Wednesday, October 18, 2023, 6-8:30pm will continue our music series held at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex)  – “The Annex Sessions”

Marimba Pacifica

Hadley Louden – Vibes, Percussion, Bass Marimba – Founder and ComposerSeth Tager – Traps – Original Member since 1996

Jeannette Diaz Veizades – Bass Marimba, Djembe and Percussion – Member since the 90s

Orlando Obligacion – Congas – Member since the turn of the Century

Ashanti Johnson – Lead Vocals and Member since 2019

Marimba Pacifica, together since 1996, is California’s longest-running Marimba Ensemble. Playing a Bay Area blend of African, Latin and World Music, they are happy to present an early Dia De Los Muertos celebration, with special songs for the Goddess Oya. Members include life-long performers and educators from throughout the Bay Area.

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, October 11, 2023, 6-8:30pm will continue our music series held at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex)  – “The Annex Sessions”

Charged Particles 

The most exciting and creative music being made today crosses stylistic boundaries and blends diverse traditions to create engaging new sounds.  Charged Particles features three of the country’s virtuosos doing just that in the acoustic and electric jazz arena.  Murray Low is a keyboard wizard with dazzling Latin-jazz technique and imaginative improvisational skills.  Aaron Germain is an inventive and sophisticated acoustic and electric bassist.  Along with fiery drummer Jon Krosnick, these players are making some of the most electrifying jazz in the country today.

The trio’s funky Latin jazz repertoire, blending in elements of classical music, mixes complex orchestration with freewheeling improvisation.  The band brings a similar approach to playing their own arrangements of jazz standards, each played with a new twist.

All of the trio’s music has a distinctly acoustic sensibility, despite the members playing both acoustic and electric acoustic instruments.  The group’s hallmark is sensitivity and spontaneity among the players, making each performance a spontaneous group exploration.   The band’s energy level is always high, even when they are cooking at a volume no louder than a whisper, or floating through the melody of a romantic ballad.   Watching the group, it’s obvious that they have fun playing together and admire each other’s musical instincts.

Charged Particles made its public debut on National Public Radio Affiliate WDET’s live performance program, “Detroit Jazz Alive”, originating in Detroit, Michigan.  The group’s one-hour live performance drew wide attention and opened the door to performances at festivals and clubs around the world.  In addition to its own headline performances, the band has opened for national recording artists such as Al DiMeola, Stanley Jordan, Yanni, and the group has had such international mega-star drummers as Peter Erskine and Dennis Chambers and percussionist Doc Gibbs sit in with them.

In 2011, the third generation of Charged Particles was born in California.  The west coast trio began with Murray Low firing up the keyboards and Jason Muscat on electric bass.  When Jason joined the touring band “Tainted Love”, Aaron Germain took over blazing on the acoustic and electric basses.  Playing new original compositions, as well as the long-time original repertoire of the band and compositions by their favorite contemporary composers, Murray, Aaron, and Jon are busy gigging.

Highlights for the band in recent years have been a performance on the main stage of Yoshi’s San Francisco jazz club accompanying French Vietnamese guitarist Nguyen Le playing his compositions, an appearance accompanying vocalist Kevyn Lettau singing her compositions at Cafe Cordiale in Los Angeles, and performances in the Los Angeles area with keyboardist David Garfield.

The band has been collaborating regularly with powerhouse vocalist Rocío Guitard.

An exciting innovation for the group has been its collaboration with powerhouse reed player Paul McCandless (of the famed super-group Oregon) playing his own compositions.  The group has been appearing as headliners at the famed jazz clubs Birdland (in New York City), Blues Alley (in Washington, DC), Yoshi’s (in San Francisco), and Nighttown (in Cleveland), as well as at the San Luis Obispo Jazz Festival, the Stanford Jazz Festival, the Erie Blues and Jazz Festival, and other venues around California and the east coast.

Another exciting project is a celebration of the music of tenor saxophone great Michael Brecker, featuring Bay Area tenor saxophonist Tod Dickow.  The group has been bringing alive Brecker’s music and spirit.  Their CD of the music gained acclaim in numerous jazz publications world-wide, including lengthy feature articles in Jazziz magazine and Jazz Times magazine, plus airplay on numerous radio stations in the U.S. and abroad.  The trio has been touring with Dickow around the U.S. and in the U.K., and a recent sold-out show featured Brecker’s brother, acclaimed trumpeter Randy Brecker, at the famed jazz club Birdland in New York City.

