by the El Reportero’s staff
Nicaragüan painter Omar de León marster’s works will be in exhibition at Paul Mahder Gallery in S.F. on Thursday, Feb. 2. at 6 p.m.
The spring season of Lunada kicks off with stellar Nuyorican poets from the Boogie Down Bronx. Bonafide Rojas, on tour in the Bay with his second book of poetry entitled When the City Sleeps, will be sharing the stage with recent transplant to the Bay, Fish Vargas, the founding host and co-curator of the award-winning Acentos Bronx Poetry Showcase. This night will continue Lunada’s tradition in being the Bay Area’s only full m oon bilingual literary ritual, performance gathering, and open mic.
Each Lunada features community poets, local legends, visiting mystics, and other mero meros of the stage. Curated by Sandra Garcia Rivera. Musicians and first timers always welcome.
Open mic sign-ups begin up at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7. Admission $5, or FREE with food dish to share/Galería membership.
Chico & Rita: Passion, music and culture
Oscar-winning director Fernando Trueba (Belle Epoque) and Spain’s most famous and successful designer Javier Mariscal create a passionate and animated love story.
Close collaborators and friends for many years, Trueba and Mariscal celebrate their passion for the music and culture of Cuba with an epic story of love and heartbreak, set against the color and bustle of Havana, New York, Las Vegas, Hollywood and Paris in the late 1940s and early ‘50s.
In CHICO & RITA, a gifted songwriter and beautiful singer chase their dreams – and each other – from Havana to New York and Las Vegas. Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice.
Music and romantic desire unite them, but their journey – in the tradition of the Latin ballad, the bolero – brings heartache and torment. With an original soundtrack by legendary Cuban pianist, bandleader and composer Bebo Valdés, Chico & Rita captures a definitive moment in the evolution of jazz music.
The film features music by jazz legends Thelonious Monk, Cole Porter, Dizzy Gillespie and Freddy Cole (brother of Nat King Cole).
Landmark Theatres Engagements begin Friday, Feb. 17, 2012
Landmark Theatres venue tbd, San Francisco (415) 276-4893.
Brazilian Carnaval Ball 45 years of tradition
When the lights turn on on Saturday, February 18, , if it is cold or hot in Río, Bahía and all over Latin America it’s very hot.
This year will be the forty-fifth, “Friends of Brazil Carnival Ball”, a fantasy of music without stopping, dances and celebrations. At the tropical place Cafe Cocomo Club, 650 Indiana St. (On Mariposa Street).
Featuring one of the most successful band directly from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Brazil, playing much samba, Axe, Regaee, Olodum, Timbalada and Salsa.
And from Bahia, Brazil comes a special guest, the group Viva Brazil. Plus the colors and exoticos dancers of Aquarela, with its fantastic and colored disguises of Carnival of Rio.
This night the Brazilian community invites all the Latino community to come and celebrate this great Brazilian tradition.
Saturday, Feb. 18, at 9:30 at Café Cocomo Club, 650 Indiana St. @ Mariposa Street, San Francisco.
