Best Bets, May 29-June 4: Latin American radio and a nighttime garden party

Monterey County Herald

Posted: 05/28/2014 04:49:02 PM PDT

Cascada de Flores has been sharing its Mexican and Cuban music with children in Monterey County for a number of years. On Wednesday, the group will be putting on its first show in the area for grown-ups. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Cascada de Flores comes to Carmel Valley to promote its latest album, "Radio Flor," billed as "a musical love letter to the golden radio age of Latin America" — indeed, the show is set in a radio format from the 1920s to 1950s. Cascada de Flores, led by vocalist Arwen Lawrence and guitarist Jorge Liceaga, celebrate traditional musical styles such as bolero, Cuban guaracha or Mexicon son. Their music from a bygone era has been described by the San Francisco Chronicle as "delightfully upbeat, mournful, whimsical and wistful"; Lisa Manning of Hidden Valley Music Seminars, site of the show, called them "truly charming and magical performers." The show is at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Hidden Valley, 88 W. Carmel Valley Road. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, or $10/$15 for youth 18 and under.