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.

We are planning to go to weekly programming starting October 2023, through the end of the year. There is no admission fee. This series is a fundraising campaign, in support of local musicians and childhood music education.

Live World Music on Wednesdays from 6:00-8:30pm at The Annex, 10387 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito.

Wednesday, October 4: Jim Santi Owens & Friends (Indian/World Percussion)
Wednesday, October 11: Charged Particles (Jazz)
Wednesday, October 18: Hadley Louden & Marimba Pacifica
Wednesday, October 25: To Be Confirmed (Blues/Jazz Vocal)

The Annex Sessions received a donation of $3,000 and has an offer of an additional $2000 to match any donations made in the month of October.

We are inviting business owners and donors to contribute to allow the weekly sessions to continue through 2024.

Donations of $1000 ( or more) will receive listing in SunJams promotional package and get a reservation for 4 at one of their events ( with complimentary bottle of wine). Donations will be matched by one of SunJams board members, up to $2000. This means that donating now will double the impact of your donation. Sunjams has a limited number of reserved seats to offer. These seats are only available via SunJams

Please consider supporting SunJams fundraising efforts. Every dollar helps.

Come join us & build community!

Wednesday, October 4, 2023, 6-8:30pm will continue our music series held at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex)  – “The Annex Sessions”

Jim Santi Owen & Friends 

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 CalArts, Owen studied Jazz with Charlie Haden, James Newton, and Tootie Heath and African drumming and dance from the Ladzekpo Brothers. 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.  Owen holds a Bachelor’s of Humanities from New College of California and a Master’s degree in World Music from California Institute of the Arts.  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. Owen served a 3-year term as a panelist on the Zellerbach Family Fund’s Community Arts Panel, sits on arts panels for the San Francisco Arts Commission, and is Co-Chair of Development for the Swapan Chaudhuri Foundation. He served for six years as Chair of the Funding Advisory Committee for the Cultural Affairs Division of the City of Oakland and was recently appointed as a Cultural Affairs Commissioner by the Mayor of Oakland.

Owen’s work as a composer/producer is featured on Meta’s (Facebook’s) Sound Collection which has released over 150 of his original and traditional world music tracks highlighting the classical music of North and South India, folk musics of Rajasthan and Bengal, traditional music of Ghana, and classical traditions of Iran and the Middle East. As CEO of Jim Santi Owen Music, Inc., he managed a six hundred-thousand-dollar budget from Facebook to produce these tracks. His music has been used on Facebook and Instagram for over 16 million reels and other user generated content.

Jim Santi Owen has performed extensively with world-class musicians from a myriad of cultural and musical backgrounds.  These include his gurus, Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri, Subash Chandran, and K. Sekar with whom he performed both in India and the U.S.  Other internationally renowned artists with whom Owen has performed include:  Jazz legend Pharoah Sanders, Nubian musician Hamza el Din, Double violin virtuoso Shenkar (L. Shankar) guitar innovator Stanley Jordan, Kathak dance master Pandit Chitresh Das, sitar maestro Kartik Seshadri, renowned Persian vocalist Sharam Nazeri, drum set virtuosoSteve Smith, minimalist composer Terry Riley, Jazz saxophonist Joseph Jarman (Art Ensemble of Chicago), Israeli oud player Yair Dalal, young sarode maestro Alam Khan, tabla virtuoso Bikram Ghosh, kanjira exponent Ganesh Kumar, Indo-Jazz fusion artist George Brooks, didgeridoo master Stephen Kent, devotional singer Jai Uttal, avant-garde pianist Myra Melford, Italian percussionist Alessandra Belloni, Tibetan artist Techung, Gamelan Sekar Jaya, Burmese pot-waing player Kyaw Kyaw Naing,Rova Saxophone Quartet, Cuban pianist Omar Sosa and bansuri flute exponent Steve Gorn.  Owen has also appeared on numerous recordings in America and has recorded in India with ghatam maestro T.H. Vikku Vinayakram and kanjira wizard Selva Ganesh.

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, September 20, 2023, 6-8:30pm will continue our music series held at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex)  – “The Annex Sessions”

Danilo y Trio Universal

🎶 Singing in five languages and playing a dozen different rhythms, Danilo y Trio Universal truly have a repertoire with something for every musical taste.

