On Wednesday, September 9, 2026, 6-8:30pm “The Annex Sessions” music series will continue at The Annex (El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex), 10387 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito with

 

Shefali Shah Presents Aguacero

Shefali Shah: vocals, minor percussion, dance

Ali “Choco” Luna: percussion and dance

Forooza Baradar: percussion, vocals and dance

Hector Lugo: percussion and vocals

Roman “Ito” Carrillo: percussion and vocals

Liris Robles: vocals and dance, guitar

Ximena Montes: vocals, minor percussion and dance

Iselah Pabon Ramos: vocals and dance

Ayla Davila, percussion and vocals

 

 

Batey Boricua

 

The first hour of the show will be a presentation by Aguacero that focuses on the traditional and creative expressions of Puerto Rican Bomba music and dance. Bomba is the oldest living music and dance tradition of the island. Instrumentation is barrel drums or barriles, cuas (a pair of sticks played on a small mounted hollow drum, and one maraca. Voice and dance are a key aspect of the instrumentation and the rhythm and cadence of Bomba.

 

The second hour will feature a Batey de Bomba or a community jam where we invite people from the community to participate with us, dancing, singing and playing.

 

Batey Boricua

homage to the gathering we know as the Bombazo, where community becomes rhythm and memory finds its voice. Here, practitioners of Bomba drum, sing, and dance together, weaving stories of who we have been and who we continue to become. In each step and beat lives an act of self-determination, a refusal of the labels that claim we are unworthy.

 

Bombatey is our reflection—vivid, proud, and unmistakably ours. And through it we share, without apology or restraint, the living, breathing truth of what it means to be Puerto Rican.

