Join us for First Friday's at Studio Grand with some of our favorite musicians. María José Montijo will open up the night accompanied by her full band, which weaves atmospheric textures and bass heavy island rhythms into her songs. Tarimba will close out the night with the infectious tradition of Son Jarocho which has origins in Southern Veracruz, México. It will be a great night to begin to welcome in the spring
MARÍA JOSÉ MONTIJO
María José Montijo’s life changed in 2009 on a beach in her native Puerto Rico, where a friend gave her a used Celtic harp. She began writing hypnotic, haunting songs for harp and voice that incorporate her eclectic musical interests.
María José’s songs grow out of an intuitive process of deep listening and the condition of being fully human in a confusing world. Her lyrics speak of paradoxes: mystery and certainty; doubt and faith; love and solitude; sorrow and connection; exile and feeling at home. Her music is informed by the images and rhythms of the natural world in all its vastness.
María José regularly performs throughout the Bay Area, both as a solo artist and with her band. In 2013, she was a featured new artist at Acción Latina’s 32nd Annual Encuentro del Canto Popular at the Brava Theater. In 2014, on the strength of her song “Estrellas” her band played Oakland’s Mayhem Festival, a juried music competition and performance series at the Awaken Cafe. She has headlined at the Red Poppy Art House, been a consistent presence at the Mission Arts Peformance Project (MAPP), and played at venues ranging from the Mission Cultural Center to the Hemlock Tavern to the Art in Nature Festival in the Oakland redwoods.
Bandcamp | Facebook | SoundCloud | Twitter |
Tarimba
'Tarimba' is believed to be the African root word of 'Tarima', which is the most important instrument and symbol of the Son Jarocho tradition of Veracruz, México.
Tarimba is a band comprised of local bay area musicians who have embraced the traditional genre of Son Jarocho music from Southern Veracruz, México. The members of Tarimba have all been active performers and teachers in the Bay Area music community for over ten years, and they are excited to have the opportunity to embrace, learn, and preserve such a rich musical and communal tradition.
Dolores "Lolis" Garcia
Kyla Danysh
DOORS AT 9:30PM, SHOW AT 10:00PM
$10-$15 sliding scale