Music Calendar

Gonzalo Cordova is one of Chicago's finest interpreters of the Latin American songbook, from trova and nueva canción to bossa, balladas and beyond.

Born in Mexico City, Gonzalo's background is steeped in traditional and popular Latin music ranging from Nuevo Flamenco to Mexican Folk. He is a founding member of the Grammy nominated Sones de Mexico Ensemble.

Reservations recommended. Call 773-878-6327 or reserve online at http://saboracaferestaurant.com/Reservation.html

From romantic boleros to uptempo salsa and Latin jazz, vocalist Edward Carpio is one of the most entertaining singers in the business. Sabor a Café is proud to present this great singer in an intimate quartet format.

No cover, but reservations are highly recommended. Call 773-878-6327 or reserve online at http://saboracaferestaurant.com/Reservation.html

Brazilian singer, guitarist and composer Luciano Antonio continues his Thursday evening residency at Sabor a Café.

Join us every Thursday for an evening of Bossa and Música Popular Brasileira performed on our intimate stage by Chicago's finest interpreter of Brazilian music.

Luciano will draw from his deep knowledge and vast repertoire, using his guitar and voice to create magic.

No cover charge, but reservations are recommended. Reservations at 773-878-6327 or reserve online at http://saboracaferestaurant.com/Reservation.html

"Soleira" is the new project by guitarist Carolina Folmer and vocalist Ana Munteanu. Celebrate the release of their new album at Sabor A Café Steakhouse.

Songs about great passion, loss, love, light, memory, hope, from the 20th century's great Spanish and Latin American composers.

Far from pretentious, somewhere in between classical and traditional, "Soleira" is the pure expression of the real, of the genuine. Welcome into the garden, and stay for a little while.

Call 773-878-6327 or reserve online at http://saboracaferestaurant.com/Reservation.html

Welcome back a Sabor a Café favorite, Claudia La Gitana, for an evening of soulful salsa, boleros, cumbia, Latin jazz and more!

Claudia La Gitana was born in Palmira, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. A singer of multiple cultures and styles, she brightens every stage with her colorful Gypsy style and vibrant personality. This palmireña is an international artist who has performed with Swing and Sugar, Mangrove, La Nueva Sonora Matancera and others.

In addition to performing as a solo artist, she is also the lead singer of Azúcar - A Celia Cruz Tribute Project.

Her teachers and mentors include the great Alfredito Linares, Felix Suarez 'Shakaito' and Nino Caicedo. She is the winner of the 2012 Colombian National Bolero Competition 'Alberto Villa Velez'.

No cover charge, but reservations are highly recommended. Call 773-878-6327 or reserve online at http://saboracaferestaurant.com/Reservation.html

Sabor a Café is honored to present a concert celebrating the release a new project by flutist Carla Campopiano entitled "Chicago-Buenos Aires Connections".

The album and concert is comprised of the material recorded in Argentina in April 2018 by Carla Campopiano, percussionist composer and drummer Gustavo Cortiñas and guitarist/arranger Ángel Colacilli.

It is a musical concept that transits through different genres of Argentine and Río de la Plata music such as candombe, chacarera, milonga, tango and jazz, united in an aesthetic and personal concept that aims at the interaction between cultures through the music, respecting their traditions and interpreting the common elements. The present is the product of many years of musical research in the search to understand AND learn.

Carla will be joined by Gustavo Cortiñas, bassist Kitt Lyles and special guest Gabriel Medina on guitar.

Reservations are recommended. Reservations at 773-878-6327 or reserve online at http://saboracaferestaurant.com/Reservation.html

Sabor a Café is proud to be the Sunday night home of the Chicago Choro Club Monthly Roda de Choro (jam session)!

Brazilian choro is a cousin of "samba." It is communal by nature and appeals to young and old. Classical and jazz players find common ground working in this style that allows for freedom of expression through improvisation, technical dexterity and rhythmic feel.

The Chicago Choro Club is a community of musicians that plays Brazilian choro music. The "CCC" is in residence at The Musical Offering in Evanston, hosting classes and jam sessions in the style. Learn more at www.chicagochoroclub.com

Hosting the June session at Sabor a Café are CCC instructors Julie Koiden, Marcel Bonfim, special guest David Chelimsky, John Beard and Heitor Garcia.

No cover charge, but reservations are recommended. Reservations at 773-878-6327 or reserve online at http://saboracaferestaurant.com/Reservation.html

Direct from Mexico City, Sabor a Café presents Rafael Mendoza.

Together with David Haro, Mendoza is one of the pioneers of la trova in Mexico. For the past 30 years he has sung of life, the world and his time through a wide variety of song forms. He brings together in each of his albums original songs in which the evolution of popular and independent singing is perceived. Originally from Mexico City, he has sung at festivals and stages throughout Mexico and internationally in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Marseilles, Barcelona, ​​Brussels, Antwerp, Utrech and San Juan.

He has recorded eight albums: MENDOZA Y MACONDO (1987), ¿QUE ME PASA? (1997), FIN DE SIGLO (1999), ESTA LOCURA (2003), EN VIVO DESDE LOS ANGELES (2006) with Marcial Alejandro & David Haro, SOY MI VOZ (2010), ESTÉ DONDE ESTÉ, (2011) y MIL AÑOS DESPUÉS (2015).

