El Tren Quartet at The Annex Sessions- Final show for 2023- fundraiser for 2024

Wednesday, December 6, 6-8:30 pm will continue our music series held at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company Prepared Food Annex (The Annex)  - “The Annex Sessions"

We are excited to bring you El Tren Quarte

Musicians-

Julio Pérez - percussion
Carlos Caro - percussion
Saul Sierra - bass
Marco Diaz - piano

With roots in Mexico. Cuba, Puerto Rico and US-Guatemala, El Tren quartet has been performing
together for over twenty years. Their musical range captures music styles from the late 1800’s to their
modern day composition and arrangements of Latin American and American Classics.

Julio Perez: Conga
Born in Puerto Rico, Julio Perez shares a long history with other band members Marco Diaz, Saul Sierra,
and Carlos Caro making music in the San Francisco Bay Area and also when he visits home in Puerto
Rico. Julio plays all the percussion instruments with precision and feeling, and from memory as well,
since he lost his sight as a young boy. Julio brings great musicianship and great friendship to VibraSON
and co-stars in a number of other productions around the area including concerts by Bobi Cespedes,
John Santos, Marco Diaz and other local bands.

Carlos Caro: Percussion
Carlos Caro, originally from Cuba, has a long and distinguished career in music. He has played with many
other great musicians as one of the best percussionists in the world. Carlos plays with a number of Salsa
bands in the Bay Area, including his own band called Vission Latina. He also is a great instructor for
aspiring musicians, and a 2014 GRAMMY® Award Winning percussionist.
A native of Havana, Cuba. Born on August 13 on 1967. Carlos Caro was musically educated throughout
his youth, graduating from the Alejandro Garcia Cultural Conservatory in Havana and the ENIA (National
School of Arts Instructors), after which he began his professional career with the group “Clave.”
He has performed on tour with and has recorded for some of Cuba's biggest names in music including
Paulo Fernandez Gallo and Jackeline Castellano's best selling "La Dama Del Son"Caro immigrated to
Mexico City in 1993 where he was commissioned to record and perform a work in the Danzon style with
the Mexico City Philharmonic.
He then appeared on the West Coast music scene in 1996 to quickly become one of the most sought-
after Latin percussionists, simultaneously playing in the best Cubano, Salsa, and Latin Rock bands
throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Carlos Caro released his first album with Vission Latina and the second one in April of 2010. Music from
this CD was recently chosen for a movie soundtrack!

Saùl Sierra-Alonso: Bass
Saùl Sierra-Alonso has played with many of the Latin bands in the Bay Area and studied at the famous
Berklee School of Music in Boston. Saùl has worked extensively in the Salsa and Latin music scene and
offers great expertise and musical experience.
Saúl Sierra Born and raised in Mexico City, where he started playing professionally in 1990. He moved to
Boston, Mass. in 1995 and attended the Berklee College of Music where he graduated in the summer of
1999, with a major in Performance. Some of his teachers included Oscar Stagnaro, Rich Appleman,
Daniel Morris, and Jim Stinnet. He received the US Scholarship tour award and the Outstanding
Performer award at Berklee.
As a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area since the fall of 1999, Saúl has performed, toured or
recorded with Nestor Torres, Jimmy Bosh, Eddie Montalvo, Johny Rodríguez, Orestes Vilató, Bobi
Céspedes, Antonio Sánchez, Miles Peña, John Santos, Jesús Díaz, Rebeca Mauleón, Mark Levine, Greg
Landau, Mike Spiro, Jackeline Rago, Chuchito Valdez, Alexander Livinali, Wayne Wallace, Aquiles Baez,
Marco Granados, Anthony Blea, Doug Beavers, and María Márquez, among others.
For the past 10 years Saúl has been a member of some of the leading bands in the Bay Area, including
The John Santos Quintet/Sextet, Bobi Cespedes’ band, Dr. Loco’s Rocking Jalapeño Band, El Tren Trío,
Anthony Blea y su Charanga, The Snake Trío, Jesús Díaz y su QBA, The Bay Area Afro-Cuban All Stars, The
Venezuelan Music Project, Corazón Sur, and Sababa band.
A founding member of Vission Latina, the band that he co-leads with Carlos Caro, percussionist
extraordinaire, and Marco Díaz, virtuoso multi-instrumentalist (piano/trumpet ), Saúl keeps himself busy
performing, composing, arranging and teaching in the world class musical community of the San
Francisco Bay Area.