 

~~~~~

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 the proceeds will go directly to our network of local musicians, each of whom has 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.

On Wednesday, September 2, 2026, 6-8:30pm “The Annex Sessions” music series will continue at The Annex (El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex), 10387 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito with

 

Key Elements LJE

 

Patricia Thumas: Bandleader, Pianist, Composer, Coro

Sue “Suki” Kaye: Congas, Percussion, Coro

Nzingah Smith: Flute, Saxes (Guest Sub & Former KEY Elements Bandmember)

Joyce Baker: Trap Drums, Coro

Sylvia Sherman: Bass, Coro

Inés Vargas-Fraenkel: Vocals, Hand Percussion

 

KEY ELEMENTS Latin Jazz Ensemble, is an All-Woman sextet based in the SF Bay Area, established in 2017, performing original hypnotic & exotic Latin Jazz compositions written by Pianist Patricia Thumas, along with classic Latin Jazz & Salsa by the masters of the genre for your dancing pleasure!

 

This is going to be the fourth performance at the Annex Sessions, in which the ensemble has been well received & has had memorable performances! We aim to make you wiggle your hips and soothe your Souls!

 

MUSICIAN BIOS

Patricia Thumas

Patricia Thumas is a native San Franciscan, who emerged as the Bay Area’s first female Salsa pianist with the highly acclaimed “Ritmo ’74”, opening for the international stars of New York-based Fania Records label at many of San Francisco’s finest venues. She has had an extensive career as a Salsa Pianist, including working with John Santos’ late seventies Cuban Charanga band “Tipica Cienfuegos,” and was also a member of legendary Afro-Cuban Master Drummer Francisco Aguabella’s band. In the early 1980s, she formed part of Escola de Samba Batucaje, directed by Jose Lorenzo, which won first place in Carnaval. In the late 1980s she toured throughout the California State Dept of Correction System with Jazz Guitarist Eddie Duran & Saxophonist Madeline Duran’s Band. Later in the 1980s/early 1990s, she toured nationally and recorded 2 CDs with the internationally acclaimed “Blazing Redheads” on the Reference Records label. In the late seventies/eighties, she co-led “Chevere” & “Bahia,” both Latin & Brazilian jazz ensembles. From 1994-2002 she played piano with the “Julio Bravo & Salsabor Orchestra,” performing locally & nationally, and is a twenty-five year veteran of “El Grupo Sinigual”. Patricia was selected and served as a Judge for the 2017 SF Carnaval Parade. She is featured in Jim McCarthy’s book “Voices of Latin Rock.” She is also featured along with other veteran community artists past & present on a mural at Casa Bandido, located at 25th & York Streets in San Francisco and will soon be featured in a book about the Mission District’s artistic community.  Since 2017, she has been leading Key Elements Latin Jazz Ensemble which recorded its debut album, “Arrival” in 2020.  Also in 2020, she was commissioned to create a song about a Mission District Mural, leading to the composition, “Maestra”.  The same year she was commissioned by Music in Place to write a composition inspired by the Pandemic entitled “Next Chapter”.  In 2021/2022 Patricia was commissioned by Jazz In The Neighborhood to perform Livestream concerts at Oakland Public Conservatory with Key Elements.  In 2022 she was a Yerba Buena Center For The Arts grant recipient for Sustainability during Pandemic.  She also was featured in Holly Near’s Digital Archive/Gallery about the history of women’s music.

 

Sue “Suki” Kaye

Sue “Suki” Kaye, originally from NYC and now living in the Bay Area has been playing congas, ngoma, kalimba, and other percussion for over 40 years. She has been deeply influenced by many amazing teachers, studying the music of the Congo, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Trinidad and more! Over the years, Suki has performed with many bands, including Azucar con Ache, Rita Lackey and Friends, Liquid Girlfriend, Montuno Groove, Omeyocan, Pura Vida, Zakiya Hooker, Bole Bantu, Azucar y Crema, Samba Ngo, and the Ngoma Players, and is now very excited about playing with this new project-Key Elements. She has had the pleasure of opening the show and sharing the stage with such well-known artists as King Sunny Ade, Sheila E, and Babatunde Olatunji (RIP). Suki has also been a dance accompanist, playing for both classes and performance groups. She is a former member of Taller Bombalele, a Puerto Rican Folkloric group. She is also an educator, teaching elementary, preschool, and after school programs as well as conducting drum workshops for adults and kids. She is on the faculty of Born to Drum, a Bay Area women’s drum camp. Suki also enjoys writing and arranging music and of course playing and being creative with other musicians!

 

Nzingah Smith

