Latin Jazz This Month at the Cadillac

The Primavera Latin Jazz Band performing at the Cadillac Hotel on January 18, 2019 with slightly different personnel from this week’s appearance: Dave Casini, Lena Johnson, Jeff McNish, David Pinto, and Bob Blankenship (screen shot from the YouTube video of the concert)

This month’s Concerts at the Cadillac will take up a generous amount of space in the lobby of the Cadillac Hotel. This will be a sextet performance by the Primavera Latin Jazz Band, which will probably be led by Lena Johnson, who will be seated at the Patricia Walkup Memorial Piano that graces the lobby space. Her chromatic keyboard will be complemented by a vibraphone played by Dave Casini. Rhythm will be provided by Paul Smith on bass, Jeff McNish on guitar, Al Standford on congas, and Ronald “Tico” Gutierrez on all other percussion instruments.

In what seems to be the new routine, this show will begin at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 17. The Cadillac Hotel is located at 380 Eddy Street, on the northeast corner of Leavenworth Street. For those attending for the first time, the piano is a meticulously restored 1884 Model D Steinway concert grand, whose original soundboard is still intact. All Concerts at the Cadillac events are presented without charge. The purpose of the series is to provide high-quality music to the residents of the hotel and the Tenderloin District; but all are invited to visit the venue that calls itself “The House of Welcome Since 1907.”