“The Annex Sessions" will continue our music series held at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company
Prepared Food Annex (The Annex) on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 6-8:30 pm

with

Mónica María Dúo Especial

plus Marlon Aldana y Kyla Danysh

vocals, jarana, leona, violin y cajon, son jarocho, original music and latin folk covers

Monica Maria's music reflects Californian roots mixed with traditional, earthly and
contemporary sounds of Latin America. A vocalist, multi instrumentalist and composer, her
songs are innovative and expressive of a world where cultures coexist, where fear is
transformed by compassion, where we learn to love truly, and where we view the world from a
empathetic and holistic state of mind.
Monica Maria's music reflects the mix of its California roots with traditional and contemporary
sounds of Latin America. Singer, multi-aganter and composer, her songs are innovative and
expressive of a world where cultures coexist, where fear becomes compassion.
love
She has been a performing artist in the Bay Area since 2002 and released her debut album of
original music "Nuevos Caminos" in 2020. Monica is an alumni of the Afro Cuban Ensemble at
San Francisco State University and one if the early members if the Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble.
After many years of studying and performing salsa, cuban son, latin jazz and other Latin music
genres, Monica developed a love for son jarocho (traditional music from the south of Veracruz,
Mexico) which has become the genre music which she is most dedicated to. Her original
compositions are a blend of these musical and cultural influences, yet also reflect her
Californian roots. Monica has had the joy and honor of collaborating with many musicians here
in the bay and in Mexico such as John Calloway, Anthony Blea, Marlon Aldana, Kyla Daynish,
Laura Rebolloso, Pablo Emiliano Garcia, and Jeronimo Gonzalez.
www.MonicaMariaMusic.com

The Natural Grocery Company is proud to present this series in partnership with SunJams and Javier
Navarrette Music Productions.

SunJams is committed to funding children's music education in underserved public elementary
schools. Your donation will help support this ongoing 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 SunJams 501(c)3 may qualify as tax
exempt.
Javier Navarrette Music Productions 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 few years Navarrette has produced outdoors
events that have proven instrumental in enabling musicians to deal with some of the fallout of
the pandemic and shutdown that followed.

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.

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.

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 ( launched in April 2022) 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.