Blanca Sandoval: News

Malo
Forty years ago, a group of musicians from the Excelsior and Mission Districts of San Francisco became known as “Malo”. Previously, they had called themselves “The Malibus” and they played at places such as the Mission YMCA and the Nite Life night club. Their big hit “Suavecito” in 1972 has been called "The Chicano National Anthem" and was arranged for Malo by Richard Bean, Pablo Tellez, and Abel Zarate. Malo then had a huge following and released other hits, such as "Chevere", "Nena", "Pana", "Cafe" and "Oye Mama".

Malo is still exciting crowds everywhere they go and will be celebrating their 40th year on July 31st at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Special guest stars will be performing with them to commemorate this historic event in their home town. Malo’s current line-up includes: Arcelio Garcia (Lead Vocals), Jorge Santana (Guitar), Gus Bogios (Bass), David George (Drums), Gabriel Manzo (Lead Guitar), Gibby Ross (Timbales), Daniel Cervantes (Keyboards), Brian Buekelman (Trumpet), Pete Rodriguez (Trumpet, Trombone), Jack Musgrove (Trumpet, Flugelhorn) and David Chavez (Congas).


Performing with them will be Lava - Latin Rhythms and Blanca (Sandoval).

Lava
Lava has a very diverse set list, with songs in several different styles, such as Latin Jazz, Cha-Cha-Cha, Latin Rock, Latin Funk, and Salsa. They cover such artists as Santana, Malo, Poncho Sanchez and War. Lava also plays a number of standards that have been in the top 40 over the past 30 years. Lava has had the privilege of opening for headliners Sapo, Malo, Pete Escovedo, and former lead vocalist of Tower of Power Lenny Williams.

Lava features Mio "Timbalero" Flores (Timbales), Delbert Ojeda (Congas), Richie Cravalho (Guitar and Vocals) and Andres Soto (Tenor Sax, Flute and Vocals), Cedric Deonbi (Lead Vocals), Richie Aguon (Drums), Joaquin Solorzano (Bass, Vocals), Vic Bajarano (Keyboards), Manuel Duran (Trumpet, Vocals) and Allen Williams (Trombone).


Blanca
Blanca Sandoval, is the rising star in the Bay Area Latin Rock Community whose sound is derived from a mixture of her Latin musical roots with rock, funk, jazz, and up beat ballads, her bilingual style is extremely diverse and prepared to engage any crowd. She is a talented singer/songwriter who also plays acoustical guitar, her band has some very talented musicians to go along with her energy and beautiful voice. Members of her band include: Robert Zamora (Guitar), Mike Juarez (Drums) and Oscar Tablada (Bass) from Sapo.

She is strong in her convictions and most of her songs include a message, which profess her strength as a woman and as a Latina. When she performs, you cannot help but notice that her fans get out of their seats to get close to the stage so as not to miss a minute of her performance. Her fans also seem to know the words to all of her songs and most are singing along during her performance.

Together, these three bands will give you an evening of music you will not forget~! For tickets go to www.latinrockinc.com

Bob Sandoval
Latin Rock, Inc.

Dr Rock and Latin Rock inc Present SATURDAY JULY 31st!! THE GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL in San Francisco, Opening for "MALO" and "LAVA". This venue is a sister club of SLIMS trying to keep the music all ages!! Save the date!! Doors Open at 7 PM Blanca Starts at 8!!! www.gamh.com www.blancasmusic.com

La Raza Galería Posada (LRGP) presents a family day of Latino celebration with music, dance, poetry, arts & crafts, and community awareness. The concert headliner is the legendary 12-piece Latin rock group, Malo- featuring guitarist Jorge Santana. Opening for MALO is Sacramento's supreme torch singer Keri Carr (formerly of Rowdy Kate), and her new quartet featuring multi-year, Sammie Award-winning guitarist, Steve Randall,drummer Larry Carr and bassist R.W. Grigsby who will debut a set of traditional Mexican music. As lead singer of Rowdy Kate, Mexican-American Carr wowed California audiences with her Ronstadt-like vocal power and interpretive depth.

Also on the main stage is San Francisco’s Blanca Sandoval, a bilingual singer songwriter. Her sound blends together her Latin musical roots with rock, funk, jazz, and ballads. She has released her debut CD, Mi Musica. The daughter of career musicians, Blanca grew up on the road traveling with Los Sandoval, an internationally recognized group that has appeared with such famous acts as Celia Cruz, The Platters and Diane Summer.The location was chosen to attract thousands of people to this city’s zócalo (town center) and offer the sights, sound and smells that accompany the music of the era known as Latin Rock. The plaza and this event honors Cesar Chavez, the legendary activist and humanitarian.

