Wednesday, March 1, 2023, 6-8:30pm will continue our music series held at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex)  – “The Annex Sessions”

Josh Jones Latin Jazz Trio

Josh Jones – Drums
Chloë Scott Jones – Flute/Percussin
Colin Hogan – Keys/Bass

Josh Jones

Drummer & Percussionist Josh Jones is recognized internationally from his touring and recording with Don Cherry, Steve Coleman, and Omar Sosa. He also supports Latin Jazz artists when they come to town including Cuban royalty Chuchito Valdes, Yosvany Terry, Carlos del Puerto, Kali Rodriguez, Nestor Torres and Mezcla. His recent recording projects include “Then and Now” with Blue Note recording artist Benny Green, as well as a project with Chuchito Valdes. Other notable recordings include Yosvany Terry & Columna B, Peter Apfelbaum, Steve Bernstein, Chico Freeman, Arthur Blythe, Larry Coryell, Tupac Shakur, Zion-I, Taj Mahal, Bob Weir, and AfroCuba de Matanzas. Josh continues to perform with his various ensembles at clubs and festivals in the Bay Area and remains a major influence on the jazz community not only as a performer, but as a highly respected educator.

Chloë Scott Jones

Born In London and raised in San Francisco, Chloë now lives in Oakland and plays Jazz, Latin Jazz and Afro-Cuban music with various groups throughout the Bay Area. Some recent notable performances include Taylor Eigsti’s project “Imagine Our Future” featuring Lisa Fischer & Eric Harland, as well as John Calloway’s “Flute Odyssey,” in addition to many music series @ SFJAZZ. Chloë studied with Yaada Weber at the San Francisco Conservatory for many years, and went on to earn a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance from San Francisco State, studying with SF Symphony’s own Linda Lukas.

Colin Hogan

Colin was born in San Francisco and was a member of the world-renowned Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble, while also studying with the Jazz School’s founder, Susan Muscarella. He then attended Cal State East Bay (Hayward) where he earned a BA in Piano Performance. Colin has performed on five continents with many legendary musicians including Larry Graham, David Garibaldi, Lenny Pickett, Roy Ayers, James Moody, Too $hort, Peter Erskine, DJ Qbert, Kurt Elling, and Maria Schneider. Colin is currently involved in many projects including The Tommy Igoe Groove Conspiracy, The Jazz Mafia, Mads Tolling and the Mads Men, Oakadelic, and The Hogan Brothers with brothers Steve and Julian. He currently lives in Oakland, CA.

The Natural Grocery Company is proud to present this series in partnership with SunJams and Javier Navarrette Music.

SunJams is committed to funding children’s music education in underserved public elementary schools. Your donation will help support this ongoing program.

In addition, we need to raise funds to continue bringing you this exciting new live music 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 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 15, 2023, 6-8:30pm will continue our music series held at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex)  – “The Annex Sessions”

DíaPaSón is an ensemble of musicians and dancers who specialize in Mexican folk music and dance,particularly the son jarocho, in the interest of promoting and preserving the cultural treasures of Mexican folkloric traditions. DíaPaSón artists are active in the rich sonero community of the Bay Area and have collectively and individually studied the son art form with internationally renowned master artists of son jarocho. DíaPaSón often has the honor of having master artists from Mexico perform in its programs and collaborate in projects. The ensemble is under the directorship of María de la Rosa.

Each experience of DíaPaSón is a polyrhythmic delight of lyric and melodic improvisation. Voices accompanied by primarily stringed and percussive handcrafted instruments of natural materials create a dynamic, rustic sound that tells ancient and modern tales of love, courtship, happiness and the beauties of life as well as injustice, loss, and death. Hundreds of years old, the son jarocho is a living, contemporary art form that continues to evolve with time and under the influences of trans-cultural exchange and inter- generational dialogue.

Since 2010, DíaPaSón has appeared on prestigious stages throughout California and Mexico including: Oakland Museum of California, De Young Museum, Mexican Heritage Plaza, La Peña Cultural Center and others, including opening for Son de Madera at the 2nd annual San Francisco Son Jarocho Festival and for Caña Dulce y Caña Brava at the 6th annual San Francisco Son Jarocho Festival, both at the Brava Theater. In 2016, DíaPaSón joined the National Performance Network (NPN) touring roster after completion of works commissioned by the NPN Creation Fund and a two-week artist residency at La Peña Cultural Center subsidized by NPN. In 2017, the ensemble completed intensive workshops with legendary son jarocho master Patricio Hidalgo and opened the concert “Floreando Nuevas Fronteras” also featuring Patricio Hidalgo and Los Hermanos Vega in the culmination of an artistic residency project by María de la Rosa that was funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The ensemble performed virtually in projects presented during the pandemic shutdown and over the last two years, has completed virtual and hybrid projects through the City of Oakland’s Neighborhood Voices project while emerging back to live performances throughout the Bay Area and beyond.

