The Annex Sessions show #87 - That's right, our first show was in April 2022

“The Annex Sessions" will continue our music series held at El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company
Prepared Food Annex (The Annex) on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, 6-8:30pm

Key Elements Latin Jazz Ensemble

Musicians-
Patricia Thumas – keyboards
Robin Nzingah Smith – saxophone
Sue “Suki” Kaye – percussion
Sylvia Sherman – bass guitar
Joyce Baker - drums

Key Elements Latin Jazz Ensemble is comprised of some of the SF Bay Area’s most seasoned
instrumentalists who perform exceptional original and Latin Brazilian classics for your listening
and dancing pleasure. Their music has a fresh, new vibrant flair with infectious exotic rhythms
to enchant you!

Patricia Thumas
Patricia Thumas is a native San Franciscan, who emerged as the Bay Area's first female Salsa
pianist with the highly acclaimed "Ritmo '74", opening for the international stars of New York-
based Fania Records label at many of San Francisco's finest venues. She has had an extensive
career as a Salsa Pianist, including working with John Santos' late seventies Cuban Charanga
band "Tipica Cienfuegos," and was also a member of legendary Afro-Cuban Master Drummer
Francisco Aguabella's band. In the early 1980s, she formed part of Escola de Samba Batucaje,
directed by Jose Lorenzo, which won first place in Carnaval. In the late 1980s she toured
throughout the California State Dept of Correction System with Jazz Guitarist Eddie Duran &
Saxophonist Madeline Duran's Band. Later in the 1980s/early 1990s, she toured nationally and
recorded 2 CDs with the internationally acclaimed "Blazing Redheads” on the Reference
Records label. In the late seventies/eighties, she co-led "Chevere" & "Bahia," both Latin &
Brazilian jazz ensembles. From 1994-2002 she played piano with the "Julio Bravo & Salsabor
Orchestra," performing locally & nationally, and is a twenty-five year veteran of "El Grupo
Sinigual”. Patricia was selected and served as a Judge for the 2017 SF Carnaval Parade. She is
featured in Jim McCarthy's book "Voices of Latin Rock.” She is also featured along with other
veteran community artists past & present on a mural at Casa Bandido, located at 25th & York
Streets in San Francisco and will soon be featured in a book about the Mission District's artistic
community. Since 2017, she has been leading Key Elements Latin Jazz Ensemble which
recorded its debut album, “Arrival” in 2020. Also in 2020, she was commissioned to create a
song about a Mission District Mural, leading to the composition, “Maestra”. The same year she
was commissioned by Music in Place to write a composition inspired by the Pandemic entitled
"Next Chapter". In 2021/2022 Patricia was commissioned by Jazz In The Neighborhood to
perform Livestream concerts at Oakland Public Conservatory with Key Elements. In 2022 she
was a Yerba Buena Center For The Arts grant recipient for Sustainability during Pandemic. She
also was featured in Holly Near’s Digital Archive/Gallery about the history of women’s music.

Robin Nzingah Smith

Robin Nzingah Smith has been playing music since the age of six. She studied jazz at the New
Muse in Brooklyn, the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, and Billie Taylor’s Jazzmobile under
the tutelage of Frank Foster, Frank Wess, and Bill Baron. Nzingah attended Rutgers University
where she received a degree in flute performance. While there, she had the honor to perform
with the University Big Band at the funeral of Thelonius Monk. Nzingah’s musical styles run the
gamut from Jazz to Salsa, R & B, Funk, and Classical music. She frequently performs with the
Oakland Civic Orchestra, the Mary Lou Williams Tribute Band, as well as with Bay Area Funk and
Blues legend, Johnny Tolbert. A member of all woman Big Band: "Mary Lou's Apartment" (a
tribute band honoring the music of Jazz Pianist/Composer/Arranger "Mary Lou Williams"),
which morphed into: "MELBAS' KITCHEN", (all woman tribute big band honoring the music of
Jazz Trombonist/Composer/ Arranger "Melba Liston") & Nzingah has been Co-Director, since
2021. Nzingah has been a dedicated music educator in the Bay Area of San Francisco for over
two decades. She teaches band, Jazz, Improvisation, and gives private music lessons.