In his extensive musical career, Danilo has performed as a percussionist with internationally known musicians such as Carlos Santana, Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Jerry Garcia and Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead, and Mary Wilson of The Supremes. With his guitar trio, Danilo demonstrates his mastery of guitar and vocals. He is accompanied on percussion and lead vocals by Olga Vinnik, and on saxophone and backing vocals by Madison Bohrer.

Come Join us for an unforgettable evening!

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

The KTO Project’s Mafaro eZimbabwe “Unplugged” 

🎶 Get ready for an incredible concert celebrating The KTO Project’s new album release, Mafaro eZimbabwe!

Kelly Takunda Orphan is joining forces with Mbira dzaSoko and guitarist Nathan Okite to present music from Zimbabwe, soulful vocals, rhythmic mbira and East African guitar. Don’t miss this unforgettable experience!

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, August 16, 2023, 6-8:30pm will continue our music series held at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex)  – “The Annex Sessions”

Andre Thierry & His Accordion Soul Music! 

Although born and raised in Richmond, California, Andre’s French-Kreole heritage is deeply rooted in Louisiana. He embarked on a path with specific knowledge and extraordinary talents at a very young age. True to his culture and love of music, he has crafted a career well beyond his years as an artist.

Andre grew up experiencing the French Kreole (La-La) dances his grandparents held at their church parish, St. Mark’s Catholic Church. The best Zydeco musicians Louisiana had to offer traveled to California to play at these dances. The exposure allowed him to develop his love for traditional French Kreole music. Andre regularly played with visiting bands, such as the late John Delafose and many local Zydeco and Cajun bands, including the late Danny Poullard (California Cajun Orchestra). By age twelve, Andre formed his band, “Zydeco Magic.” Andre is self-taught and constantly increases his repertoire.

In his 30’s, he had already been deemed a legend. There is widespread agreement that he is an exceptional, multi-dimensional musician with a finely honed ability to merge his accordions with musical mastery.

The Washington Post called Andre “A master at pumping out fast, funky rhythms on an instrument not usually associated with earthy syncopation. A versatile student of the music, Thierry can’t be lumped into Zydeco’s old-school R&B-influenced camp or its nouveau, rap-inspired one: He and his band lay down both soulful, traditional slow-dances and bottom-end-booming kinetic groovers.”

Michael Tisserand, author of The Kingdom of Zydeco, considered the definitive book on the history of Zydeco music, wrote,”In America, great migrations produce great music. Just as Delta musicians took Highway 61 to Chicago and electrified their blues, so did the Kreoles and Cajuns migrate to California and establish vital dance communities. Now the California scenes rival anything back home in Louisiana, and that’s due to players like Andre Thierry, a standard-bearer for the new generation. Thierry is among the best of both the West Coast and the Gulf Coast, and he combines youthful vigor with a mature appreciation for his inherited tradition.”

Andre’s style isn’t conventional; he and his accordions provide a signature sound by creating magnetic, sonic landscapes. The rhythmic songs drive an atmospheric blend, giving his band a powerful edge, naturally building a dedicated following through performing, touring, and a string of album recordings like “It’s About Time,” “A Whole Lotta Somthin” and “Are You Ready To Learn”.

Thierry leaves his musical imprints on recordings like “Live! At the Woodshop”, “Kreole United, Non-Jamais Fait” and “Kreole United, Tu Kekchause A’ Korrek”, even when singing, songwriting, and producing with a collective of artists, while their contributions are discernible,

In his “Bouncin With The Blues” album, Thierry performs songs written or popularized by music legends:  Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters, Albert King, and Clifton Chenier. Breaking all accordion stereotypes, unforgettable performances with Sammy Hagar (gritty hard Rocker) and David Hildago (influential Latin singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist) showcased fabulous fusion with Andre in his musical zone and pumping genre-bending sounds.

The Accordion defies all national and continental borders. Andre Thierry was the first American artist to perform in the Akkordeonale, International Festival (Program 2016). Representing the USA — Impelling Blues with Kreole Roots- Andre celebrated with audiences touring Germany, delivering awe-inspiring performances, coming together with musicians in a vivid interchange. Though the musicians came from different cultural backgrounds and musical styles, they shared the language of music, creating a thrilling coexistence on stage.

Forthcoming about his journey, Andre Thierry’s music creations are intoxicating and timeless. Enjoy the unfolding of this charismatic artist as he vibrates Accordion Soul, raising the frequency with stimulating beats, attracting any music lover to the dance floor!

Andre Thierry Accordion Soul Music | Award Winning Kreole Musician

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.