Cachao rocks the house at Bimbo's

What a hot show we saw last night at Bimbo's 365. The place was packed for a tribute to Israel Lopez "Cachao," the father of the mambo.

Playing with Andy Garcia's Cineson (the name of his production company also) the 86-year old bassist dominated the place from the start. Garcia has recorded several master sessions with Cachao and also produced and directed a documentary --Israel "Cachao" Lopez, Ahora Si! Andy Garcia Presents Cachao - CD & DVD Set-- bringing the man back to the forefront of attention for the many people who have listened over the years to bootlegs of his recordings, but never known who he was.

The band, which according to Eric included several local regulars who play with John Santos (Santos himself showed up with a bunch noisemakers in bag and sat in) was a crack team. The Japanese lead trumpet player blasted away from the start of the evening, causing us to wonder if he'd actually blow his face off.

If I mention that a ballerina from San Francisco Ballet was at the "Reserved for guests of Andy Garcia" table, it probably won't take more than one guess to figure out who it was. She also appearing in Garcia's latest movie , "The Lost City" which opens in a few weeks.