Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff
Quetzal
Five-time Grammy nominee John Santos & his Sextet will feature one of his most sublime shows. The show includes the presentation of Dr. John Calloway.
John Santos is an institution in the Bay Area’s vibrant Jazz, Latin and World Music scenes. A San Francisco native, he has been performing, teaching and producing here since the early 1970s, expanding to Europe in the 1980s and to Latin America in the 90s.
He is currently internationally renowned, having just returned from a European tour and celebrating the recent reinstatement of Latin Jazz to the Grammys after NARAS (the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) shamefully eliminated the category along with 30 others last year.
John was actively involved in the efforts to establish the category in the late 80s and early 90s, as well as a central figure in the reinstatement struggle of the last year. The Sextet’s 2011 recording, Filosofía Caribeña Vol.1, received a rare Four & a Half Star Review from Downbeat Magazine, although the CD was ineligible for Grammy consideration due to the NARAS faux pas. The members of the Sextet are certainly among the finest players, composers, arrangers and teachers the Bay Area has to offer. They are one of the premiere groups in the field today, having recently appeared at the Monterey, San Francisco, Tumbleweed, San Jose, Sitka, and Healdsburg Jazz Festivals. www.johnsantos.com.
Participating musicians include: Dr. John Calloway, Melecio Magdaluyol, Saul Sierra, Marco Díaz and David Flores. The event will take place on Friday, July 6, at 8:00 p.m. at Piedmont Piano, 728 San Pablo Ave. at 18th St.in Oakland’s Uptown Arts & Entertainment District. Cover $15 – please call 510-547-8188 for info and to reserve tickets with your credit card. Space is limited – doors open at 7 p.m.
Lunada summer series at Galería de la Raza
The LUNADA Literary Lounge & Open Mic had such a great spring season that kicked off 2012, we decided to keep the verses flowing with the first ever Summer Series, turning the heat up with two high powered poets from around the Bay.
Hailing from la cuna of the Lunada – San Jose – poet/visual artist Niki Escobar and San Francisco native David Maduli (aka DJ Dmadness) will rock the mic in July. These two artists shine bright in their communities through their work as teachers, painters, poets, and DJs. Join us at Lunada on the eve of Independence Day, with verses that represent the true color of liberation through poetry, unity, and love across borders.
On Tuesday, July 3, at Galería de la Raza, at 2857-24th Street, San Francisco. 415-826-8009. From 7:30 – 10 p.m. Open mic sign-ups at 7:15 p.m. Cover $5 entrance; or, free with food to share or Galeria membership.
NATIONAL SUPERMARKET ASSET AUCTION!
LIVE & ON-LINE BIDDING, & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!!
@ 215 W. Calivaras Blvd. – Milpitas, Calif. (95035)
THIS THURS. JULY 12th @ 10:30 A.M. (PDT) – Preview, Morning of Auction
Includes: Copper Salvage, Motor Room, Deli, Bakery, Meat Dept., shelving, baler, handling equipt., and much more!
Details: www.SamAuctions.com. Call: 1-877-726-2828. (Auctioneer speaks Spanish!)
Traditional son jarocho spiked with urban rhythms, rock and R&B – Quetzal
Inspired by traditional son jarocho music of Veracruz, Mexico, and spiked with urban rhythms, rock and R&B, East LA Chicano group Quetzal rose from the ashes of uprisings in LA in 1992 as a vehicle for social commentary and activism. Called “provocative, heartfelt and strikingly original” by the LA Times and Quetzal was founded in 1992, Chicano rock guitarist Quetzal Flores.
Quetzal is an ensemble of highly talented musicians, joined for the goal of creating good music that tells the social, cultural, political, and musical stories of people in struggle. Martha Gonzalez (lead singer, percussionist, and songwriter) calls it an “East LA Chican@ rock group,” summing up its rootedness in the complex cultural currents of life in the barrio, its social activism, its strong feminist stance, and its rock and roll musical beginnings. Besides being a rock band, the group and its members participate in a much larger web of musical, cultural, and political engagement.
In 1992, Chicano rock guitarist, Quetzal Flores discovered the burgeoning revival of traditional music of Veracruz called son jarocho. This jaranero resurgence began in Veracruz in the late 1970’s. It crossed the border into California, where other Mexican folk music traditions had already been appropriated by Mexican Americans as an expression of mexicanidad-Mexican roots. Local Chican@ music groups performed the music at rallies, marches, and events flowing from the Chicano vein of the Civil Rights Movement. Flores took up the music and its folk instruments and incorporated them into his own musical blend, which included sounds and sentiments from many sources: The Smiths, Ruben Blades, Stevie Wonder, and much more.
On Saturday July 14, 2012. 8pm $15 adv. $18 dr. At la Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. 510-849-2568 www.lapena.org.