Families can enjoy a day of festivities in a park setting. There will be food vendors, community information/outreach booths, an artisan center featuring area artists and craft persons, plus Latin dance clinics for kids of all ages.

Since 1979, the Galería has established itself as a community center of excellence in promoting and exhibiting Chicano, Latino and Native American art, music, poetry, and dance in the Northern California region. The proceeds generated from this event will allow LRGP the opportunity to continue to educate and serve the greater community.

Saturday night’s concert at the Avalon Nightclub in Santa Clara will go down as being an historical music event; it will be talked about for years to come. The people who came were anticipating a great night of music; the artists did not disappoint them. It turned out to be a night of non-stop excitement that will be remembered as one of the best Latin Rock concerts of 2010. The show was presented in conjunction with Dr. Rock and Latin Rock, Inc. and the Avalon, what is becoming a powerful companionship of production magic. The bill included; Blanca Sandoval (The Sweetheart of Latin Rock, Inc.”), the Kool Katz and the incomparable Escovedo Family Orchestra, which included Pete, Sheila, Peter Michael and Juan Escovedo.

Blanca came on stage and immediately a throng of her fans came onto the floor to get a closer view of the woman they love to watch perform. Blanca has a huge following in the Bay Area and it was evident that those in attendance were no strangers to her songs. As I looked around, many of them sang along, verse for verse, there were miles of smiles and cheers as she went through her set. Before and after her set, I had a chance to talk to all members of the band and their level of confidence and excitement was extremely high. Blanca has a powerful voice and has a repertoire of original music; she gets more comfortable on stage every time I see her. I paid a lot of attention to the musicians and I could tell that not only were they enjoying themselves, their level of professionalism had taken a giant leap on this particular stage. I see great things in store for this Band, which includes; Blanca Sandoval (vocals/acoustic guitar), Robert Zamora (Electric Guitar), Oscar Tablada (Bass) and Mike Juarez (Drums). High-energy creativity is the name of the game for this four piece band.

Kool Katz came up next with their mixture of Salsa, Funk and R&B which got people on the dance floor, where most remained throughout the Katz performance. Kelly Galvan gave a funky performance on lead vocals and it was beginning to look like women were going to rule the stage this night. Their set list consisted of Originals, Latin Covers and Funk Covers from Con Funk Shun. Arthur Galvan (Vocals/Guitar), Brandon Renteria (Drums), Eddie Jimenez (Congas), Gilbert Galvan (Bass) and the rest of the band kept dancers on their feet. Special Guest Ron Moton from Con Funk Shun sat in for their songs “Got to be Enough” and “Fun”. I was impressed by their theatrical presence and showmanship throughout their entire performance, and look forward to seeing them at the Avalon on June 12th with the legendary Joe Bataan.

The Escovedo Family is in a class all their own, it was evident that the torch is being passed to some very capable offspring. Amazing professionalism!!!! Their sound filled every crevice in the room and the beat resonated through the floor captivating the crowd. It was announced that Pete would be celebrating his 75th birthday soon, but he was playing with the vigor of a twenty year old, his sticks became an extension of his arms, as if alive. Sheila played the drums so hard her sticks became a blur, losing and breaking a few in the process but picking up another in one easy motion. Peter Michael was mostly up front providing vocals (which mesmerized me), while playing bongos, but switched off with Sheila for a few songs and was a natural on the drums. Juan gave some of the best conga solos I’d ever seen live. The crowd went wild with their renditions of the Azteca Classics “Whatcha Gonna Do” and “Someday We’ll Get By”.

The Escovedo Family reminded me why I love Latin music so much. The entire band…keyboards, bass line, horns and of course the Escovedo Family, who played some of the most impressive percussion to be found, brought down the house with amazing accuracy and gave a whole new meaning to the word Orchestra!

Bob Sandoval
For Latin Rock, Inc.
April, 2010

Celebrate the Life and Legacy of Labor & Civil Rights Leader Cesar E. Chavez at the 10th Anniversary Holiday Parade & Festival on Sat. April 10, 12-6pm. Parade begins at Dolores Park, Festival follows at 1pm along 24th St (btwn Treat and Bryant Sts) in La Mission! Check out the PSA spot Adrian Arias of MCCLA edited for... us and the voice of Rosi Reyes of KPFA's Ritmo de las Americas!

