Rolando Sanchez, the king of tropical music in ­Hawaii, returns with new single

“Amargo y Dulce”

Rolando Sanchez

RSC Music Productions Hawaii

Rolando Sanchez has been “El rey de la musica tropical en Hawai” (“The king of tropical music in ­Hawaii”) ever since he brought contemporary Latin “salsa” music to mainstream Honolulu nightclub audiences in the late 1980s.

Salsa already had a strong following among Nuyorican military personnel on island military bases, and folkloric “jibaro” music was alive and well within the local Puerto Rican community. With the lambada, and then the “Macarena” craze, as commercial points of entry, Sanchez took contemporary Latin music to non-­Hispanic island audiences.

In those early years he was the leader, male vocalist and timbalero (timbales player) of Rolando Sanchez & Salsa Hawaii. More recently he has recorded as a solo artist and played all the percussion instruments.

In “Amargo y Dulce,” which translates into English as “Bitter and Sweet,” Sanchez sings a seductive tale of a sweet love that has gone sour but left sweet memories of what once was.

Jonathan Cabagbag (sax), Sam Coffey (piano/bass/accordion), ­Stanton Haugen (trumpet), Mike Lewis (trumpet solo) and Benjamin Rivera (backing vocals), are his studio group on this single. Lewis’ trumpet solo explodes as the instrumental finale.

To order the single, email ­hawaiilatino1@yahoo.com.