The 43rd Anniversary of ORQUESTA SUBLIME

Latin Beat Magazine, March, 1999 by Luis Tamargo

Dizzy Gillespie once mentioned that Cuban bands were like old Cadillacs because they never die. For instance, Septeto Habanero and Orquesta Aragón were formed in 1920 and 1939, respectively, while Orquesta Sublime (known among charanga addicts as La Sublime or La Pachanguera de Cuba) has been around since January of 1956, when it was organized in Havana by flautist Melquiades Fundora. Shortly after, Sublime recorded its first tunes for Panart (El Cartero and El Peletero.) Fueled by the international dominance of the chachachá and the charismatic lead vocals of Güines-born Marcos Perdomo (1920-1990), Sublime scored its greatest hits in the 1950s, when it traveled to Florida twice and even became quite popular in the Ivory Coast and other French-speaking African countries. The author of El Bobo De La Yuca (a guaracha popularized by Daniel Santos, Benny Moré, et al) and other Cuban classics, Perdomo was also a gifted singer who "took the artist-audience relationship to a new climax through his characteristic dancing pranks and his witty ways of harmonizing the chorus and creating vocal improvisations," according to the best recollection of the legendary sonero Manuel "Puntillita' Licea.

After eight years of retirement, Melquiades Fundora- a prominent exponent of the 5-key wooden flute- returned to work and to record with Sublime, currently led by violinist Gerardo Chapelli. The 43 year-old charanga is also enriched with the presence of such seasoned veterans as pianist Santiago Borbón, pailero Martín Collado and güirero Pepito Sierra. Sublime's recent collaboration with world beat and jazz saxophonist Klaus Roehn has been titled El Que Más Goza. Featuring vocalist Ana María Chomat and several violinists from the Tropicana house band, this session will be released in the future by a German label.

(Many thanks to Toni Basanta, Sublime's representative, for bis valuable cooperation).

New blood to most of us, Rolando Sánchez & Salsa Hawaii Band have been around the Hawaiian islands for over ten years, playing and performing at nightclubs, conventions, concerts, private engagements, community events, and fundraisers. Led by percussionist Rolando Sánchez, a native of Nicaragua, Central America, the Salsa Hawaii Band delivers a wide spectrum of high energy Latin dance music. From the hot and sexy salsa, to the exotic and risque merengue, the band cooks when they play the more classic Latin rhythms of the chachachá, cumbias, boleros, Latín jazz, and Afro Cuban music. Featuring the vocals of Cynthia Romero, the band stretches to more contemporary regions like those of Latin pop, Latin rock, and dance music. They have shared the stage with Eddie Palmieri, Orquesta de la Luz and Malo. Their longevity is due in large part to the hard work of Rolando Sánchez and his passion for this wonderful music. For over a decade, he has dedicated himself to maintaining the presence of live Latin music in the Hawaiian islands. He is the promoter, manager, bandleader and whatever else it takes to get the gig and keep the band working. Eleven years ago, Sánchez established The International Latin Music Festival in Hawaii. Its main purpose is to promote Latín music and expose its artists and bands from all over the world to the audiences of the Hawaiian islands. Each year Sánchez tries his best to bring fresh international talents to the event. Last year's headliners were the group Son Reinas, a 10-piece all female Salsa banal from Japan, and singer Carmen Jiménez from New York City. The festival also included ah awards banquet aimed at recognizing outstanding individuals for their contributions to the community and the State of Hawaii, as well as other events of interest to the Hispanic residents of Hawaii. Rolando Sánchez & Salsa Hawaii just released their 6th CD production titled Hawaii Latino on the MGC Records label. Salsa Hawaii is: Rolando Sánchez (leader/vocals//percussion), Cynthia Romero (vocals and percussion), George Demesillo (bass and vocals), Judy Uyehara (keyboards), Glenn Collen (congas), Larry Cook (sax and percussion), and Mark Menasian (trumpet and percussion). Aloha!