Shattuck Down Low
There is a real nice spot right on Shattuck (2284 Shattuck) in downtown Berkeley that’s great to see live music and dance, dance, dance. I am referring to the Shattuck Down Low, a dimly lit venue that always has quality music, and serves Red Stripe, which is always a bonus.
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Ginger Margarita
Little Baobab, at 19th St. off of Mission, is the sister venue to the bigger Bissap Baobab. The latter is a full service restaurant, while the former is a smaller place that is primarily for drinking and dancing. And for a fun night out in the Mission, Little Baobab really stands out. Other places may be pumping the latest Top 40 hits, but Little Baobab plays African beats all night.
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Panama release party
This Friday January 22 at 10PM Soundway Records will celebrate the release of the third and final volume of the Panama! series recently featured on NPR and PRI the world. Compiled by Beto, Quantic and Miles Cleret, Panama! 3 showcases more of the unique tropical music created in Panama in the fertile decades of the 1960s and ’70s. From bilingual calypsos to guajira jazz, from tropical guarachas to cumbia tamboreras, Panamanian musicians fearlessly combined and brilliantly executed styles that reflected their multicultural environment during a turbulent time in the young country’s history. This collection, available for preview and purchase here, presents more of the golden age of Panamanian music and the music of the combos nacionales on rare recordings that have never been released outside the isthmus until now.
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Cafe Cocomo
Tucked away in San Pancho’s Potrero District just blocks away from the water (and spots like Jelly’s and The Ramp) is Café Cocomo, probably the city’s most consistent Latin dance spot. The huge dancefloor is beautiful, and the large bandstand makes the orquestas a pleasure to watch. Not that most salsa dancers in the Bay Area even pay attention to the band that’s playing, but that’s fodder for another column. All the best bands in the Bay Area play here (Louie Romero’s Mazacote will be live on January 23rd, and plays here regularly), and when big Latin dance acts come to town , Cocomo is usually the place to see them.
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