Carlos Niño & Friends at Arlington Garden (Photo by Sam Lee)
Carlos Niño’s Bubble Bath For Giants comes forth from the current this week to grow within our lives & it’s a deep sea deep time kind of joy to share in this cosmic collaborative expression with two album release concerts. If you gather with us on Thursday in Santa Barbara, thank you. If you gather with us this evening in Topanga, thank you.
On this evening following the vernal equinox, a potent time of renewal and return, we gather among friends in Topanga Canyon to revel in the transformative nature of art. We’ve long daydreamed of holding music within the Topanga Community Center with Carlos. It’s home to the local farmer’s market, the annual Topanga Days festival, and since 1949 has been a community pillar for generations of canyon residents.
To be completely honest, we can’t afford the rental rate this evening, but we’re doing it anyways out of love and would be thrilled it if you’d join us for this one time only gathering to honor and celebrate and scream and dance to welcome this new self-released Carlos Niño & Friends record into the world. This is Carlos’ first album since last year’s Saul Williams Meets Carlos Niño & Friends at TreePeople released with International Anthem, that we recorded in December of 2024, and we can’t wait for to share this music in one another’s lives.
This evening’s ensemble features Nate Mercereau, Aaron Shaw, Devin Daniels, Maia The Artiste, Michael Alvidrez, Marisha Scott, and Esmeralda Rose.
Dream the world you want into being & do it with your friends. See you here.
A prolific album Producer, expansive Percussionist, experimental Composer, connector, and communicator, Carlos Niño is known primarily for his main project Carlos Niño & Friends, and for his extensive work with both Saul Williams and on André 3000’s New Blue Sun.
Niño describes his "Carlos Niño & Friends" sound as "Spiritual, Improvisational, Space Collage.” He qualifies: "Why Spiritual? Because there is always a spiritual intention and center, feeling and vibrational message in these records. Why Improvisational? Because I approach the making of this music without any preconceived structures, I just open up to what I am hearing and feeling and experiment until I get the pieces where I want them. The preparation and information in the improvisations is our whole lives. It's an open state of communication. Why Space Collage? Because it's all about relationship and perspective, interval, layering, moving, listening, and massaging the mixes…"
The Topanga Community Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit volunteer organization, independently owned and maintained by the citizens of Topanga. The TCC was founded in 1949. Since then it has been the only community center available to generations of Topanga Canyon residents. The TCC is funded, not through any county or state taxes, but by membership dues, donations and rentals such as this concert.
The Community House is a meeting place for the Topanga Canyon Seniors (Sages), Topanga Teens, Anonymous Groups, the Topanga Historical Society, the Topanga Chamber of Commerce, the Topanga Symphony, Spiritual and Health gatherings, and many low-cost programs for young children. The adjacent ball field is the home field of the Topanga Youth Baseball and Soccer League & the site of the long running legendary festival of the Santa Monica Mountains, Topanga Days.