featuring Francis Experience Quartet and José Jiménez
Join us for the return of the Francis Experience Quartet for First Friday: Hip Hop(e) & Healing for a night of communal healing through artistry, music, and spoken word. Featuring award-winning poet José Jiménez and Poetry Corner with Zainab Hussain, Auracle Ash, and Esperanza Cabrales.
The Francis Experience is led by Jonathan Francisco Borca, alongside co-founder Gabby Horlick (drums), and features musicians Miguel “Frunkyman” Levya (bass), and Mark Arroyo (guitar), with special guest Jared Cruz (saxophone). The quintet blends rap, poetry, and storytelling as a vehicle to engage audiences with one shared experience.
Register in advance for fast check-in.
First Fridays
Everyone at these free monthly programs enjoys an inviting atmosphere with open galleries and live entertainment.
MUSEUM CAFÉ
Stop by El Cafecito, by Mezcal Restaurant, for late-night bites and a cash bar.
Member benefit: Receive a 10% discount with every purchase at the Café!
MUSEUM STORE
Shop local! The Museum Store is also open late.
Member special: During the First Friday of every month, Museum members receive a 20% discount with every purchase at the Store!
This offer does not apply to items that are on sale.
Francis experience quartet
Jonathan Borca (emcee, poet) is an advocate, storyteller, and performing artist who by day, is the Deputy Director for the School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza and is an Arts Commissioner for the City of San José. By passion, he is an emcee and poet who performs with a variety of jazz ensembles ranging from a quartet to a big band. Borca, who is Mexican-Filipino, was raised in Eastside San José. His work experience includes over a decade of developing and scaling programs for nonprofits and public entities. He also directed all efforts for the “California Arts Council Administrators of Color Fellowship” (CAC ACF); a statewide initiative aiming to uplift an inclusive workforce. Most recently, Borca has produced a music and art series, Colour Me GOLD, which celebrates BIPOC creatives, small businesses, and producers through creative community building.
Gabby Horlick (drummer) of East San José is a professional drummer who has been playing professionally in the South Bay for over a decade. As a classically trained musician, she was often the only female drummer, paid musician, or instrumentalist in music circles. This disparity would become an important aside when pursuing her dream of starting a nontraditional jazz orchestra. As founder of 7th Street Big Band, this intention couldn’t be truer in the gender-balanced, mostly millennial, Bay Area group of musicians with a sound that draws as much influence from pop, funk, and hip-hop, as it does jazz. Gabby is also the co-founder of Francis Experience. 7th Street Big Band’s debut album, “Off Cinderella Lane” (2018), and their sophomore album, “Post Hang!” are available on all streaming platforms.
Miguel “Frunkyman” Leyva (bass) is a Bay Area-based bassist and composer who recently graduated from SJSU’s Jazz Studies Masters program. He spends his time working as a session musician, arranger, and composer for different media outlets. Mostly, cinematic projects in Los Angeles, where he obtained an undergraduate degree in media composition at CSUN. His passion for jazz and funk has compelled him to create and hone the Frunkyman sound concept /experience for the past year. The cosmically eccentric sound adorned with elaborate funk convolutions and electronic elements has been a new sound in the Bay Area, with notable performances at Blues and Brews Festival, San José Museum Of Art, and San Jose Jazz Summer Fest. Projects he’s been involved in include Genius: Picasso, FIFA 2018, Drifting Dragons, and the Video Game Awards 2018. Frunkyman released two singles, “Friendzone” and “Fank Musique,” in 2023 available on all streaming platforms.
Mark Arroyo is a guitarist who mixes his love of jazz, funk, rock, hip-hop, dub, and electronic music to create a sound both foreign and familiar. His musical curiosity is on display in original compositions performed by The Mark Arroyo Trio, with a sensibility bridging modern jazz and the indie-rock underground. Arroyo is a Grantee of the 2021 SJZ Jazz Aid Fund, an excerpt from the commissioned piece "Pulse in Isolation" is available at youtu.be/5RM_YvEII3c.
Special Guest Appearance
Jared Cruz is a saxophonist, performer, composer, and bandleader working in the San Francisco Bay Area. Born into a family with deep roots in the arts, his musical career began at an early age. Jared's ability to play genres such as pop, R&B, Latin, rock, jazz, blues, and funk helped him develop a reputation as a skilled and versatile saxophonist. In the last five years, Jared received his Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies Saxophone Performance from San Diego State University, recorded at Capitol Records and had the opportunity to tour in the United States and Europe. In addition, he has had the privilege of sharing the stage with world-renowned artists such as Gordon Goodwin, Wayne Bergeron, Jon Faddis, Ernie Watts, Tito Puente Jr, Kristen Korb and Huey Dunbar, among others. He is a leader of The (408) Collective, and arranged and co-produced the songs “Hit the Ground” and “LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.” Jared has been featured in many Hollywood commercials and performed live on TV shows such as ABC’s Schooled.
Featured poet
José Jiménez is a California poet with proud Mexican roots, driven by a passion for truth, resistance and reflection. His poetry explores justice, resilience and social change, drawing from personal and collective experiences to challenge, heal, and inspire. With a commanding presence, José blends raw emotion with sharp wordplay, turning poetry into both a mirror and a megaphone. A two-time Grand Slam Champion, José has made his mark on stages nationwide, earning recognition as a finalist at the Stonewall International Slam and the Utah Arts Festival, and has been a featured poet at Berkeley Slam and San José Slam. His style is fierce yet intimate, urgent yet reflective—his poetry both challenges and heals, making him the perfect co-feature alongside frequent collaborator Francis Experience.
Poetry Corner
Zainab Hussain (she/her)
Zainab’s poetry explores vulnerability, self-love, and healing, using self-expression as a tool to confront trauma and raise awareness of social justice issues. In 2023, she launched Stories Untold: Poetry for the Soul, a multimedia platform dedicated to amplifying the voices and experiences that have shaped her journey. Some stories are her own; others are those she has witnessed and carried along the way. Her work invites readers into a space of reflection, resilience, and transformation.
Auracle Ash (they/she)
Born of a bladed tongue and a child of Yemonjá, Ash is a multidisciplinary artist weaving afro-surrealism, hoodoo conjure, and Black feminist theory into their work. Of Ghanaian and Native heritage, they were born on Nisqually and Squaxin ancestral lands. Their poetry is an intimate reflection on ancestry, love, and self-discovery, embracing the power of language as both a blade and a balm.
Esperanza Cabrales (she/they)
Esperanza Cabrales is a queer Xicana slam poet, performer, pun enthusiast, and teaching artist based in Oakland, California. As part of Bay Area Creative, they facilitate poetry workshops for students across the Peninsula and East Bay. Since 2022, they have organized community events with Rich Oak Alchemy, including the Berkeley and Oakland Poetry Slams. Their work embraces the joy of shared spaces, the depth of emotion, and the beauty of queer and cultural identities. When not writing, they can be found baking, learning new languages, or crafting earrings.
Support
San José Museum of Art First Fridays are made possible in part by major support from the Jay Paul Company.
Operations and programs at the San José Museum of Art are made possible by principal support from SJMA’s Board of Trustees, a Cultural Affairs Grant from the City of San José, and the Lipman Family Foundation; by lead support from the Adobe Foundation, Toby and Barry Fernald, Brook Hartzell and Tad Freese, the Richard A. Karp Charitable Foundation, Tammy and Tom Kiely, Kimberly and Patrick Lin, Yvonne and Mike Nevens, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Skyline Foundation, and the SJMA Director's Council and Council of 100; and with significant endowment support from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation and the San José Museum of Art Endowment Fund established by the Knight Foundation at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