Nzingah Smith has been playing music since the age of six. She studied jazz at the New Muse in Brooklyn, the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, and Billie Taylor’s Jazzmobile under the tutelage of Frank Foster, Frank Wess, and Bill Baron. Nzingah attended Rutgers University where she received a degree in flute performance. While there, she had the honor to perform with the University Big Band at the funeral of Thelonius Monk. Nzingah’s musical styles run the gamut from Jazz to Salsa, R & B, Funk, and Classical music. She frequently performs with the Oakland Civic Orchestra, the Mary Lou Williams Tribute Band, as well as with Bay Area Funk and Blues legend, Johnny Tolbert. A member of all woman Big Band: “Mary Lou’s Apartment” (a tribute band honoring the music of Jazz Pianist/Composer/Arranger “Mary Lou Williams”), which morphed into: “MELBAS’ KITCHEN”, (all woman tribute big band honoring the music of Jazz Trombonist/Composer/ Arranger “Melba Liston”) & Nzingah has been Co-Director, since 2021. Nzingah has been a dedicated music educator in the Bay Area of San Francisco for over two decades. She teaches band, Jazz, Improvisation, and gives private music lessons.

 

Joyce Baker

Joyce Baker has been playing drums since she was a small child with her famous father “Buddy” Baker. Joyce has played with Lavender Country for many years and recently at SXSW; as well other greats such as Emmy Award Winning Songwriter Lisa Nemzo, Mel Graves, George Marsh, Opie Bellas, Lea DeLaria, Carolyn Brandy, Michaelle Goerlitz, Vicky Grossi, Janice Beard, Mimi Fox and the Cable Car Award Recipients Nicholas Glover and Wray. Joyce has also shared the stage with Con Fun Shun, Jefferson Starship, and ”Blondie’s” Debra Harry. Over the years, she has also been seen and heard with Theatre companies Contra Costa Theatre, Hootchie Doo Productions “Nunsense” series, orchestras with Sonoma Valley Chorale, Contare Con Vivo, and Oakland East Bay Symphony. Joyce is a recording artist and can be heard on multiple CD’s with Amy Meyers, Liquid Girlfriend, Doug Stevens and The Outband, Nicholas, Glover and Wray, D. Anthony, Bad Ass Boots, “Gotta Give me Somethin’,” and Lavender Country’s guitarist Mark Newstetter. By day she is an award winning music teacher in OUSD, and Jazz and Blues Camp for Girls @ the Berkeley Jazz School. By night she can be heard with Lavender Country, Bad Ass Boots, Big O’, Mary Lou’s Apartment, and her own swinging jazz group. Otherwise, she lives with her lovely wife of 29 years, the best dog in the world, Santita, her cat, Sir Lumley, in her hideway home in the hills of El Sobrante.

 

Sylvia Sherman

Sylvia Sherman is an alumna from community arts workshops at La Pena Cultural Center and Mission Cultural Center, with a focus on percussion in Cuban music, including opportunities to participate in clinics with master Cuban artists such as Los Muñequitos de Matanzas and Anga Diaz and to study with Bay Area based Michael Spiro and Jesus Diaz.  She brings her experience with percussion to her bass playing and performs with several groups including Key Elements, El Guajiro, Ray Martinez and the Latin OGs and Sinigual.  Sylvia is Program Director at Community Music Center where she works to develop community arts programs for people of all ages.

 

Inés Vargas Fraenkel

Inés was born in Peru of Peruvian-Chinese descent. She has lived in the Bay Area since her family immigrated to the US. She is now retired from being an attorney for the cities of Oakland and San Francisco.

Latin music and dance have been her passions. She is a percussionist and vocalist. She plays bongos and hand percussion, and has been a vocalist of Latin and salsa tunes for over 15 years. She has performed with a number of Bay Area bands, some of them, all-women bands. She now performs with Key Elements Latin Jazz Ensemble.

 

Please feel free to visit the Key Elements LJE Website at:

Www.keyelementslatinjazz.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 the proceeds will go directly to our network of local musicians, each of whom has 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.

On Wednesday, August 26, 2026, 6-8:30pm “The Annex Sessions” music series will continue at The Annex (El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex), 10387 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito with

 

Ragamenco

Featuring:

Javier Jiménez – guitar

Luis Jiménez – cajón & percussion

Satish Pillai – piano

Nilan Chaudhuri – tabla

Devi SenGupta – vocals

Mallar Bhattacharya – sarode

Chris Bastian – double bass

 

Ragamenco represents the synthesis of ancient traditions that have been linked by human and cultural migration through the centuries⁠. A collaboration of Spanish, Indian and USA musicians from the Bay Area, Ragamenco explores exciting new territories by combining haunting Indian classical melodies with exciting gypsy, flamenco, and jazz traditions from Spain. Come hear ancient traditions from the Old World finding a new voice in California.

 

Javier and Luis Jiménez are founders of the acoustic global music septet Barrio Manouche, known for its distinctively syncretistic global sound, with influences from Spain, France, Brazil, and a wide range of musical styles and genres. Bassist Chris Bastian draws from a diversity of traditions, from classical to blues to flamenco. Satish Pillai is a pianist with eclectic musical influences, from rock to jazz to Indian classical music. Mallar Bhattacharya is a sarode (lute) player of the Maihar school of classical North Indian music. Percussionist Nilan Chaudhuri specializes in tabla from the North Indian city of Lucknow. Devi SenGupta is a classically trained vocalist who sings devotional songs in the medieval languages of North India.

 

Social media:

–https://ragamenco.com/

 

–https://www.instagram.com/ragamenco/

 

–https://youtube.com/@ragamenco3224?si=KvtMkNqKNkA7NS9L

 

