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By John Berger
Special to the Star-Bulletin
MOST musicians are content to have a place to play, period, eagerly hopping from club to club for a weekend here, a weekend there. After 14 years of playing all around town, Rolando Sanchez is delighted to have a club to call home, even if he did have to open it himself.Rolando's Salsa Club & International Restaurant opened Dec. 15 in Kahala Mall on the site formerly occupied by Steck's. The format is contemporary Latino music seven nights a week.
"Ever since I've been in Hawaii from the Day One at Anna Bannana's it hit me that we needed a place like this, so to summarize it, this is a dream come true," Sanchez said during a break in performances last Saturday. The club was comfortably full, even though it was the night before New Year's Eve and many were probably at home saving their energy for the New Year's celebration.
"It's more real because now you have more of a goal to reach -- showcasing your music, showcasing your band. It's like a liberation kind of feeling."He's hoping others feel the same way. Viewing the club now from a management perspective as well as from his familiar vantage as talent, Sanchez decided that sharing his new showcase was a no-brainer.
He and his band, Rolando Sanchez & Salsa Hawaii featuring Cynthia Romero, are the headliners Thursdays through Saturdays. Jose & Carlinho play for "Latin-Brazilian Jazz Night" on Sundays. DJ "El Sonero" Vince celebrates the diversity of recorded modern Latino music on Mondays and Tuesdays, and Alma Latina presents DJ Lady Margarita on Wednesdays.
Sanchez believes that musical diversity and a shared love of the music are essential.
"It's nice to see everybody come together and enjoy themselves. Salsa has a long history behind it, but what salsa has done is incorporate different styles so that people identify all sorts of Latin music into the salsa genre. It's easier to just say, 'Let's go salsa dancing,' and we want everyone to feel at home here. You can come watch, drink or eat, or get into the dancing.
"My experience has been that you can play (salsa) for people anywhere and they will learn to appreciate it, so that's what I've been doing in Hawaii."Sanchez has been Hawaii's most tireless promoter of modern Latin music as mainstream entertainment ever since he arrived from the Bay area in 1986.
Sanchez traces the roots of salsa (sometimes spelled salza and often loosely translated as "spicy") back to the mambo and the related rhythms that came out of the Caribbean nexus of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic in the '50s.
Musicians from elsewhere in Spanish America -- Columbia, Venezuela, Nicaragua -- contributed to the evolution of the music as well. Some strains of salsa may reflect the influence of Portuguese-speaking Brazil and of distant Argentina, although salsa is far removed from the tango. The music has been evolving for over a generation and although salsa is often "in the ear of the listener" most would agree that it is a blend of Hispanic and Afro-Caribbean culture.
Salsa and Latin rock were hot on the mainland, but Sanchez found most island residents thought of "Latin music" as either the acoustic mariachi songs heard in some Mexican restaurants or the jibaro music popular within the small but tight-knit local Puerto Rican community.Neither style reflected the music Sanchez had heard as a boy in Nicaragua or the music he'd played after his family moved to the Bay area. Sanchez looked to other groups for acceptance. Among those who embraced salsa were Hispanic military personnel out of the East Coast salsa scene who thought of jibaro as the mountain music of their grandparents' generation. Sanchez found that others with an interest in modern Hispanic music just didn't know where to find it.
Sanchez accepted the assignment of making salsa accessible to Hawaii's mainstream music market. He took the music to venues as diverse as the Black Orchid, the Blue Zebra and the Hawaiian Regent Hotel. He recorded several albums with an ever-changing roster of musicians that included guitarist Chris Planas, percussionist Vicente Ponciano, saxophonist Ben E. El Jr., and keyboardist "Richardo" Berndsen.
Lin Brown anticipated the barely there fashions currently favored by Jennifer Lopez and teen sexpot Britney Spears during her reign as the band's commanding female vocalist.
Sanchez kept his eyes on the prize through good times and bad. He downsized the band when necessary but kept Salsa Hawaii in the scene's forefront.
"Now that we finally have a place that is dedicated to Latin music seven nights a week I hope we can keep it happening with the support of everybody from throughout the state.
"You could say that my other dream is to have everybody in Hawaii enjoy this music and know that they are welcome to come here and have a good time. You could call it a 'living dream.' "
ShAKe iT!
What: Rolando's Salsa Club & International Restaurant
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