We are proud to present this series in partnership with SunJams and Javier Navarrette Music.

SunJams is committed to funding children’s music education in underserved public elementary schools. Your donation will help support this ongoing program.

In addition, we need to raise funds to continue bringing you this exciting new live music 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 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 1, 5-7:30pm will continue our music series at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex). The Annex Sessions are held on first and third Wednesdays. The Bob Crawford Trio will draw from a diverse repertoire, weaving Cuban, Brazilian and Jazz. This ensemble will bring you individual virtuosity and group creativity.

The series is co-produced by Sunjams, Javier Navarrette Music and The Natural Grocery Company. 

The Bob Crawford Trio is

Bob Crawford- keys

Julio de la Cruz- bass

Colin Douglas – drums

Musicians Bios-

Bob Crawford was born in Long Beach California and raised in the Bay Area with his 12 brothers and sisters. Primarily self taught, he started playing in bands with his saxophone playing twin brother during their college years. After graduating, Bob gained experience in various Bay Area ensembles, playing jazz, funk, Latin and Brazilian music. In 2001 he was offered the keyboard chair in Michael Franti’s band Spearhead. Bob logged multiple tours throughout the United States, Australia, Canada, Europe and Japan. Bob also recorded on several of Spearhead’s albums and appeared on a number of international TV programs with the band. Also with Spearhead, Bob found himself performing with a who’s who of international stars, including Tre Anastasio, Me’Shell NDegeOcello, Chuck D, Ani DiFranco, Jack Johnson, Robert Randolph, Woody Harrleson, Mixmaster Mike, as well as members of Ozomatli, Zap Mama, and Galactic.

Bob took a break from extensive touring to spend time with his family, and to pursue his own musical vision. Now residing in the East Bay, Bob continues to perform and record with a variety of artists, including Fito Reinoso y su Ritmo y Armonia, Mazacote, Boca De Rio, Greg Errico (Sly and the Family Stone), Ray Obiedo, Pete Escovedo, Lee Oskar (War), Lenny Williams and Mic Gillette (Tower of Power), Pedrito Calvo (Los Van Van) Richard Bean (Malo), The New York Gypsy Allstars, as well as members of El Chicano, Santana, Tierra, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and many more.

Recently, Bob has served as the musical director for the Latin Kings Allstar band, which features members from Tower of Power, Malo, and The Whispers. He has worked with the fantastic Alayo Dance Company and the Stagebridge Theatre Group. He has also worked for two years with the San Francisco Symphony’s “Adventures in Music” program, bringing music to every public elementary school in San Francisco. Bob also leads his own piano trio, and is founding member of the latin jazz-funk band Machina Sol.

Julio De la Cruz was born and raised in Havana, Cuba. In 1980 at the age of 12, he first began his studies as a musician, specializing in percussion instruments while simultaneously studying music theory and composition.

From 1987 to 1992, Julio participated in several projects and festivals in Havana and other provinces in Cuba. In 1992 left Cuba to perform on tour with the Puerto Rican Singer José Feliciano as part of the released production: “Calle Latina.”

From 1993 to 2009, Julio moved to Mexico, where he lived and worked accompanying Celia Sanchez, one of the famous Sonora matancera singers, along with Salsa Queen Celia Cruz. Julio then moved to Los Cabos ( also in Mexico), where he became part of the house band rocker Sammy Hagar’s club Cabo Wabo and accompanied American guest performers such as Toby Keith and Sammy Hagar himself, among others.

During this time in Mexico, Julio continued to perfect his skills as a percussionist but also taught himself to play the Piano and Bass, making him a multi-instrumentalist performer. In 2009, Julio moved to The United States, joining many bands in the San Francisco Bay area in California. Julio plays with the Pacific Mambo Orchesta.

GRAMMY nominated drummer/percussionist Colin Douglas was born in New York City into a musical family. As the son of a music producer, her grew up experimenting with many different instruments and soon settled on drums and percussion. He went on to study percussion at both the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music as well as the Manhattan School of Music, where he worked extensively in both the classical percussion and jazz drumset programs.

