The San Francisco Bay Area has been home to innumerable outsize figures in Latin music, including Pete Escovedo, Carlos Santana, Rebeca Mauleon, Bobi Cespedes, and many others. Percussionist, composer, and bandleader John Santos holds a special place in that pantheon. Tune into “The Hear and Now,” with host Derk Richardson, on Thursday night, right after “The Bonnie Simmons Show,” and find out why Santos is a bonafide MVP–or deepen your familiarity with the musician associated with El Coro Folklórico Kindembo, the Machete Ensemble, and collaborations with Cachao, Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Max Roach, Eddie Palmieri, John Handy, Billy Cobham, Zakir Hussain, Hermeto Pascoal, George Cables, Joe Henderson, and so many others.
On Saturday, April 27, the John Santos Quartet presents “Tribute to the Masters,” interpreting the music of Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Johnny Hartman, Chet Baker, and others. It’s part of the revived “In The Moment Concert Series,” produced by Jim Bennett in partnership with the Oaktown Jazz Workshops and the Musically Minded Academy.