Parade Grand Marshal Culture Clash (Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas and original members Marga Gomez and Rene Yanez), Special Guest Dolores Huerta. Entertainment by Anthony Blea y su Charanga, Blanca Sandoval, Margarita & Uce B, MCCLA's Youth Bands Los Chiles Verdes and Futuro Picante, Ballet Folklorico Youth Group Cuicacalli, and pre-festival music by Los Cochinos. Youth art displayed at Galeria de la Raza along with Galeria Art Bazaar, vendors, food and much more!

Last night at Slim’s was the first Headline show for my beautiful friend Blanca Sandoval. I was worried about how she would hold up because I knew that she had been sick since Wednesday. When I greeted her on the sidelines, she gave me a hug and I joked with her about how hot she was (probably a slight fever and just plain ass nerves). I wished her luck and went back to being a social butterfly…hanging with members of La Ventana and meeting some great new friends.

The first act up was Secrecy, who I’d never seen and was unaware that they were an R&B Band and featured my friends (and Latin Rock greats), guitarist Johnny Delacruz and conguero Delbert Ojeida. Since R&B ranks right alongside Latin Rock in my favorite music genres, I was not disappointed. Great vocals with a Latin beat thrown in were a great combination.

Next up was En Vivo, and although several of their songs were Santana covers, I was pleasantly surprised and at times it reminded me of versions Santana played on the Sacred Fire-Live in Mexico City DVD. They did a fantastic version of Samba pa Ti taken from that DVD.

Then…up comes Blanca, who was introduced by Dr. Rock (Bernardo Gonzales) as the “Sweetheart of Latin Rock, Inc” and I couldn’t agree with him more. I was amazed at her following, including children who sat on the floor in front of the crowd. You could tell that she was not feeling well, and after her opening song she announced that she’d been sick all week and that her voice was a little hoarse. As she went through her songs, her energy seemed to pick up and at one point requested a cough drop, bass player Oscar Tablada came up with one, another was delivered by someone in the crowd. During her performance, Blanca continued to smile and belt ‘em out, I was amazed at her composure and self-confidence, she had only one thing in her mind…give her fans a great show. In between songs, she was sipping from a bottle of water and something else I couldn’t identify, she later mentioned it was olive oil (Yuk), but it did a great job of keeping her vocals oiled and alive.

I had only seen Blanca once before and would not have missed her first headline, no matter what the reason. I was not disappointed with Blanca and her band and will make it a point to go to all of her shows.

Blanca, my dear…You are a Real Trooper.

Bob Sandoval

New songs and Finally headlining!! Mark your calendars for a wonderful event!! Singer songwriter Blanca Sandoval is headlining Slims on Saturday January 16th at 10pm!!

With a soulful voice and lyrics from the heart, singer songwriter Blanca Sandoval has captivated audiences by means of unrivaled sounds that blend together her latin musical roots with Rock, funk, Jazz and her up beat ballads, her bilingual style is extremely diverse and prepared to engage any crowd.
Dr Rock and Latin Rock INC Presents
BLANCA SANDOVAL
SATURDAY JANUARY 16TH!!
SLIMS
333 11th st
San Francisco Ca
Doors open at 7pm Blanca Starts at 10pm!
See you there!!

In the annals of Bay Area music, Malo's "Suavecito" will no doubt go down as the ultimate Latino love song. The San Francisco Latin rock group's 1972 hit featured the voice of Richard Bean, who wrote it. Today the longtime Hayward resident is still going strong with Sapo, the band he formed after leaving Malo. Sapo (the name translates as "Frog") also got national exposure with a very nice self-titled album; barrio low-rider classics such as "Can't Make It," "Sapo's Montuño," and "Ritmo del Corazón" came out of that now-collectible LP.”

“The Emergence of the "New Chicano Groove" has sparked renewed interest in Latin rock bands whose appearance in the late 1960s and early '70s altered the face of popular music. Santana is rightly credited for kick-starting this mini-revolution. Hitching African-Latin polyrhythms to rock guitar, the band paved the way for a myriad of other Chicano-led ensembles, most notably Azteca, Malo and Sapo. The incorporation of R&B, percussion and jazz elements made these bands sound unique. Richard Bean was instrumental in upping the funk quotient in the then novel sound.”
With a soulful voice and lyrics from the heart, singer songwriter Blanca Sandoval has captivated audiences. Blanca is poised on the edge of stardom as the next great bilingual singer songwriter, truly a child of music, soulful, edgy and defiant. By means of an unrivaled sound that blends together her Latin musical roots with rock, funk, jazz, and up beat ballads, her bilingual style is extremely diverse and prepared to engage any crowd.