“The Annex Sessions” will continue our music series held at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex) on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, 6-8:30pm

 

Javier’s Birthday Celebration

Javier Navarrette Presents

“Modupue Wednesday” with the Great Edgardo Cambón Trio!

 

Edgardo Cambón- congas, lead vocals

David Pinto- bass

Marco Diaz- piano, vocals

 

And Special Surprise Guests!

 

Edgardo Cambón: congas, lead vocals

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1960, Edgardo began his musical journey at just none years old. Charming his audiences on Uruguayan television with his enchanting tango performances, Cambón’s journey in music has spanned continents, leading him from the heart of South America to the Diverse cultural scenes of Europe and Africa and finally to a successful career in the United States staring in 1986

 

David Pinto: bass

David is a Peruvian native best-known for his work as music director, arranger, and bassist for Grammy-winner Susana Baca, Diva of Afro-Peruvian song. He was member of Peru Jazz, a group highly praised for their innovation and fusion of Peruvian roots and jazz.

He has performed at various international jazz and world music festivals, such as WOMAD in Nice, Paris, Glastonbury, and Montreal. He has toured internationally in theaters, including The Kennedy Center and The Hollywood Bowl, Theatre De La Ville (Paris), and Royal Festival Hall (London). David also leads and performs with his own group Syncopated Colors, as well as teaching at the Jazz School in Berkeley, California.

 

Marco Diaz: piano, vocals

Marco Diaz was born and raised in San Francisco and was introduced to the trumpet in the fourth grade at E.R. Taylor Elementary School. His formal training in both piano and trumpet began at the age of 14. He earned a scholarship from the Community Music Center in San Francisco, and began playing professionally at the age of 17 throughout the Bay Area with various Latin Jazz, Salsa, Reggae, and R&B bands. Upon graduating from high school, he continued his studies at San Francisco State University pursing a Bachelors of Arts in Popular Music and a minor in Economics.

In addition to his studies Marco has been influenced by Afro-Cuban music through world renowned musicians, such as, Jesus Diaz, who he played and recorded with for eight years, John Santos, Orestes Vilato, Edgardo Cambon, and Carlos Caro.

Today, Marco is part of the faculty at the Community Music Center in San Francisco and has been a part of the SFJAZZ teaching artist program since 2017. He is an accomplished recording musician who has shared the stage with Grammy Award winning artist, Israel “Cachao” Lopez, Nelson Gonzales, Jimmy Bosch, Pete “El Conde” Rodriguez, Ska Cubano (Europe), Tito Rojas, Nino Segarra, Anthony Cruz, Anthony Blea, Jovino Santos Neto, Joe Santiago, and is an integral member of the John Santos sextet, and the musical director for Bobi Cespedes.  Marco has participated in the San Francisco Symphony AIM program since 2000 and currently produces records and performs music throughout the country while also co-leading Vission Latina, an Afro-Caribbean dance band, and director of his own quartet, The Marco Diaz Quartet.

In 2011, Marco Diaz was part of the faculty at Jazz Camp West. He toured the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington State with Bobi Cespedes, teaching children and adults the roots of Afro-Cuban music. Marco also performed at the San Francisco, Tanglewood, and Monterey Jazz Festivals, and the Smithsonian Museum with world renowned ethno-musicologist, John Santos and his Sextet. In the Fall, Marco began his ninth season with the San Francisco Symphony’s AIM (adventures in music) program.

 

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 on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, 6-8:30pm at The Annex (El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex) 10387 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito with

Rhonda Benin & Friends

featuring:

Rhonda Benin
Lorenzo Hawkins
Charles Spikes
Wilson Brooks

Songs of Peace: Jazz, Blues, Soul, and Pop

www.rhondabenin.com

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”.

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 our music series held at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex) on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, 6-8:30pm with

 

Mónica María & Katiana Vilá

& friends

 

Mónica María is a vocalist, multi instrumentalist and composer.  She has been a performing artist in the Bay Area since 2002 and released her debut album of original music “Nuevos Caminos” in 2020.  She is an alumni of SFSU with a BA in Vocal Jazz and World Music.  After many years of studying and performing salsa, cuban son, latin jazz and other Latin music genres, she developed a love for son jarocho (traditional music from the south of Veracruz, Mexico) which has become the genre music which she is most dedicated to.  Mónica María’s original compositions are a blend of these musical and cultural influences, yet also reflect her Californian roots.  She has had the joy and honor of collaborating with many musicians here in the bay and in Mexico such as John Calloway, Anthony Blea, Jesus Diaz, Jackie Rago, Laura Rebolloso, Pablo Emiliano Garcia and Jeronimo Gonzalez.  MonicaMariaMusic.com

Katiana Vilá is a vocalist, percussionist, songwriter and producer from the California Bay Area. Her sound serves as a bridge between her ancestral roots and her Californian upbringing. She enjoys creating and interpreting songs on the Colombian Cuatro, and plays a variety of Latin and Spanish percussion instruments sparked by her passion for traditional and popular songs from these regions and her years spent studying and traveling. All these elements come together to create a unique world that reflects on the past and provokes the future.  She is a recent graduate from the Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Spain where she received her Master’s in Music Production and Performance and with her newfound skills is ready to keep creating more music and learning how to fine tune her capabilities as a self-producing and performing artist all over the world.

www.MonicaMariaMusic.com

 

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.