Thursday, June 16

Bobi Céspedes // Arenas Dance Company at Raven Performing Arts Theater

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Bobi Céspedes

(Afro-Cuban Vocalist)
Opening Performance by Arenas Dance Company

 7 pm – 9 pm

Presented at Raven Performing Arts Theater
6 pm pre-show discussion with Arenas Dance Company Musical Director, Elizabeth Sayre and Artistic Director, Susana Arenas Pedroso. Learn more.
$40 / $75
($75 ticket includes one glass of wine across the street at BloodRoot Winery)
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Late Concert with Natalie Cressman and Ian Faquini

(Brazilian Songbook)

9:30 pm – 11:30 pm

 Presented at Elephant in the Room
$30

Since settling in the Bay Area as a teenager in 1969, Cuban-born vocalist Bobi Céspedes has found many different musical paths to share her extraordinary gifts. She first gained renown in the 1980s as the lead vocalist with Conjunto Céspedes, a band that introduced the Bay Area to the glorious sound of the foundational Afro-Cuban style known as Son. She reached new audiences during her years touring with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum and Bembé Orisha projects, but since the release of her 2002 debut solo album Rezos on the renowned world music label Six Degrees Records she’s established a commanding musical identity as a bandleader. An arresting performer with a deep, resonant voice who’s also a master of the gourd chekeré, the Oakland-based Céspedes embodies the music’s sacred roots as a priestess in the Yoruba-derived Lucumí faith. Her fourth album, 2021’s Mujer y cantante, reflects her increasing confidence as a songwriter, focuses on her captivating originals in the son tradition. Sharing narratives about her family life and love, and the wisdom of Afro-Cuban fables for this special Healdsburg presentation, she’s joined by her stellar seven-piece band featuring music director Marco Díaz on piano, trumpet and vocals, guitarist José Roberto Hernández, bassist Ernesto Mazar Kindelán, percussionists Julio Pérez and Javier Navarrette, and Lichi Fuentes on vocals, chekeré and güiro. No matter what the setting, Bobi’s vibrant Cuban soul–her chambo–lights the stage.

Arenas Dance Company is a predominantly all-women Cuban dance and drum ensemble. This special Healdsburg presentation honors the resilience, strength, sensuality, and vibrancy of Cuban women: workers, sisters, grandmothers, neighbors, politicians, artists, friends. The performance moves between Afro-Cuban folklore and popular dances to bring together the powerful spiritual and joyful aspects of la mujer cubana. The opening invocation draws from Lucumí, the Cuban religion based on Yoruba traditions carried West by enslaved West Africans. The evening continues by paying homage to female orishas (deities) and recognizing the different expressions of womanhood. The night accelerates to guaguancó, the rapid-fire rumba typically danced between couples. The dancers create polyrhythmic patterns with brooms. They celebrate work as spiritual practice.

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Bobi Céspedes

Since settling in the Bay Area as a teenager in 1969, Cuban-born vocalist Bobi Céspedes has found many different musical paths to share her extraordinary gifts. She first gained renown in the 1980s as the lead vocalist with Conjunto Céspedes, a band that introduced the Bay Area to the glorious sound of the foundational Afro-Cuban style known as Son. She reached new audiences during her years touring with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum and Bembé Orisha projects, but since the release of her 2002 debut solo album Rezos on the renowned world music label Six Degrees Records she’s established a commanding musical identity as a bandleader. An arresting performer with a deep, resonant voice who’s also a master of the gourd chekeré, the Oakland-based Céspedes embodies the music’s sacred roots as a priestess in the Yoruba-derived Lucumí faith. Her fourth album, 2021’s Mujer y cantante, reflects her increasing confidence as a songwriter, focuses on her captivating originals in the son tradition. Sharing narratives about her family life and love, and the wisdom of Afro-Cuban fables for this special Healdsburg presentation, she’s joined by her stellar seven-piece band featuring music director Marco Díaz on piano, trumpet and vocals, guitarist José Roberto Hernández, bassist Ernesto Mazar Kindelán, percussionists Julio Pérez and Javier Navarrette, and Lichi Fuentes on vocals, chekeré and güiro. No matter what the setting, Bobi’s vibrant Cuban soul–her chambo–lights the stage.

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Natalie Cressman & Ian Faquini

At first glance trombonist/vocalist Natalie Cressman and guitarist/vocalist Ian Faquini make for an unlikely duo. But within a few seconds of hearing their lustrous harmonies and graceful interplay the magic of their chemistry is readily apparent, built on their deep knowledge of the jazz and the Brazilian songbook–Faquini was born in the capital Brasilia and moved to Berkeley as an adolescent and Cressman hails from an illustrious musical clan known for collaborations with some of Brazil’s greatest musicians. Their musical partnership has earned international acclaim over the past five years. With a repertoire encompassing jazz standards, classics from the American and Brazilian songbooks, and their sophisticated original songs, the duo just released their second album Auburn Whisper, a manifestation of both their symbiotic musical partnership and resilience during unprecedented times. Written and recorded during the dark days of 2020, Auburn Whisper finds the two artists exploring a series of luxuriant soundscapes, reflecting on people and places they missed while discovering joy in the present moment.

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Arenas Dance Company

Founder/Director Susana Arenas Pedroso is an internationally recognized AfroCuban folkloric and popular dancer. Born in Havana, Cuba, Pedroso began her career in dance at age twelve at La Casa de Cultura de Matanzas. She danced professionally for 17 years in Cuba with popular, folkloric and theatrical performing groups, including Havana’s famed Raíces Profundas. Since her arrival in the United States in 1998, Pedroso has performed and choreographed works that have been exhibited throughout the USA, Mexico, Cuba, and Hong Kong, including with Richard O’Neal’s Jarocho.

Pedroso formed Arenas Dance Company in 2004 to preserve and promote culturally-rooted, ever evolving folkloric and popular (i.e. Salsa, Son) Cuban dance traditions, while also embracing creative innovation and hybridity. Celebrated evening-length works include Yo Soy Cuba, Eso Sí, and Ada Ara. Their next work, Raíces et Révolution, will be a collaboration with Duniya Dance and Drum Company examining the social/political relationship between Guinea, West Africa and Cuba. Arenas Dance Company has performed at the Black Choreographers, CubaCaribe, Stanford Jazz, African Arts, and SF Ethnic Dance Festivals.

Pedroso is known for how she weaves together text, humor, and beauty – making Cuban dance and music accessible to wide audiences. Her work is described as “mesmerizing” and “riveting” and was awarded “Best Choreography” by World Arts West. Pedroso has received support from the Gerbode Foundation, Hewlett 50, Creative Work Fund, California Arts Council, Zellerbach Family Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Dance Project. She can be found teaching at studios throughout the Bay Area, and is a frequent guest teacher at universities, conferences, and workshops.

Contact us at info@healdsburgjazz.org. PO BOX 266, Healdsburg, CA 95448. Copyright © Healdsburg Jazz. All rights reserved.