performances

Previous events

KPFA continues its 77th Birthday celebrations with a live music performance by The John Santos Sextet.

KPFA Radio, 94.1 FM on the radio dial and on kpfa.org, continues to celebrate its 77th year with a live music performance, The John Santos Sextet. 55% of our programming is music programming, and this event celebrates that aspect of the station. Join us for

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Lukumi rhythms, drums and songs are mixed withstrings, flute and piano, and traditional danzones are played over the bata drums instead of the normal Latin percussion battery. The blending of these styles creates a unique musical adventure, one in which you can of course dance all night, or you can listen and appreciate the textures and timbres of this new and creative ensemble.

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Afro Filipino Project: "New Voices" highlights four Afro Filipinx artists—Ting Alvarez, Umali Horne, Jasmine Miller, and Jojo Thompson—exploring their dual identity through creative work. Led by artistic director John Calloway, the ensemble will also perform music that honors the legacy of past Afro Filipinx artists.

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Presented by Stanford Live This program of soulful, Afro-Caribbean–tinged jazz is designed by John Santos, "The Latin music Renaissance man" (San Francisco Chronicle) and seven-time Grammy nominee. Known for their virtuosity and collaborative spirits, Santos and his stellar sextet deconstruct standards with unusual musical turns and surprises.

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John Calloway & Larry Vukovich

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Piedmont Piano, 1728 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland, CA

In their premier performance as a duo, John Calloway and Larry Vuckovich will each draw from their musical experiences and cultural backgrounds to perform a rich and varied program of jazz repertoire that will include music from Latin America and Eastern Europe, both original compositions and jazz and Latin standards. John will play an assortment of flutes with Larry accompanying on piano, as well as performing some solo pieces, creating an intimate dialogue between them.

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Mar14

Spirology’s repertoire is rather “experimental” in that it fuses the music of the Cuban bata drums with the music of the Cuban charanga genre– I suppose you could say we play the “Batanzon”–Lukumi rhythms and songs mixed with strings, flute and piano—and traditional danzones played over the bata drums instead of the normal Latin percussion battery. The blending of these styles creates a unique musical adventure, and we encourage both dancers and listeners alike to check out this original musical format.

The band features some of the best charangueros in the Bay Area (John Calloway, Tregar Otton, Miguel Martinez, Steve Senft-Herrera, Remi Spiro, Osvaldo Carvajal, Pablo Caro, and Ed Valencia) along with some very special guests. You can, of course, dance all night to our music, or you can listen and appreciate the textures and timbres of this new and creative ensemble.

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Michael Spiro - Spiroology

Kummbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar Street, Santa Cruz, CA

Michael Spiro’s Spirology is the Bay Area’s newest Afro-Cuban charanga ensemble, and it brings an entirely new and original approach to Afro-Cuban music. Spiro is one of the true veterans of the charanga scene in San Francisco, beginning with his tenure in the Orquesta Batachanga back in the 1980s and then continuing as a founding member of the now iconic Orquesta la Moderna Tradicion. But he also is a mainstay of Afro-Cuban folkloric music, and is known internationally for his work in this genre.

With his band Spirology, he has created a new genre which he calls the “batanzon”combining the music of the Lukumi bata drums with the oldest form of Cuban charanga – the danzon. Lukumi rhythms, drums and songs are mixed with strings, flute and piano, and traditional danzones are played over the bata drums instead of the normal Latin percussion battery. The blending of these styles creates a unique musical adventure, one to which you can dance all night, or listen and appreciate the textures and timbres of this new and creative ensemble.

Spirology features some of the best charangueros in the Bay Area: John Calloway, Tregar Otton, Sandy Poindexter, Miguel Martinez, Steve Senft-Herrera, Remi Spiro, Osvaldo Carvajal, Pablo Caro, and Ed Valencia.

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