Marco Diaz: Piano
Marco Diaz was born and raised in San Francisco and was introduced to the trumpet in the fourth grade
at E.R. Taylor Elementary School. His formal training in both piano and trumpet began at the age of 14.
He earned a scholarship from the Community Music Center in San Francisco, and began playing
professionally at the age of 17 throughout the Bay Area with various Latin Jazz, Salsa, Reggae, and R&B
bands. Upon graduating from high school, he continued his studies at San Francisco State University
pursing a Bachelors of Arts in Popular Music and a minor in Economics.
In addition to his studies Marco has been influenced by Afro-Cuban music through world renowned
musicians, such as, Jesus Diaz, who he played and recorded with for eight years, John Santos, Orestes
Vilato, Edgardo Cambon, and Carlos Caro.
Today, Marco is part of the faculty at the Community Music Center in San Francisco and has been a part
of the SFJAZZ teaching artist program since 2017. He is an accomplished recording musician who has
shared the stage with Grammy Award winning artist, Israel “Cachao” Lopez, Nelson Gonzales, Jimmy
Bosch, Pete “El Conde” Rodriguez, Ska Cubano (Europe), Tito Rojas, Nino Segarra, Anthony Cruz,
Anthony Blea, Jovino Santos Neto, Joe Santiago, and is an integral member of the John Santos sextet,
and the musical director for Bobi Cespedes.  Marco has participated in the San Francisco Symphony AIM
program since 2000 and currently produces records and performs music throughout the country while
also co-leading Vission Latina, an Afro-Caribbean dance band, and director of his own quartet, The
Marco Diaz Quartet.
In 2011, Marco Diaz was part of the faculty at Jazz Camp West. He toured the San Juan Islands off the
coast of Washington State with Bobi Cespedes, teaching children and adults the roots of Afro-Cuban
music. Marco also performed at the San Francisco, Tanglewood, and Monterey Jazz Festivals, and the
Smithsonian Museum with world renowned ethno-musicologist, John Santos and his Sextet. In the Fall,
Marco began his ninth season with the San Francisco Symphony’s AIM (adventures in music) program.

The Annex 

The Annex is a lively space for shopping, dining and relaxing. As the newest part of The Natural Grocery Company, the values are the same: a passion for vibrant community, healthy organic food and respect for the planet. 

"The Annex Sessions" is sponsored by the Natural Grocery Company in its commitment to serve the local community and help in the recovery of the local art scene. 

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner 7 days a week, inside the Annex you’ll find: A Cafe, Juice Bar, Deli, Wine & Beer, and more.

The Annex building itself embodies our values: a few of the sustainable features are: extensive re-use of materials from the pre-existing structure, use of recycled materials from local vendors, and reliance on the solar energy we produce here, supplemented with other clean energy sources.

Javier Navarrette continues to bring live music to several venues around the Bay Area. Javier has been a professional musician and music educator in the Oakland Unified School District for the past 20 years. Over the past 2 years Navarrette has produced outdoors events that have proven instumental in enabling musicians to deal with some of the fallout of the pandemic and shutdown that followed. Most recently he has been curating "Modúpue Sundays at the Brooklyn Basin.” These musical productions ran from June–November 2021 at the new Oakland hot spot, the Brooklyn Basin, with internationally known, Bay Area musical legends. Follow Javier Navarrette on Facebook , Instagram and YouTube. 

COVID RELATED SAFETY MEASURES

Please be safe. Feel free to wear a mask if you prefer. 

TICKETS

Tickets are encouraged, we are happy to offer you a reserved seat (limited seating available) if you RSVP with a donation that will go towards paying for the music. Tickets are NOT required for this venue, you can simply come in, order food and beverages at the Annex counter. 

DONATIONS

SunJams is committed to funding children's music education in underserved public elementary schools. Your donation will help support this ongoing program. 

In addition, we need to raise funds to continue bringing you this exciting new live music program. All of the proceeds will go directly to our network of local musicians, each of whom have been severely impacted by the lack of events during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Whether you donate $10, $100, or $1000 - any amount helps and will allow us to keep bringing music to our community! As always, your donation to our 501(c)3 may qualify as tax exempt. 

Please DONATE HERE

DURING THE SHOW

We will be taking cash or check donations at check-in, during intermission & at the end of the show. 

TIME

The Annex is open every day, please check their website for hours (https://naturalgrocery.com/annex/).


The show will begin at 6:00 PM and conclude by 8:30 PM.