When Manilatown Swung: The Manila Serenaders

What did Manilatown sound like when Kearny Street was alive with music?

Step into the sounds and stories of historic Manilatown for a very special afternoon of live music, archival photographs, family memories, and community Talk Story at the International Hotel Manilatown Center.

With When Manilatown Swung, Club Mandalay begins an exciting new chapter as Music, Memory & Manilatown—a gathering where live performance and the Manilatown Archives come together to bring the neighborhood's past and present to life.

For this inaugural program, we remember the Manila Serenaders, an all-Filipino dance orchestra whose musicians were part of the vibrant social and musical world of an earlier Manilatown. The Manila Serenaders traveled across the United States in the 1930s. Their tours covered 26 states, and for many of their shows, they opened for popular swing and jazz bandleaders like Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey, Glen Miller, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Cab Calloway, Lawrence Welk, and Louis Armerrstrong. They also performed at the famous Coconut Ballroom in Salt Lake City, UT.

At the heart of the afternoon is the story of Canuto Salaver—a drummer with the Manila Serenaders whose life was deeply connected to historic Manilatown and the I-Hotel. Members of the Salaver Family will join guest interviewer Sabrina Oliveros for an informal Talk Story, sharing family memories passed down about Canuto: the musician, the family man, and the young Filipino immigrant whose Manilatown years became part of their family story.

We'll also explore another side of Canuto's Manilatown life through family memories of his connection to the Bataan Cafe and Poolhall near the I-Hotel, along with stories of his wife Estrella Echavez and her relationship with members of the Manilatown community.

Raymond Calica Bambao, bassist with today's Manilatown Jazz Ensemble, joins the conversation to share the story of his own grandfather and grand-uncles, who were also musicians with the Manila Serenaders. Saxophonist Lorenzo Calica, moved to San Francisco in 1940 and later settled in Vallejo, California.

Throughout the afternoon, the Manilatown Jazz Ensemble will bring these stories to life with live musical interludes inspired by the era—including “Cheek to Cheek,” a song the Salaver family remembers the Manila Serenaders performing.

Historic photographs and materials from the Manilatown Archives and family collections will surround the stories, allowing us not simply to talk about this history, but to see it, hear it, and experience it together.

Feeling festive? Come dressed in your 1930s–40s finest! Period-inspired attire is completely optional—but we'd love to see the I-Hotel filled with a little vintage Manilatown style!

Whether your own family has roots in Manilatown or you're discovering this history for the first time, there is a place for you in the story.

Choose the ticket that works for you. Club Mandalay is free and open to everyone. Those who are able are invited to select a community-support ticket and receive a Manilatown thank-you gift. Every contribution helps sustain live music, archival storytelling, and community programs at the I-Hotel.

Come as you are. Stay for the music. Leave a little more connected.

Our Manilatown Arts program is supported in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov. Manilatown Arts is also made possible by the generous support of the Asian Pacific Fund and the San Francisco Arts Commission.

For more information about Club Mandalay, the Manilatown Jazz Ensemble, the Manilatown Archives, or the Manilatown Heritage Foundation, please visit us at www.manilatown.org or contact us at [email protected].

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International Hotel Manilatown Center, 868 Kearny Street, San Francisco, United States

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