Filipino Creatives & Performing Art Events in Campbell, CA

FREE concert celebrating Afro Filipinx music roots and traditions only at Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Few artists have appeared at the Festival more frequently than flutist, percussionist and arranger John Calloway. Whether he’s leading his own band, performing in the sextet of longtime creative partner John Santos, or directing the Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble of San Francisco, Calloway is a Bay Area icon who’s been at the center of the San Francisco Latin jazz scene for some five decades. But his latest and most personal project yet, the Afro-Filipino Jazz Project, takes his music in a new direction. Founded in 2022 as a creative, interactive space, the Project is intended to bring together Afro Filipinx, African American and Filipino American musicians to explore a broad range of musical styles, with a particular emphasis on jazz idioms, African American roots and traditional and folkloric Filipino music. It’s one component of the larger Afro-Filipino Project, a platform dedicated to highlighting and celebrating, individually and collectively, the art practices and artists of the African American and Filipino American communities whose contributions have profoundly shaped our nation's artistic narrative. For this performance the AFJP features bass star Marcus Shelby, inveterately grooving drummer Deszon Claiborne, Latin jazz piano specialist Murray Low, saxophonist TJ Milan, Conrad Benedicto on kulintang, vocalist and dancer Ting Alvarez and guest vocalist Anna Maria Flechero.

FREE show with the legendary Joe Bataan in San Francisco, only at Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Opening Set from MeloDious Festival favorite Joe Bataan, a Latin music legend since the mid-1960s, returns to the Gardens for his third performance in the past four years. He made an indelible mark as one of the early stars of Fania Records with a seductive combination of doo-wop vocals and boogaloo, one of the era’s defining sounds. Born Bataan Nitollano to a Filipino father and African-American mother and raised in Spanish Harlem, he is the father of the Latin soul sound, crooning hits like “Gypsy Woman” and “Ordinary Guy.” But Bataan never stayed in one groove for long. He went on to expand his sound in the ’70s with his Ghetto Records releases, co-coining the apt moniker “salsoul,” though he adapted to changing currents at the end of the decade with forays into disco and hip-hop (scoring the early rap hit “Rap-O Clap-O” in 1979). Stepping back from performing in the early ‘80s, he largely disappeared from the scene while working as a youth counselor in detention facilities. It’s a dramatic story that he recounts with humor and searing detail in his 2024 memoir Streetology: The Legacy of the Afro-Filipino, King of Latin Soul. Since returning to music in 2005, he’s reclaimed his crown and is still going strong in his 80s, a fact made evident by his triumphant YBG Festival performances. The last time MeloDious appeared at the Gardens the group was serving as house band for Cava Menzies’ glorious CO-LLAB choir in 2024. This year the rapidly ascending Oakland trio presents their own program of eclectic, soulful sounds. Grounded by keyboardist Micaiah, bassist Matthias and drummer Memphis Dempsey, MeloDious draws on a rich musical lineage that spans gospel, jazz, R&B and soul. Since forming in 2016, the band has captivated audiences with dynamic vocal harmonies, inventive arrangements and unmistakable creative chemistry. Their versatility and musicianship have led them to sharing stages with several Grammy Award-winning artists, solidifying their stature within the Bay Area’s vibrant musical ecosystem as stars on the rise. Pre-show music from KALW DJ Marcus at 1pm. In partnership with: KALW Museum of the African Diaspora