Swig Martini Bar - Online Calendar
God Bless The Child (Live @ Swig Martini Bar Riverwalk):
Angelo Stokes - Drums
Carlos Alvarez - Bass
Jimmy Castillo - Guitar
David Lopez - Piano
David Villanueva - Saxophone
I first happened upon David at a CD store. We did not know that we already had a connection (I work with his then girlfriend, now wife and manager, Laura), but there was camaraderie nonetheless. We were immediately connected by music. When I asked him for a particular CD (Stan Getz & Bill Evans) that the other people I had asked did not recognize, he walked right over to the shelves and pulled it off. Later he told me that he was able to choose some of the music that was ordered. The CD I asked for was one that he had personally chosen. This encounter may seem mundane, but in fact, I think it depicts the best of David: knowledgeable and personable. You listen to him play music and you feel like you know him, you have a connection through the music. He plays with his heart, and the music is a soulful extension of his heart.
David plays tenor, soprano & alto saxophone as well as clarinet and other reed instruments. He knows so much about straight ahead Jazz, Latin Jazz, Funk, Smooth Jazz, Soul and R&B that he is comfortable playing all of them fluently and fluidly. He has opened for Ronnie Milsap and played with some of the best: Grammy Award winner Kevin Mahogany, Grammy Award winner Paquito D'Rivera, Glenn Miller Orchestra, Band of the West (Air Force), Don Menza (saxophonist of Pink Panther fame). He's even been a featured soloist in San Antonio's illustrious Fiesta as well as playing the Fiesta Jazz Festival at St. Mary's Oyster Bake.
He started playing sax at the age of 12. His father was a conjunto musician and David will always feel a special connection to his father and conjunto music. He fell in love with Jazz in high school. His plentiful awards include the Louis Armstrong Jazz award, All-State Jazz Ensemble (featured soloist) and 1st division in Solos Competition, (all three high school awards), as well as Outstanding Soloist and Arrangement at the 2003 Temple Jazz Festival.
More recently, and regularly, he has been a featured artist at Swig Martini Bar, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio Public Library (Summer Reading Program where he played at many of the branches and the central library) & On The Half Shell Oyster Bar.
All this to tell you what you'll never know without seeing him play: his relationship with music is boundless and riveting for anyone who's ever seen him play.-
Lyle D. Rosdhal Dead Rats Press
David Villanueva www.dvjazz.com
"Favorite night scene in San Antonio!" cyndy815, Louisiana
My husband and I just happened upon Swig and were we ever glad! It turned out to be the best night we spent in San Antonio. The music the night we were there was by David Villanueva and was just exceptional! ... If you want to go sit and listen to great jazz, have a few drinks and just relax...this is the place to go. You won't be sorry!
TripAdvisor.com
Band Memebers
Addittional Musicians:
Joe Gonzales - Drums
Angelo Stokes - Drums
Mike Canales - Drums
Dan Razo - Drums
Max Garcia - Bass
Pete Ojeda - Bass
John Packard - Bass
Marc Martinez - Paino/Keys
Heinz Frommeyer - Rhodes
Jake Owen - Guitar
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