Brevard Music Group's Roland Guilarte has kept the Space Coast jazzy for 25 years

Several times a year, Judi Traynor will trek from her home in Fort Pierce to Brevard County to attend one of the shows orchestrated by the Space Coast’s resident jazz impresario, Roland Guilarte.

“I’ve known Roland for about 20 years, and my husband and I have patronized his jazz series since that time,” said Traynor.

“Roland is passionate about bringing good music to Brevard. Roland has brought this music to people who love it and also to those who never knew this genre of music," she said. "Being a concert promoter is not an easy job, though Roland makes it seem so. That is a true gift.”

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Traynor is right. Being a concert promoter, particularly of the lone eagle variety, is not for the faint of heart, but Guilarte has thrived despite the odds, just as he has in the rest of his life. This year, Guilarte’s Brevard Music Group celebrated 25 years, a big feat for a small fish swimming amidst some really huge and hungry ones.

“You don’t find too many independent full-time promoters, but so many people have opened their doors to me,” said Guilarte. “We are blessed to have a very loyal audience. With the help of many, many amazing and wonderful people, my dream is alive.”

Guilarte has risen to the challenge ever since he first appeared in the world at the very inopportune place and time of Cuba in 1958.

“It was right in the middle of the Castro revolution, and my mom was stuck at home and I was born late,” he said.

His hometown was Mayari, Oriente, right in the hotbed of the revolt.

“The hospital was full because of all the fighting, and my dad had to fortify the house with sandbags,” said Guilarte.

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The family was later forced to flee the island. His father, Tomas, was a successful businessman in Cuba, but ended up sweeping floors at a Connecticut factory as he again began climbing the ladder of success. Guilarte credits Tomas, now 90, as a guiding light.

“He always told me “you can do whatever you wish to do, but to treat those who patronize your business like your best friend,” said Guilarte. 

Born with cerebral palsy, Guilarte has never allowed the disability to dictate his life.

Music was always a passion, albeit not necessarily jazz.

“I was raised with Latin music, but also with Big Band and Frank Sinatra,” he said.

He opted for a career in the business, launching the Record Hut in Rockledge in 1985.

“We sold stuff you couldn’t find anywhere else,” he said. 

In 1993, when Guilarte’s former wife, Terri, learned that jazz guitarist Ken Navarro would be in Orlando for a gig, she put the bug in Roland’s ear to call Navarro and see if he would perform here. 

“We sold out,” said Guilarte.

“That was the start of it. After that first concert, I fell in love with what we had created. When I fall in love with something, it becomes my passion. That passion then becomes a vision, a sense of direction that guides me.”

Guilarte went straight on the path to promoter, and he hasn’t looked back. He credits that passion and vision for his success.

“I eat, sleep and poop this business,” he said.

His patrons appreciate that 24/7/365 mentality.

“He takes Brevard Music Group personally,” said Cocoa Beach jazz fan Gary Johnson, who has known Guilarte for a quarter of a century.

“He takes a personal interest in determining which artists his audiences are anxious to see and works hard to bring them to Brevard.”

As a minnow swimming among the sharks of well-funded promoters, Guilarte has lost his share of big-time acts to the big boys, but he takes a healthy c’est la vie, c’est la guerre attitude and has kept on successfully plugging away.

“I can bitch and moan, but that doesn’t accomplish anything,” he said.

Instead, he doubles down to bring the best acts to Brevard.

“His passion, appreciation for music, artists and fans compares to none,” said jazz aficionado Gloria O’Toole.
 
Guilarte originally formally launched his concerts at Barracudas, a small dance club in Cocoa, but eventually, he gravitated toward the largest venue in town, the King Center. His first concert there drew 1,900 fans to catch the Rippingtons.

“Many of those guests still come to Brevard Music Group concerts today,” said Guilarte. 

Guilarte and the King Center’s Steve Janicki have enjoyed an enduring friendship and professional association.

“We have been through life’s ups and downs while working together in bringing world-class entertainment to Brevard County,” said Janicki. 

Guilarte is understandably proud that against all odds, his little company could attract artists the likes of Acoustic Alchemy, Larry Carlton, Peter White, Richard Elliot, Jeff Kashiwa, Rick Braun, Maynard Ferguson, Marc Antoine, Everette Harp, Warren Hill, Spyro Gyra, Dave Koz, Arlo Guthrie, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Mary Chapin Carpenter, John Mayall, Mindi Abair, Manhattan Transfer, Peter Frampton and Mannheim Steamroller.

The end of the year is always a busy one for Guilarte. Peter White will again bring his Christmas show and Guilarte’s smooth jazz New Year’s Eve event is legendary and sells out. Tickets for his Florida Smooth Jazz Weekend, which takes place in January, are already nowhere to be found The Glenn Miller Orchestra will be here early in the new year, and Guilarte has plenty more acts in store.

Like the jazz greats he promotes, Guilarte is one cool dude. He lives aboard Coconut, the yacht he moors at a Melbourne marina. When he gets the chance on a late afternoon, he sails on Nita, his 36-foot sailboat, around the area. On weekends and holidays, he will steer Coconut or Nita to the Florida Keys or the Bahamas. 

Good music, good friends, good boats, what more can a man want? Nothing more, says Guilarte.

“I’m living the dream."

Hear the music

Upcoming Brevard Music Group concerts include:

• A Peter White Christmas, with Rick Braun and Euge Groove, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12 at the King Center for the Performing Arts in Melbourne. Tickets start at $52.50

• The Original Glenn Miller Orchestra, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29, King Center Studio Theater. Tickets start at $45.

• Beginnings: The music of Chicago the Band, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1, King Center Studio Theater. Tickets start at $33.50.

For the full schedule of BMG concerts, see brevardmusicgroup.com.

Sonnenberg is a Melbourne-based freelance writer.