Season Opener: Hermán Olivera y Orquesta Taíno at YBG Festival

Opening Set from Batey Tambó

Yerba Buena Gardens Festival kicks off with a salsa dance party featuring the great New York sonero Hermán Olivera y Orquesta Taíno. At the center of NYC’s Latin music scene since the late 1970s, Olivera is known for keeping company with the greatest instrumentalists in salsa and Latin jazz. Among the many storied musicians he’s collaborated with are trombonist Jimmy Bosch, percussionist Manny Oquendo, bassist Andy González and pianist/composer Eddie Palmieri. Hailed as the sonero of the 21st century, Olivera and his hard-hitting Orquesta Taíno are leading practitioners of the salsa dura sound that coalesced at Fania Records. Bring your dancing shoes, because the opening act is also a powerhouse.

Oakland percussionist Denise Solís founded one of the first all-female ensembles devoted to the Afro-Indigenous Puerto Rican tradition of bomba. She co-leads Batey Tambó with Julia Caridad Cepeda (Julia Danse), who hails from a venerated Puerto Rican family that has carried bomba rituals forward for more than eight generations. The Bay Area ensemble takes its name from the space (bateys) where bomba is practiced, and the high-energy, women-of-color-led cultural troupe is grounded in bomba music and dance.

Pre-show music from KALW DJ Wonway Posibul at 1pm.

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Host or Publisher Yerba Buena Gardens Festival