Ritmo y Voz
Thursday, September 3rd • The Red Door, Emeryville
Ritmo y Voz brings the sound of Cuba to the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area, blending Latin jazz with the deep roots of Afro-Cuban tradition — rumba, son, guajira, and changüí. T
he group is thrilled to welcome as a very special guest the legendary Cuban vocalist, percussionist, and reginero José Andrés Rodríguez Ramírez— celebrated by his stage name "El Sinsonte"(The Mockingbird), who stands today as one of the ultimate gatekeepers of Changüí, an explosive, rural 19th-century Afro-Cuban musical form native to the mountains of eastern Cuba.
We hope you will join us for what will prove to be a vey special evening of musioc deeply rooted in the Cuban cultural heritage and cross-generational creativity.
Tickets $35/pp - Address given upon ticket purchase
Ernesto Mazar Kindelán -
Lead Vocals, Percussion
José Andrés Rodríguez Ramírez, globally celebrated by his stage name "El Sinsonte"(The Mockingbird), is an renowed Cuban vocalist, percussionist, and legendary reginero (freestyle lyric improviser). He stands today as one of the ultimate gatekeepers of Changüí, an explosive, rural 19th-century Afro-Cuban musical form native to the mountains of eastern Cuba. Known for his vocal speed and razor-sharp wordplay, "El Sinsonte" bridges the ancient, raw origins of Cuban folk music with the modern, global stage.
Born and raised in the rugged mountain terrain of the Guantánamo province, Jose Andres was fully immersed in traditional changüisero culture from childhood. In this region, Changüí is not just entertainment—it is a community lifeline built around backyard parties (peñas), storytelling, and African-derived syncopation. He mastered the highly specialized art of the reginero—an improviser who can spin complex, rhyming poetic quatrains (cuartetas), enclosed quatrains (redondillas), and Spanish decastichs(décimas)on the spot. A true master of rhythm, he performs his lightning-fast verbal poetry while simultaneously maintaining a driving tempo on the guayo (a traditional metal scraper percussion instrument).
Kai Lyons
Tres Cuban Guitar, Hollow-body Jazz Guitar, Backup Vocals
A San Francisco native, Kai anchors the group's sound with the interplay of traditional Cuban tres and the warmth of hollow-body jazz guitar, bridging Bay Area jazz sensibility with Cuban string tradition.Ever since returning to the Bay Area in 2015, he has freelanced extensively and also traveled frequently to New York City, New Orleans, Brazil, Cuba and the Caribbean on music trips. In 2018 he participated in Master Class: Orff-Afrique 2018 in Ghana, Africa.
Einar Leliebre Nuñez
Lead Vocals, Percussion
Also from Santiago de Cuba, having toward the United States and Europe in traditional Afro-Cuban folkloric ensembles Einar fronts the band with powerful lead vocals and drives the rhythm section with authentic Afro-Cuban percussion, carrying the clave, syncopation and polyrhythm that ties every song together.
Ernesto Mazar Kindelán
Cuban Baby Bass, Backup Vocals
Born in Santiago de Cuba, graduate of CUBA‘s top music conservatory ‘El instituto superior del arte’, and basic for one of Cuba’s top groups, La Charanga Habanera, Ernesto brings the deep, funky pulse of the baby bass — the heartbeat of son and timba — along with rich tenor-alto vocal harmonies, plus a way of captivating the audience that will get you singing along and dancing in your seat.