The Bay Area doesn’t boast a large Puerto Rican population but what the community lacks in numbers it makes up for with fervent spirit. No group has done more to bring the island’s verdant culture to Bay Area stages in recent years than La Mixta Criolla. Featuring Camilo Landau on the four-string cuatro, bassist Ayla Dávila, Sandra García Rivera on güícharo (gourd scraper), and percussionists Javier Navarrette (timbal), Roman Ito Carrillo (bongó, barril and pandero), and Héctor Lugo (congas, barril and pandero) and all five on vocals, the band delves into an irresistible array of rhythmic traditions, including bomba, guaracha, jíbara, merengue, son, rumba, cumbia and beyond.