Wednesday, February 28, 2024, 6-8:30pm will continue our music series held at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex)  – “The Annex Sessions”

Grupo Falso Baiano

Zack Pitt-Smith: woodwinds

Brian Moran: seven-string guitar

Jesse Appelman: mandolin

Ami Molinelli: percussion

Choro – a traditional form of popular Brazilian music, similar to jazz, blending Latin American rhythms with melodies and forms derived from classical music. It is generally an instrumental genre, closely linked to samba.

Grupo Falso Baiano is a choro group that offers a window into the history and diverse culture of Brazil. Choro is one of Brazil’s earliest forms of popular music, dating back to the late 1800s, and, similar to jazz, it reflects the melding of African rhythms with a melodic and harmonic structure closely resembling Baroque Classical music.

Grupo Falso Baiano | biographies

Brian Moran | 7-string guitar

7-string guitarist Brian Moran hails from New Jersey, where he grew up playing piano and clarinet before deciding to focus on guitar. As a graduate of the Berklee College of Music, Brian worked as a jazz guitarist and composer before discovering the rich tradition of the Brazilian 7 string guitar. Since then, he travels often to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, expanding his studies of the 7-string guitar, Brazilian mandolin and cavaquinho, a type of ukulele with Portuguese origins used in many styles of Brazilian music.

In addition to playing with Brazilian quartet Grupo Falso Baiano, Brian has performed with Jorge Alabê, Bruce Forman, Mundell Lowe, and Harvey Wainapel, amongst others, and was the bandleader, arranger and composer for jazz sextet Blowout, whose 2003 CD The Supporting Theory was released to critical acclaim.

Zack Pitt-Smith | reeds Woodwinds player

Zack Pitt Smith began his musical journey by playing a drum set at age 6. By age 11 the New York native was performing on the saxophone and studying woodwind technique and music theory at Eastman School of Music and later at Berklee College of Music. He went on to earn a degree in Ethnomusicology from Brown University. Zack has found his richest inspiration in several of Brazil’s traditional music styles. He has shared the stage with Jovino Santos, Harvey Wainapel, and Marcos Silva, Gene Harris, Slide Hampton and James Williams.

Jesse Appelman | mandolin (bandolim)

A Bay Area native, Jesse Appelman continues to split his time and his passion between Brazilian jazz and bluegrass. At the age of 11 he began studying his interest of bluegrass music by teaching himself the style’s requisite instruments – guitar and mandolin. Jesse first heard Brazilian master mandolin player Jacob do Bandolim in a formal lesson and “fell into the deep well that is Brazilian music.” Jesse is a graduate of Wesleyan University and spent six months studying Afro-Brazilian cultural history at the Universidade Catolica de Salvador and mandolin at the Universidade Federal da Bahia in Brazil. Jesse plays mandolin for Grupo Falso Baiano; and is a founding member of local bluegrass outfit Five Dollar Suit, which opened the 2007 San Francisco Bluegrass and Old-Time Festival. Jesse has shared the stage with Mike Marshall, Harvey Wainapel, Danilo Brito and Dudu Maia

Ami Molinelli | percussion

Based in San Francisco, Ami Molinelli is currently a freelance musician, curriculum director for SFJazz and M.U.S.T., and currently plays percussion for Grupo Falso Baiano where her lyrical less-is-more approach, coupled with extensive research of traditional rhythms and styles both in Brazil and abroad, has earned her audience admiration and the respect of colleagues. She has studied Pandeiro and percussion with artists Guello, Marcos Suzano, Claudo Bebbiano, Randy Gloss, Michael Spiro and Durval Poeira to name a few. Ami earned a Master of Fine Arts in World Music form the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and has studied Brazilian percussion and dance at the Universidade Federal da Bahia in Salvador. Ami endorses Rhythm Tech percussion.

www.grupofalsobaiano.com

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.

Wednesday, February 21, 2024, 6-8:30pm will continue our music series held at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex)  – “The Annex Sessions”

Karamo Susso & Friends – Kora Music of Mali

The kora, the 21-stringed harp lute of West Africa, originated in the ancient Kingdom of Mali more than a thousand years ago. Tradition tells us that djinns brought it into this world and gave it to the griots: families whose place in the culture was to sing the epics of heroes and relate histories. The griots played kora and sang in court to praise the kings, and in the villages to carry news and to celebrate traditional ceremonies. The music is intricate, elegant, and potent. It is sweet while strong, percussive while lyrical, active while calm. Centuries of complex tradition are heard in it, as are simple truths.

International kora star Karamo Susso will join us to celebrate Malian music. A well-known African performer, he has appeared in the past few years in numerous settings, contributing his unique spirit, from solo ventures to such world fusions as the World Blues Band, Symphony of Koras, Soul Union, and the Manding Band. Susso was born in Gambia, raised in Mali, and is a singer and kora master. He grew up in a compound of griots, next door to Toumani Diabate. His uncle was Ballake Cissoko. Susso played kora and performed even before he was big enough to hold the instrument. He has since gone on to perform with many of Africa’s top stars and American musicians including Taj Mahal.

Amina Janta was born in Oakland, California. Her mother was a part of the african dance community since before she was born so she was raised doing african dance and has performed with various companies like Umoja Dance Ensemble and Harambee Dance Ensemble and artists like Luciano, Junior Toots, and Ikronik.

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.