Music builds community and communities create music, a fact exemplified by this thrilling double bill. Las Cafeteras came together when seven young men and women started taking free music classes at the Eastside Café, a bustling Chicano cultural center in northeast Los Angeles. What started as a casual exploration of their Mexican roots quickly turned into a vital community institution, and now Las Cafeteras’ contemporary take on traditional Afro-Mexican grooves of son jarocho has turned the band into a world music force. Soltron grew out of the Mission District’s vital arts scene, blending Latin jazz, Chicano rock, and Brazilian batucada with strains of hip-hop and electronic music. An 11-piece juggernaut with a relentlessly buoyant sound, the band features some of the Bay Area’s most exciting young players.

Yerba Buena Gardens Festival is proud to present today’s program in association with CRLA, as part of CRLA’s 50th Anniversary Celebration. Founded in 1966, CRLA’s mission is to fight for justice and individual rights alongside the most exploited communities of our society. CRLA’s work impacts farmworkers, individuals with disabilities, immigrant populations, LGBT communities, women, children and families in rural areas. For more information, please visit: www.crla.org.

Presented with additional support from