After college Colin became interseted in the world of Latin percussion and studied both in Cuba, as well as with many master percussionists in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he has lived and played professionally for years.

Mr. Douglas has performed and recorded with a diverse group of musicians ranging from Latin acts such as Jesus Diaz Y Su QBA, Ray Obiedo, and the Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet (with whom Mr. Douglas recieved a Grammy Nomination in 2013), to R&B and Rock acts such as Donna Summer and Slash.

Last Neighborhood Session of 2022! Don’t miss out!

Wednesday, December 7, 2022, 5-7:30pm will continue our music series held at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex)  – “Neighborhood World Music Sessions at The Annex.”

John Santos and Trio Colibrí (John Santos, Jose Roberto Hernandez, Manuel Constancio) with Special Guest Vocalist, Marina La Valle

Gorgeous Latin American classics and originals. Trio Colibri is comprised of three stalwart Bay Area musicians drawn together by a common passion for the lyrical and poetic music of Latin America. Using guitars, Afro-Latin percussion and beautiful vocal arrangements, they transport audiences to other countries, realms and eras, always with an element of originality while honoring profound musical traditions and innovators. Mambo, bolero, son, joropo and guaracha are some of the rhythms they use, igniting dancers and daring concert audiences to stay still in their seats.

Multi-Grammy nominee and San Francisco Latino Heritage Arts Awardee, John Santos, is one of the foremost bandleaders, composers, producers, percussionists, and educators in Afro-Latin music. Throughout a 50-plus year career based in the Bay Area, he has worked with acknowledged masters including Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Cachao, Eddie Palmieri, and Omar Sosa, and has lectured and taught throughout the United States, Europe and Latin America.

Jose Roberto Hernandez is a highly respected multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer, arranger, producer, musical educator, and ethnomusicologist. He was born in the city of Cardenas, Tabasco, Mexico, surrounded by master folklorists. He is a unique artist whose devotion, creativity, and studies in the genres of traditional music from México, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Argentina have earned him great recognition and fan appreciation. Throughout a 25 year career, he has collaborated with countless respected artists from all over Latin America including Orestes Vilato, Jesus Diaz, Bobi Cespedes, Manuel Constancio, Marina Lavalle, Lalo Izquierdo, Kat Parra, Edgardo Gambon, Felipe Pumarada, Ernesto Oviedo, Pedro Rosales, Peta Robles, John Santos, Greg Landau, and Los Cenzontles. JOSEROBERTOMUSIC.COM

Manuel Constancio Jr. is an accomplished and versatile guitarist/vocalist originally from San Jose, CA. His 25-year association with the Navy Band found him directing the NATO band in Naples, Italy, as well as director at Treasure Island in San Francisco and in San Diego. He was the Navy’s first “minority” band director. He co-directs the band Sabrosito with his brother José.

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, Marina Lavalle nurtures a carefully crafted blend of contemporary and traditional sounds.

We are proud to present this series in partnership with SunJams and Javier Naverrette Music.

SunJams is committed to funding children’s music education in underserved public elementary schools. Your donation will help support this ongoing program.

In addition, we need to raise funds to continue bringing you this exciting new live music 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 our 501(c)3 may qualify as tax exempt.

Javier Navarrette Music 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 2 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. Most recently he has been curating “Modúpue Sundays at the Brooklyn Basin.” These musical productions ran from June–November 2021 at the new Oakland hot spot, the Brooklyn Basin, with internationally known, Bay Area musical legends.

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.

A SPECIAL NOTE FROM SUNJAMS

This series, Neighborhood World Music Sessions started at the #elcerritonaturalgrocerycompany’s Annex, in El Cerrito in April. It has been bringing shows by world class musicians to this community and has brought us a lot of joy to produce. With support from The Annex, a $1000 donation from one of our board members, and donations from the audience, we are very proud to have been able to share the gift of live music with so many.

Our funds are running low, and we need a few generous donors to step up.

We need to raise $9,600 to continue this series for a year. We will be applying for grants to continue beyond that as long as the series is of value to the community.

Our mission is to support music education in public elementary schools. We believe in supporting local musicians who are involved in music education and who have to make so many sacrifices to survive in the Bay Area with its many challenges to lower income and minority groups. There is no music education without dedicated musicians in our community, and we believe in fostering the live music scene to keep our communities healthy.

Please share this post if you have attended these shows, and please donate to our program.