| |
|
| Musicians |
| |
Steve Senft-Herrera – Bass:
Born in Sacramento, California, began his musical studies at age
fourteen with the piano. Since changing to bass as his instrument, he
has dedicated himself to the study and performance of Cuban music and
jazz. One of the most sought after musicians in the Bay Area, Steve can
be seen playing with a number of group's including Orquesta Moderna
Tradicion and Cojunto Karabali. |
|
|
|
Brian
Andres – Percussion: Brian was born in Cincinnati, Ohio into a family of
professional musicians. His father is a woodwinds specialist and his
mother a vocalist and pianist. The house was filled with the sounds of
his fathers constant practicing and his mother’s piano and voice students. It's no surprise that Brian found himself drawn to the origin
of all music: Rhythm.
After nearly being put up for
adoption
due to his constant banging on inanimate objects, his parents
decided to embrace their obstreperous sons undeniable talent by
purchasing him a drum set and themselves earplugs. There was no turning back for Brian. At the age of nineteen, armed with years of daily
practice and countless lessons, Brian began playing professionally. The
next ten years found him performing all over the Midwest and east coast
in musical groups as diverse as rock, jazz, Big Band, R & B, German
Traditional, Blues and Afro-Caribbean.
In
early 1999 Brian's growing interest in Latin music and culture resulted
in his relocation to the San Francisco Bay Area where he continues to
focus on Latin music while also performing various other styles of
music. His performance and recording credits include: Lalo Guerrero,
Dr. Loco, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and numerous local jazz and
Latin bands. |
| |
 Bob
Crawford – Keyboard: has recorded and toured extensively on three
continents with Michael Franti and Spearhead. In addition, he has played
and recorded with a great variety of Bay Area artists, including the
Afrobeat Band Albino, Rhiannon, Joyo Velarde (Lyrics Born), Joe Craven,
Maria Marquez, and Rolando Morales. In addition, Bob has composed and
recorded music for film and national T.V programs. He’s also played with
Tre Anastasio (Phish) and Me’Shell NDedgeOcello, as well as members of
Galactic and African Beats Fela Randome-Kuti and the Africa ‘70. Bob
leads a Latin Jazz trio, and has been interested in Caribbean and South
American music since his childhood days of listening to his father’s
calypso records. |
| |
|
Darren Smith –
Saxes/Flute: Took up the saxophone after seeing the bar scene in Star Wars at age 12.
In 1998 he realized that the closest he could come to the intergalactic
cantina on Planet Earth was San Francisco, so he moved to the Bay Area
and started mixing it up in the local bars. He has had the good fortune
of performing and recording with some of the Bay Area�s top musicians in
the Jazz, African, and Latin scenes. He can be found onstage with John
Ulloa Y La Misión as well as with Agua Libre, The Sonando Project,
Rumbaché (formerly Quimbombó), The Amandla Poets, and Tito Garcia�s
Orquesta La Internacional. He currently teaches elementary school music
in the Alameda Unified School District.
|
 Silvestre Martinez
– Percussion:
A native of Oaxaca, Mexico, Silvestre Martinez is one of the top
percussionists in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a
multi-instrumental percussionist, and he can be seen and heard playing
with many bands in the Bay Area Salsa scene. His performance and
recording credits include, but are not limited to Avance, Vission
Latina, Benny Velarde's Supercombo, Louis Romero's Grupo Mazacote, and
Jorge Santana. |
|
