Kai Lyons Trio

About

José Andrés Rodríguez | Vocals & Percussion Dr. John Calloway | Flute & Piano & Percussion Kai Lyons | Guitar & Tres Join us for a special evening bringing together three distinct voices in Afro-Cuban and jazz tradition. Kai Lyons brings deep command of the tres and Cuban guitar traditions, weaving the rhythmic backbone of son and changüí into a jazz-fluent sensibility shaped by years on the Bay Area scene. Dr. John Calloway, a longtime pillar of Latin jazz on flute and piano, lends his renowned versatility and decades of scholarship in Afro-Caribbean music to the bandstand. And leading the ensemble on vocals is José Andrés “El Sinsonte” Rodríguez, director of Grupo Changüí de Guantánamo and one of the foremost voices carrying the changüí tradition — the rustic, foundational sound from which son and salsa evolved — into the present day. Together, this trio traces a direct line from the rural sounds of Guantánamo province to the improvisational language of jazz, offering a rare chance to hear traditional Cuban song forms reimagined through a contemporary, cross-cultural lens.