Intimate Miami venues showcase Latin artists

MIAMI (Billboard) - The Gibson Showroom in Miami's Design District, ostensibly a place for the guitar maker to showcase its various brands (including Baldwin pianos), has become a haven for all things music in Miami, allowing access to everything from rehearsals and songwriting sessions to showcases and TV tapings.

Less than 15 minutes away, in Little Havana, is another outlet designed to fulfill a previously unmet need. Esencia, a Latin songwriter's showcase, holds court every other Thursday in a club called the Place, inviting new and established songwriters to perform their compositions in an acoustic setting.

Neither Gibson nor Esencia seeks mass appeal or revenue from these ventures. Neither locale fits more than 200 people and neither charges admission.

Both are predicated on the rather quaint notion of love of art -- specifically, in this case, music. And because they're located in Miami, the emphasis is most decidedly Latin.

Esencia was launched five years ago by Erwin Perez, a writer for Spanish-language Miami newspaper El Nuevo Herald who has since gone into public relations. From the outset, the series' objective was to showcase Latin songwriters who had penned famous songs but weren't known as performers. Then it evolved to include up-and-coming acts and the occasional major singer-songwriter who stopped by.

"As I could say in one of my songs, Esencia is like a woman's second virginity," said singer-songwriter Saavedra, a regular with several radio hits to her name. "It's a place one always wants to return to, where we hold the most pleasurable memories, where we get together with whomever we want and understand what we want to become."

Despite this enthusiasm, Perez suspended Esencia for a year. He resumed it in July, thanks to the Place's owner, who provides the venue free of charge.

"It's not a great business," Perez said. "But that isn't the point. There is no other place where artists can come and play and have everything set up for them. I'm more convinced than ever that this is truly an important showcase for them."

Sony/ATV Music Publishing senior creative director Claribel Cuevas is a regular, as are many other publishers. "I get to be up close and personal with writers who have penned some really big songs, and you hear those songs and the stories behind them," she said. "It's also a great avenue to show new talent. I've become aware of writers this way. It'd be great to have these in other cities."

That would require other idealists like Perez. Or a businessman like Gibson chairman/CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, who endorses the notion that cities should have supportive havens to foster creativity. Gibson has 16 showrooms worldwide and eight in the United States, which provide a place for performing, networking and industry events. The Miami venue, which opened in October 2007, is one of the newest. Although artists of all genres use the showroom, approximately 60 percent of its events are Latin-centric.

"The Gibson showroom is a toy store, but for adults," said singer Luis Fonsi, whose song "No Me Doy Por Vencido" is No. 1 on Billboard's Latin Pop Airplay chart and who goes to Gibson to test instruments and do interviews. "Without a doubt, the most important aspect for me is its support of Latin music."

Reuters/Billboard