PAQUITO D'RIVERA & ROBERTA GAMBARINI w/ Roy Hargrove's Quartet

11x GRAMMY®-winning Cuban saxophonist & premier Italian jazz vocalist

Paquito D’Rivera defies categorization. The winner of 11 GRAMMY® Awards, he is celebrated both for his artistry in Latin jazz and his achievements as a classical composer. Born in Havana, Cuba, he performed at age 10 with the National Theater Orchestra, studied at the Havana Conservatory of Music and, at 17, became a featured soloist with the Cuban National Symphony. As a founding member of the Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna, he directed that group for two years, while at the same time playing both the clarinet and saxophone with the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra. He eventually went on to premier several works by notable Cuban composers with the same orchestra. Additionally, he was a founding member and co-director of the innovative musical ensemble Irakere. With its explosive mixture of jazz, rock, classical and traditional Cuban music never before heard, Irakere toured extensively throughout America and Europe, won several GRAMMY nominations (1979, 1980) and a GRAMMY (1979). Visit Paquito's website here.

ROY HARGROVE'S QUARTET:
Justin Robinson - Alto Sax & flute 
Sullivan Fortner - Piano 
Ameen Saleem - Bass 
Quincy Phillips - Drums

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Delayed by nearly two years, Lolo, the long-awaited new release by Soneros All Stars is now available at on-line retailers such as iTunes and Spotify. Lolo contains six songs, and each one is eminently satisfying from the dancer's point of view. Three are new songs written for the album, and three are updated versions from previous Soneros All Stars releases. Yanesito's journey from traditional sonero to modern timbero is reflected in his arrangements. They are firmly rooted in son, but there is nothing traditional about them. Click here for the full review. 

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Saturday, March 29, 2014 has been designated International Rueda De Casino Multi Flash Mob Day by Rueda enthusiasts - teams of Rueda dancers in at least 168 cities worldwide will be performing simultaneously. To learn more about where and when as well as whom to contact for more information, you can visit tha global coordinating web page. 

Dos y Mas (Arturo Stable and Elio Villafranca, two Jazz artists originally from Cuba with intriguing discographies) gave an excellent performance in Chicago at the Old Town School of Folk Music on March 19.  You can read a review and view a photo gallery here. 

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Check out Peter Maiden's Full Photo Gallery here (or click on the photo above)

PMO = (Lo Mejor) Para Mis Oidos.... What a night! Standing room only at Café Cócomo celebrating Pacific Mambo Orchestra's first San Francisco appearance after their Grammy(R) win for Best Tropical Album. A full on smorgasbord of MAMBO and SALSA... free dance lesson by Jake Jacobs, the PMO joined by special guests Karl Perrazo (timbalero of Santana fame) and Armando Cordoba (Avance), special performances by 4 different dance groups, some crazy latina working me for half an hour asking for her money back because she had no room to dance (que pasó con el apoyo latina? - había una pila, pero una pila, de parejas bailando) DJ Hong and just an overall great feeling through the whole night. 

The PMO extended crew was also in full force -- the stamp police Christina Chang helping me make sure no one snuck in through the front exit doors (also thanks for the painting pics Christine) -- as people posed with directors Christian Tumalan (piano) and Steffen Kuehn (lead trumpet) and the band with their special autographed photos. Also a shout out to PMO F.O.H. sound engineer Jimmy Goings for the amazing sound.

PMO co-director Christian Tumalan

PMO co-director Steffen Kuehn

Also in the house...very cool and incredibly talented artist by the name of Nataliya Tyaglo, who donated a painting she made right there, live during the show. The painting was auctioned for $1200... way to go Nataliya! Check out the painting below...

Live art courtesy of Nataliya Tyaglo

Some of the PMO horns with Steffen Kuehn (top left) - Tony Peebles, Aaron Lington, Jamie Dubberly, Jeff Cressman 

The next PMO show is Saturday, April 19 at the SF Salsa Festival 2014 (Westin San Francisco Market Street). 

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