When Manilatown Swung: The Manila Serenaders

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 special Club Mandalay: Music, Memory & Manilatown gathering featuring live jazz, archival photographs, family memories, and community Talk Story at the International Hotel Manilatown Center.

At the heart of the afternoon is 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 join guest interviewer Sabrina Oliveros to share family stories passed down about Canuto-his life around Kearny Street, his connection to the Bataan Cafe and Poolhall, and his years making music with the Manila Serenaders.

The musical lineage continues with Raymond Bambao, bassist with today's Manilatown Jazz Ensemble, whose grandfather and grand-uncles also played with the Manila Serenaders.

Throughout the afternoon, the Manilatown Jazz Ensemble brings these histories back into sound with live musical interludes inspired by the era, while photographs and materials from the Manilatown Archives and family collections bring the world of historic Manilatown into view.

Audience members will also be invited into the Talk Story-because the memories carried by our families and communities are part of how history lives.

And because history can be fun: Feeling festive? Come dressed in your 1930s-40s finest! Period-inspired attire is completely optional.

Saturday, October 24, 2026 | 2:00-3:30 PM

International Hotel Manilatown Center

868 Kearny Street, San Francisco

FREE & OPEN TO ALL

Live Music Manilatown Archives Community Talk Story

Come for the music. Come for the memories. Come for the Talk Story.