To ardent fans it seems like way more than two years since Ray Cruz’s "Sabor Tropical" left the Hawaii Public Radio airwaves on Saturday evenings in 2012.

Now Cruz, the HPR assistant operations manager who has been heard as a local host for "All Things Considered" and "Foreward," will be returning to the evening lineup with a new show called "Latin Beat" from 8 to 10 p.m. Wednesday nights beginning Oct. 15.

"I’ve missed doing the show," Cruz told TheBuzz. "I didn’t realize that it meant so much to so many people," he said.

"Ray’s passion for music is matched by his deep knowledge of the Latin music territory," HPR President and General Manager Michael Titterton said in a statement. "He’s a shining role-model for the kind of smartly curated local programming" of which HPR wants to develop more, he said.

The statewide stations offering two Hawaii Public Radio programming streams are currently staging their semiannual pledge drive with a goal of $1.03 million.

"Sabor Tropical" featured salsa, classic salsa and Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz.

"My favorite hour was the last hour of the program because it was ‘anejo’ (aged, as in vintage tequila), music you could feel," he said.

The musical nomenclature can be misinterpreted, so, in Cruz’s words, "You know, I play stuff that swings. … All I’m going to play is music that’ll make your ears smile."

"Sabor Tropical" started in 1990 at KTUH-FM, the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s radio station, following his earlier shows while in college on the mainland.

Within a year Cruz moved his show to HPR, which he hosted on an unpaid, volunteer basis. He continued hosting the show after joining the HPR staff in 2006.

Cruz was known for causing people to swarm the dance floors at nightclubs around Honolulu, and has served as emcee for concerts by touring Latin music celebrities and events staged by the Hawaii Hispanic community.

As such, Cruz was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by organizers of the Fourth Annual Salsa Congress in Los Angeles in 2002.

During the more than two decades of "Sabor Tropical," Cruz and the owners of California-based Latin Beat magazine, now online only, maintained a close working relationship.

"I have all of their magazines in pristine condition," Cruz chuckled.

Cruz would report his playlists to them, giving Hawaii’s Latin music scene national exposure; meanwhile, he would glean from them the hot new artists and records to play on the show.

Since the new show is to be different from its progenitor, Cruz sought, and obtained permission from magazine owners Rudy and Yvette Mangual, to use the name "Latin Beat."

Because this is 2014, "Latin Beat" at HPR will have its own Facebook page, where playlists will be posted.

Since Cruz will be doing the show live, listeners will be able to make requests via phone, just like the good old days.

"Music is not what we do, it’s who we are," Cruz said.

Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.