrated Peruvian singers and artists, including Pepe Vasquez, Jesus Vasques, Luis Abanto Morales, Arturo Zambo Cavero, Oscar Aviles, Lucia de la Cruz, Lucila Campos, Peru Negro, Bartola, Jorge Luis Jasso, Manuel Donayre, Rosa Flor, Carlos Hayre and Elizabeth Panchano, among others.

Pedro is well-known in the Bay Area music scene as a collaborator, sharing his knowledge and curiosity with musicians immersed in a variety of Afro-latin traditions.

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 registers.

The Annex Sessions will continue Wednesday, January 17, 2024, 6-8:30pm at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex)

Rhonda Benin Trio

featuring:

Rhonda Benin – vocals

John R. Burr – keyboards

Ron Belcher – acoustic bass

Jazz, Blues, Soul, and Pop

www.rhondabenin.com

Musician Bios:

RHONDA BENIN – Vocalist, Producer, Artist Teacher

“Benin’s got a coolly hip vocal, with a bit of hush and sugar and an undercurrent of big booming power. She can bend notes with a bass, talk serenade with a piano and steam the kettle from the drums”.                                                                     Ran Pacifica Tribune

San Francisco Bay Area vocalist, Rhonda Benin has earned a reputation for not just a good voice but showmanship, magnetic stage personality, humor, and of course her great dancing.  Rhonda’s impressive resume includes performances at SF Jazz, Yoshi’s, MOAD, The Healdsburg, Sonoma, Burlingame, Sausalito, Filmore, and Calistoga Jazz Festivals.  In the summer of 2012 Rhonda traveled to Hangzhou, China for a 3 month engagement at the JZ Jazz Club and was 2014 USA headliner for The Kigali Up Music Festival in Kigali, Rwanda.  In addition to singing, Rhonda is producer and founder of the annual Women’s History Month show “Just Like A Woman” a tribute to Bay Area Women In Music. Benin is a 26 year member of The GRAMMY nominated vocal ensemble Linda Tillery and The Cultural Heritage. She appears on the CHC’s 7 Cd’s and has toured 30 countries performing and recording with legendary artists such as Taj Mahal, Wilson Pickett, Richie Havens, Odetta. Al Green, Keb Mo, Santana, Patti Austin, Janis Ian, Jackson Brown, Hugh Masekela & Sweet Honey In The Rock.

In 2006 Rhonda produced her first solo CD, A Matter of the Heart a classic mix of jazz, blues, and soul and is currently working on her 2^nd CD.

Rhonda is on the teaching staff of Healdsburg Jazz ‘s Operation Jazz Band, San Francisco Arts Project, LEAP, California Conservatory of Music, Cal Performances and conducts her own school assemblies and workshops, “The Voice, The Hands The Feet”  “Twist and Shout” and “Love Letters Make Me Misty Blue”.

JOHN R. BURR – Pianist

John R. Burr is that rare pianist who combines jazz technique with a genuine love for folk music. The Philadelphia Weekly said, “Pianist extraordinaire John R. Burr has the most sparkling style since former Allman Brother-turned-Rolling Stone hired hand Chuck Leavell.” Discology wrote, “John R. Burr ranks with the best of the elegant jazzers.”

Years of touring and recording sessions with such artists as Maria Muldaur, The Alison Brown Quartet, Paul McCandless, Michael Manring, and Kathy Kallick, and recognition including a feature spot on Windham Hill’s Piano Sampler II are a testament of his talent.

Living in the San Francisco area, John R found himself at OTR Studios often recording on other people’s albums. There he met Cookie Marenco, the engineer on those sessions. When Cookie founded Blue Coast Records, she knew it was a matter of time before John R had a recording under his own name. The first solo piano album of many to come is called Quarter Tones and displays John R’ intimate relationship with the piano.

His playing is as likely to be inspired by James Taylor or Doctor John as by Oscar Peterson or the Yellowjackets although he says it is his love of folk music that has influenced him most. compassrecords.com/artist/john-r-burr

RON BELCHER – Bassist

Bassist Ron Belcher travels the world from France to Japan and throughout the United States bringing his rhythmically buoyant, emotionally uplifting style to the stage for a wide diversity of jazz artists.

Performing or recording with such international stars as Branford Marsalis, Regina Carter, Rodney Franklin, John Handy, and Pete Escovedo, as well as a literal “who’s who” of the San Francisco jazz scene, Ron has garnered a reputation as one of northern California’s first-call jazz bassists.