Sue “Suki” Kaye

Sue "Suki" Kaye, originally from NYC and now living in the Bay Area has been playing congas,
ngoma, kalimba, and other percussion for over 40 years. She has been deeply influenced by
many amazing teachers, studying the music of the Congo, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Trinidad
and more! Over the years, Suki has performed with many bands, including Azucar con Ache,
Rita Lackey and Friends, Liquid Girlfriend, Montuno Groove, Omeyocan, Pura Vida, Zakiya
Hooker, Bole Bantu, Azucar y Crema, Samba Ngo, and the Ngoma Players, and is now very
excited about playing with this new project-Key Elements. She has had the pleasure of opening
the show and sharing the stage with such well-known artists as King Sunny Ade, Sheila E, and
Babatunde Olatunji (RIP). Suki has also been a dance accompanist, playing for both classes and
performance groups. She is a former member of Taller Bombalele, a Puerto Rican Folkloric
group. She is also an educator, teaching elementary, preschool, and after school programs as
well as conducting drum workshops for adults and kids. She is on the faculty of Born to Drum, a
Bay Area women's drum camp. Suki also enjoys writing and arranging music and of course
playing and being creative with other musicians!

Sylvia Sherman

Sylvia Sherman is an alumna from community arts workshops at La Pena Cultural Center and
Mission Cultural Center, with a focus on percussion in Cuban music, including opportunities to
participate in clinics with master Cuban artists such as Los Muñequitos de Matanzas and Anga
Diaz and to study with Bay Area based Michael Spiro and Jesus Diaz. She brings her experience
with percussion to her bass playing and performs with several groups including Key Elements, El
Guajiro, Ray Martinez and the Latin OGs and Sinigual. Sylvia is Program Director at Community
Music Center where she works to develop community arts programs for people of all ages.

Joyce Baker

Joyce Baker has been playing drums since she was a small child with her famous father “Buddy”
Baker. Joyce has played with Lavender Country for many years and recently at SXSW; as well
other greats such as Emmy Award Winning Songwriter Lisa Nemzo, Mel Graves, George Marsh,
Opie Bellas, Lea DeLaria, Carolyn Brandy, Michaelle Goerlitz, Vicky Grossi, Janice Beard, Mimi
Fox and the Cable Car Award Recipients Nicholas Glover and Wray. Joyce has also shared the
stage with Con Fun Shun, Jefferson Starship, and ”Blondie’s” Debra Harry. Over the years, she
has also been seen and heard with Theatre companies Contra Costa Theatre, Hootchie Doo
Productions “Nunsense” series, orchestras with Sonoma Valley Chorale, Contare Con Vivo, and
Oakland East Bay Symphony. Joyce is a recording artist and can be heard on multiple CD’s with
Amy Meyers, Liquid Girlfriend, Doug Stevens and The Outband, Nicholas, Glover and Wray, D.
Anthony, Bad Ass Boots, “Gotta Give me Somethin’,” and Lavender Country’s guitarist Mark
Newstetter. By day she is an award winning music teacher in OUSD, and Jazz and Blues Camp
for Girls @ the Berkeley Jazz School. By night she can be heard with Lavender Country, Bad Ass
Boots, Big O’, Mary Lou’s Apartment, and her own swinging jazz group. Otherwise, she lives
with her lovely wife of 29 years, the best dog in the world, Santita, her cat, Sir Lumley, in her
hideway home in the hills of El Sobrante.

more about Key Elements LJE

The Natural Grocery Company is proud to present this series in partnership with SunJams and

Javier Navarrette Music Productions.

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. Seating for music nights begins at 5:30 PM, reserved seating help until 6:30 PM.

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.

We pledge a $100 donation for every weekly show we bring you, donated in the Fall to the ongoing music education program we have partnered with since 2015. The cost for this program is $1000 per student per year, your donation to continue this program allows us to sponsor ( a minimum) 5 elementary school students. Please help up increase this goal by donating what you can.

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.