~~~~~

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 the proceeds will go directly to our network of local musicians, each of whom has 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.

On Wednesday, August 19, 2026, 6-8:30pm “The Annex Sessions” music series will continue at The Annex (El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex), 10387 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito with

 

Javier Navarrette’s “Modupue Wednesday” Presents

Hector Lugo y La Mixta Criolla

Featuring:

Hector Lugo- Percussion/ Vocal

Roman Ito Carrillo – Percussion/Vocal

Camilo Landau – Cuatro/Vocal

Ayla Davila – Bass

Raul Navarrette – Trombone

Javier Navarrette – Percussion/Vocal

With Special Guests!

Javier Navarrette curates shows with various artists from different cultures in the Bay Area, as well as presenting his own global music projects at “Modupue Wednesdays”

~~~~~

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.

On Wednesday, August 12, 2026, 6-8:30pm “The Annex Sessions” music series will continue at The Annex (El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex), 10387 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito with

 

Jamie Dubberly and the Dharma Latin Jazz Quintet 

 

featuring:

 

Javier Cabanillas, congas

Omar Ledezma, timbales

Christian Tumalan, piano

Fred Randolph, bass

Jamie Dubberly, trombone

 

Evolving from the award-winning 9-piece Orquesta Dharma, this quintet brings a more intimate version of the band’s sound, featuring some of the Bay Area’s top Latin and jazz musicians. Rooted in West Coast Latin jazz and shaped by both the sounds of New York’s El Barrio and Afro-Cuban traditions, the music also draws on straight-ahead jazz and New Orleans brass band influences. The group features original compositions and inventive arrangements of Latin and jazz repertoire, with a focus on swing, interaction, and danceable grooves. The music of Dharma has captivated audiences throughout Northern California and internationally, with reach extending to salsa charts in New York and Cali, Colombia, and has also been featured on the nationally syndicated radio show Jazz After Hours, as well as Sirius/XM Radio The group is currently preparing to release its third full-length album, Con Alma Y Swing.

~~~~~

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 the proceeds will go directly to our network of local musicians, each of whom has 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.

On Wednesday, July 29, 2026, 6-8:30pm “The Annex Sessions” music series will continue at The Annex (El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex), 10387 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito with

Charged Particles with Tod Dickow

Tod Dickow – tenor saxophone

Greg Sankovich – piano

Doug Pohorski – bass

Jon Krosnick – drums

 

The Natural Grocery Company is pleased to welcome saxophonist Tod Dickow with the Bay Area trio Charged Particles to The Annex Sessions for an evening of funky Latin jazz.

DownBeat Magazine called the band “something special” and “inventive, invigorating, and mesmerizing.”  Jazz Times magazine said they’re “enormously talented”.   Nippertown Magazine said the band’s performance at the Albany Riverfront Jazz Festival was “thrilling” and “the peak set of the day”.  The Oxford Times said their performance was “brilliant”.  Jazz and Blues Report said: “Charged Particles is definitely dazzling.”  Jazz Podium said they are “a tight unit that keeps the band sound exciting and the intensity high.”  L.A. Jazz Scene said they offer “exciting music” that JazzThing magazine said “sizzles and pulsates.”

The band has toured in Indonesia, Canada, England, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Sweden, in addition to playing about 170 concerts each year all over the U.S.   They have appeared in such famed venues as Vibrato, the Baked Potato, Yoshi’s, Ronnie Scott’s, Birdland, Blues Alley, the Dakota, the Musical Instrument Museum, the Rochester Jazz Festival, the Columbus Jazz Festival, the Stanford Jazz Festival, the San Luis Obispo Jazz Festival, the Eureka Springs Jazz Festival, SF Jazz, and hundreds of others.

Their 2021 CD “Live at the Baked Potato!” was included on “Best of the Year” lists in JazzTimes Magazine, Jazzwise Magazine, All About Jazz, the Mercury News, Glide Magazine, the Jazz Journalists Association Poll, and the Jazz Critics Poll.

Dickow is “one of the best saxophonists in the world” according to Jazz Life Magazine, and his playing has been recognized by outstanding soloist awards at the Pacific Coast Jazz Festival and from DownBeat Magazine.  He has appeared with numerous celebrated artists, including Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Jackie & Roy, Harry Connick Jr, Steve Allen, Terry Gibbs, Frank Sinatra Jr., Dave Brubeck, and many more.

Watching the group perform, it’s obvious that they have fun playing together and admire each other’s musical instincts, as will you!

~~~~~

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.

On Wednesday, July 22, 2026, 6-8:30pm “The Annex Sessions” music series will continue at The Annex (El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex), 10387 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito with

 

Sones de las Dos Orillas

Melissa Cruz: Percussion and Dance

Jesse Torre: Flamenco Guitar

Carlos Caminos: Flamenco Guitar

 

Featuring Bay Area Flamenco icon, percussionist and dancer Melissa Cruz, and Flamenco Guitarists Jesse Torre and Carlos Caminos, Sones de las Dos Orillas is a repertoire that traces the historical and ongoing musical exchange between Spain and the Americas. It begins with flamenco’s own eastern roots, the Toques de Levante, acknowledging the Middle Eastern and North African modal influences embedded in Spanish music from centuries of contact across the Mediterranean. From there, the repertoire moves across the Atlantic to explore the vibrant musical traditions of Latin America, tracing how Spanish forms took root and transformed in the Americas. At the heart of the program are the pieces that embody the exchange itself, the hybrid and shared forms like Guajira and Rumba, born from centuries of back-and-forth movement between the two shores, as well as Fandango and Joropo, which reveal a shared ancestry, two branches of the same tree rather than separate traditions. Together these pieces form a musical portrait of Sones de las Dos Orillas, or Songs of Both Shores, celebrating both the ancient origins and the living, ongoing conversation between Spain and the Americas.

 

Caminos Music – Sound Tracks – Live Performances

 ~~~~~

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.