A passionate teacher and advocate for children’s education, Ron has served on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, Young Musicians’ Program, and has contributed to several seasons for the San Francisco Symphony’s Adventures In Music outreach program. Ron ‘s own studies include jazz improvisation and acoustic bass at several Bay Area colleges, culminating in a degree from Texas College, where he had the honor of membership in the East Texas All-Stars.

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 registers.

The Annex Sessions will resume on Wednesday, January 10, 2024, 6-8:30pm at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex)

Javier Navarrette’s “Opening the New Year” with Featured Guests!

featuring:

Kai Lyons – Tres, Vocal

Einar “Tito” Leliebre- Percussion, vocal

Yadier Noa – Bass

Javier Navarrette- percussion, vocal

Orisha, Changuii, Latin Jazz, Rumba, Descarga!

Bios:

Kai Lyons– is a 28-year-old San Francisco native. In 2022, he became the first foreigner to win 1st prize at the international changüí festival of Guantánamo Cuba, on the Cuban guitar known as the “tres cubano”.  He was the music director of Loco Bloco, winning 1st prize in the 2022 Carnaval parade of San Francisco. He is constantly traveling the world studying ancient and obscure styles in Cuba, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Ghana and Morocco. And bringing it back to The City, to create contemporary new, fresh music with local artists. He has performed with an array of musicians including Snow Tha Product, San Francisco Philharmonic, Haitian, Cuban, Brazilian and Malian music masters, and various members of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Jazz Guitar at Cal State East Bay and teaching-artist for the San Francisco Symphony.

Einar Leliebre Nuñez – has been a lead musician with the esteemed company Danza del Caribe in Santiago de Cuba since 2003. He also plays and sings with Obbatuke, Grupo Barracón (by Luca Brandoli), has collaborated with Oyu Oro (led by Danys “La Mora” Perez) in New York, Manana Cuba in Cuba, England, Spain and Scotland and many more. He has participated in many national festivals such as the Olorun Festival, the Romerías de Mayo, the Jornada de la Cultura Iberoamericana, as well as national tours. He can be invited or hired to perform (singing and percussion) for events and remotely, lead percussion sections, give individual or group instruction in song and drumming, mount music with musical groups and dance productions, and construct Bata drums by hand.  He is versed in the Folkloric music of Cuba, Rumba, religious music, and experimental collaborations with electronic and jazz styles. Visit this page or contact us for more information.

Yadier Noa Chamble –  is a bass player from Camagüey Cuba. He has had the opportunity to play with some of the best bands and musicians from the island, including Yasek Manzano, Boby Carcasef, Orlando Sanchez (Cubajazz), Orlando Valle (Maraca), Alfred Thompson and Caribbean Ensemble, Paulo FG y su Elite, Los Primos Jazz Project, Enrique Alvarez y su Charanga Latina, Azúcar Negra, and Tania Pantoja. Since moving to California, he has played with Orquesta Borinquen, Jamie Dubberly, Jesus Dias & Qba, Trio Mulatos, Orquesta Tainos, Orquesta NRumba, and La Moderna at the famed Yoshi’s in Oakland. He has performed at the Redwood City Salsa Festival, Hayward Latin Jazz Festival, Bay Area Latin Jazz Festival in Castro Valley, Berkeley Jazz Festival, and Berkeley Salsa Festival. He has also traveled to Canada and performed at the Halifax Jazz Festival. Yadier attended the National School of Music (EÑA), in Havana, Cuba, and subsequently taught bass there as a professor for 2 years. He is currently a bass professor at Community Music Center in San Francisco.

Javier Navarrette – is a professional percussionist, musician, composer, arranger and educator living in Oakland, California, specializing in Afro-Caribbean music. Javier’s performance and recording career spans over three decades. He has played and studied with many of the greats in the Afro-Latin music tradition, and has recorded on three Grammy-nominated albums with John Santos and the Machete Ensemble/ Folklorico Kindembo.

Javier 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.

Amongst Javier’s groups are Javier Navarrette’s Latin Jazz Trio and Javier Navarrette’s Socially Distant Friends.

In 2021-22, coming out of the pandemic, Javier produced Modúpue Sundays with Arts at the Basin, Brooklyn Basin, Oakland. He currently produces the Neighborhood Sessions at The Annex in El Cerrito, and a pilot program at the Alameda Radium Runway Project, presenting the Bay Area’s legendary musicians in the Afro-Latin music tradition.

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 registers.