Latin Jazz Concert: John Santos Sextet: The Art of the Descarga | SoMa
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Yerba Buena Gardens (Esplanade) | 773 Mission St., San Francisco, CA
Event Details
Submitted by the Event Organizer
SF’s Yerba Buena Gardens Festival 2026
The 2026 Yerba Buena Gardens Festival hosts a full lineup of free outdoor music, theater, circus, dance, poetry, and children’s programs. The Festival opens on Saturday, May 9, 2026 with Hermán Olivera y Orquesta Taíno to kick off its 26th season. The Festival features over 100 free performances from May to November in Downtown San Francisco.
The Art of the Descarga featuring Orestes Vilató celebrates the Cuban jam session popularized among jazz musicians during the bebop heyday of the late ’40s and early ’50s, when Cuban pioneers created exciting descargas out of simple melodies, folk tunes and children’s songs.
Percussionists, in particular, were set free from their typical roles as accompanists, and percussion solos increased exponentially, giving birth to a new movement of rhythmic virtuosos. John Santos is a major figure in Latin Jazz, and Orestes Vilató is regarded as one of the greatest timbaleros in the history of Cuban music. The program features classics and new work commissioned by the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival.
Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.
Cost: FREE
Categories: Live Music
