The blues singer Lauren Mitchell has received the kind of accolades and reviews that publicists dream of. Blues Music Magazine calls her a “mesmerizing performer with a voice for the ages.” Music director and guitarist Josh Sklair, who worked with Mitchell on her 2017 breakthrough album Desire, has compared her to the woman whose recordings he produced for a quarter century: Etta James. Scotty Barnhart, the director of the Count Basie Orchestra, considers her “one of the most important blues artists working today.”
In 2023, Barnhart invited Lauren Mitchell to perform with the Basie orchestra as a featured soloist on the album Basie Swings the Blues, alongside luminaries such as George Benson, Robert Cray, Bettye LaVette, and Buddy Guy. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.
On Saturday, September 12, 2026, Mitchell will give a 90-minute concert as the headlining act of a fundraiser at the Yambu Gallery, Las Palmas 11, in Col. San Antonio. Her backup band is made up of four of San Miguel’s top musicians: pianist Patricio Méndez, bassist Jack Joshua, violinist (and vocalist) Yala Torres, and percussionist Victor Monterrubio.
The fundraising event will include a reception and a silent auction, with offerings that include high-end artwork (from artists such as René Alejandro Noa, Andrew Osta, and Margarita Fick, to name three), along with other prized items and services.
Doors open at 5pm, concert seating commences at 6pm, and the auction is scheduled to conclude around 9:30pm. There are two ticket prices, 1250 MX for VIP, and 750 MX for General Admission. VIP ticketholders will have preferred seating, a complimentary drink created by award-winning mixologist Erik Andrews, and a curated light meal. There will be a cash bar open to all ticketholders.
The beneficiary of the fundraiser is the Little Picassos program, headed by Efrian Gonzales of the Somos Language Center in San Miguel. This is an afterschool program open to mostly at-risk children between the ages of 5 and 12. The children receive a meal, and training from a host of volunteers in drawing with graphite and pastel as well as painting in all mediums. Once they have reached age 13, graduates of Little Picassos have the opportunity to apply for admission to the Instituto Allende’s art program.
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