His songs have been interpreted by Oscar Chávez, Amparo Ochoa, Salvador "El Negro" Ojeda, Betsy Pecanins, Eugenia León, Nobuyo Yagi, Lila Downs, Mili Bermejo, Nina Galindo, Verónica Ituarte, Gabriela Bojórquez, Georgina Meneses, Susana Harp, Javier Gurruchaga, Iraida Noriega, Astrid Hadad, Margie Bermejo, Malena Durán and Gabriela Bojórquez, among others.

In 2011 he was honored with the Maria Grever Scholarship for Mexican Popular Song Composition and in 2013 he was a tutor in the Traditional Musicians Program of the National Fund for Culture and the Arts. He has taught composition workshops at the Escuela de Música DIM and in cities such as Morelia, Tijuana, Puebla, Cuernavaca, Mexico City and Los Angeles, as well as teaching private workshops for more than 10 years. He was sworn in the Arts project throughout the Government of Mexico City and in the Ibermúsicas composition contest. He is currently a member of the National System of Art Creators.

There is a $10 admission charge for this special concert event.

For reservations, call (773) 878-6327.

Guillermo Paolisso is one of the most talented guitarists in Chicago. The virtuoso guitarist was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The fourth generation of a musical family, he studied a wide variety of Latin music styles as well as jazz in Argentina and Italy from the young age of 6. He blends traditional Iberoamerican musical styles and jazz.

These include tango, milonga, candombe, bossa nova, choro, samba, waltz, marinera, salsa, bomba, and Latin jazz. The American Guild of Music Artists considers him an important musician representing Argentinian musical culture in the US.

Reservations are highly recommended. Call 773-878-6327 or reserve online at http://saboracaferestaurant.com/Reservation.html

Sabor a Café is proud to be the Sunday night home of the Chicago Choro Club Monthly Roda de Choro (jam session)!

Brazilian choro is a cousin of "samba." It is communal by nature and appeals to young and old. Classical and jazz players find common ground working in this style that allows for freedom of expression through improvisation, technical dexterity and rhythmic feel.

The Chicago Choro Club is a community of musicians that plays Brazilian choro music. The "CCC" is in residence at The Musical Offering in Evanston, hosting classes and jam sessions in the style. Learn more at www.chicagochoroclub.com

Hosting the June session at Sabor a Café are CCC instructors Julie Koiden, Marcel Bonfim, special guest David Chelimsky, John Beard and Heitor Garcia.

No cover charge, but reservations are recommended. Reserve at 773-878-6327 or reserve online at http://saboracaferestaurant.com/Reservation.html

For the past twenty years with four albums as a leader, several studio projects as a side man, and countless worldwide performances, saxophonist, vocalist and composer Juli Wood has established herself as a solid, swinging, lyrical and entertaining performer on Chicago’s music scene.

Juli is in the tradition of saxophonists who were also great vocalists; Cleanhead Vincent, Eddie Harris, and Louis Jordan. Never has that been more apparent than in “5 4 3 2 1 Juli Wood,” her latest recording and most ambitious project to date.

Reservations are recommended. Reserve at 773-878-6327 or reserve online at http://saboracaferestaurant.com/Reservation.html

José Cornier, born of Puerto Rican and French descent, is no stranger to the age-old adage that it takes a whole lot of faith to move mountains. The Humboldt Park native picked up his first guitar at the age of 8 and is now able to play any guitar placed in front of him.

José Cornier is a man with a vision: Sharing his love through music. José has played at many major events throughout the Chicago area, across the country and overseas. He attended the Latin Grammys and the Latin Billboard Awards in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2010. José was honored as "Someone You Should Know" by Harry Porterfield of CBS 2 and in 2008 performed for Chef Rick Bayless, composing a song called "One Plate at a Time" for his induction to the Chef’s Hall of Fame here in Chicago. José has also performed at a fundraiser for President Barack Obama.

He has released 3 CDs, "Esperanza", "En Mi Camino" and most recently "Just For The Love" on Chi-Sound Records.

His sound combines acoustic Spanish guitar artistry with lively Latin jazz rhythms in an irresistibly dancable groove.

Reservations are recommended. Reserve online at 773-878-6327 or reserve online at http://saboracaferestaurant.com/Reservation.html

Un weekend Cubano!

Sabor a Café presents a Rumba Jam Session featuring some of Chicago's finest Latin and jazz musicians led by Melvis Santa and Ashedí.

It's part of a Weekend of Afro-Cuban music at Sabor a Café that includes Melvis Santa and Ashedí in concert on Saturday, June 16 at 9pm (https://www.facebook.com/events/2077250675822265/) and an Afro-Cuban Percussion and Dance Workshop Sunday morning at 11am. (https://www.facebook.com/events/442178726222581/)

2018 Grammy nominee Melvis Santa and her group Ashedí bring the powerful, ecstatic Afro Cuban tradition to new spaces. Melvis leads on piano and vocals while fronting a full percussion set of batá drums featuring Master percussionists Roman Diaz, Rafael Monteagudo and Anier Alonso.

Born in Havana, Melvis Santa has been well known in Cuba since she was fourteen years old and formed the vocal group Sexto Sentido. In 2010 Melvis spread her wings and appeared as one of the lead vocalists of Interactivo, a seminal fusion band in Cuba, recording and touring worldwide.

Based in New York since 2014, she continues to make a mark as a performer and educator teaching Afro-Cuban music and dance workshops at NYU, CUNY Graduate Center, Tulane University of New Orleans, YALE University, and others. Melvis has also worked with a who’s who of the jazz and Latin communities, from Ravi Coltrane to the Buena Vista Social Club.

There is a $10 cover charge for the show.

Call (773) 878-6327 for reservations.