On Wednesday, July 15, 2026, 6-8:30pm “The Annex Sessions” music series will continue at The Annex (El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex), 10387 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito with

 

 “Modupue Wednesday”
Celebrating Javier Navarrette’s Birthday with Edgardo Cambon’s La Ti Do and Special Guests!

 

Edgardo Cambon- Percussion/ Vocal

Raul Navarrette- Trombone

David Pinto- Bass

Bob Crawford- Piano

With Special Guests!

Javier Navarrette curates shows with various artists from different cultures in the Bay Area, as well as presenting his own global music projects at “Modupue Wednesdays”

Modupue- Thank you

 

 

Musician Bios

 

Edgardo Cambón: congas, lead vocals

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1960, Edgardo began his musical journey at just nine 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

 

Raul Navarrette: Trombone

Originally from Fresno, California, Raul Navarrette started playing trombone at the age of 9, and has been working as a New York City musician for the last 25 years. He has shared the stage with a wide range of artists exploring an array of genres along with artists from around the world in a variety of musical settings, locally and nationally.

Having received his master’s degree at The Aaron Copeland School of Music, at City University of New York’s Queens College in Flushing, NY, Raul has also devoted part of his professional career to being an active participant in the educational field as teacher, private instructor, invited guest speaker for schools in classrooms for young and old students on both the west and east coasts of the USA.

Raul works in the areas of Classical music, jazz, salsa, Broadway/theatre/musicals recordings and as a solo artist and he chooses to utilize top quality equipment for his line of work. In virtually any field required, Raul Navarrette’s extensive background of performing arts programs and involvement as both student and teacher have given way to emboldening his perspective that the importance of arts and the humanities is the true meaning of what’s most important to the growth of the individual. Raul is currently working on a solo latin jazz project currently of his own compositions, he looks to feature musicians from both California and New York.

 

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.

 

Bob Crawford: Piano

Bob Crawford was born in Long Beach California and raised in the Bay Area with his 12 brothers and sisters.  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 (who had a habit of sitting in with the band), including Tre Anastasio, Chuck D, Ani DiFranco, Jack Johnson, Robert Randolph, Woody Harrleson, as well as members of Ozomatli, Zap Mama, and Galactic.

Bob took time off 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.   He’s performed and /or recorded with  Pete Escovedo, John Santos, Sheila E., Taj Mahal, Ray Obeido, Fito Reinoso y su Ritmo y Armonia,  Mazacote, Los Angelitos, Wild Mango, Boca De Rio, Greg Errico (Sly and the Family Stone), Lee Oskar (War), Lenny Williams  and Mic Gillette (Tower of Power), Pedrito Calvo and Yeni Valdes(Los Van Van) Richard Bean (Malo), Jorge Santana, The New York Gypsy Allstars, as well as members of El Chicano, Santana, Tierra, Big Brother and the Holding Company,  and many more.

Bob has served as the musical director for the Latin Kings All Star band, which features members from Tower of Power, Malo, and The Whispers.  He has worked with the 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.   He teaches jazz ensembles and piano at Marin Country Day School and EPACenter in East Palo Alto.  Bob also leads his own piano trio, and is a founding member of the Latin jazz-funk band Machina Sol.

 ~~~~~

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.

On Wednesday, June 24, 2026, 6-8:30pm “The Annex Sessions” music series will continue at The Annex (El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex), 10387 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito with

 

Mbira dzaSoko 

Michell Marufu: mbira & vocals

Salani Wamkanganise: lead vocals, mbira, percussion

Kanukai Chigamba: vocals & percussion

Kelly Takunda Orphan: lead vocals, mbira & percussion

Special Guests:

Kudzi Jambwa: percussion, vocals, mbira

Rujeko Dumbutshena: percussion and dance

 

Discover the vibrant sounds of Zimbabwe with Mbira dzaSoko, a traditional ensemble founded by the passionate Salani “Wamkanganise”. Committed to sharing the beauty of mbira music, this group invites you to immerse yourself in Zimbabwe’s rich cultural heritage.

 

~~~~~

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.