By Khalida Sarwari
Residents seeking blues with a Tahitian flair won’t have to look any farther than the Savannah-Chanelle Winery in the hills above Saratoga. Rom MC and the MCs will rock out French Polynesian style on May 1 to kick off the winery’s annual summer music series.
While most of the faces in the band will be new to the winery’s fans and regular members, at least one will be familiar: that of Luke Piro, a Savannah-Chanelle mainstay, who when he’s not in the tasting room pouring wine is usually downstairs making it. South Bay music fans might also recognize Piro from his other band, the South City Blues Band, which performs regularly at the Testarossa Winery in Los Gatos and Sam’s Chowder House in Half Moon Bay.
Piro met Rom MC and the MCs two years ago at Sam’s Bar-B-Que in San Jose through Steve Carlino, a former piano salesman from San Jose and the cousin of Sam Carlino, who owns the barbecue joint on Bascom Avenue. Sam first met the group years ago on the island of Mo’orea when he was there hosting a weekly cooking show, said Steve.
It didn’t take much convincing from Steve, who plays the keyboard for Rom MC and the MCs, to get Piro to join the group as a drummer and vocalist.
“We connected on a friendship level, we connected on a musical level and we all appreciate each other’s talent and personality,” Carlino said.
Last June, Piro jumped on a plane to visit his new friends in Tahiti, fulfilling a longtime dream to visit and perform on the island. In February, he returned to record songs and perform four gigs with the band. He has already started planning his third trip.
“My life is just work and music and music and work,” he said.
The longtime friends are hosting Rom MC’s guitarist MC Rom Marie Camille and bass guitarist David Baudu, who make up half of the group, along with drummer Jay Pee MC and vocalist Mikela MC. The latter two stayed behind in Tahiti this time.
The group was formed five years ago. Carlino, who hasn’t visited Tahiti yet but plans to, and Piro fill in for the other members when the group comes to the Bay Area.
“We’re kind of like the back-up musicians when they come to America,” Piro said.
For Camille and Baudu, it’s their third trip to the U.S. They touched down in the South Bay on April 20 for a three-week stretch that, in addition to their performance at Savannah-Chanelle, includes a concert at Sam’s Bar-B-Que on May 5. They also plan to record songs with Carlino and Piro in San Francisco, go back to their favorite restaurants, visit friends around the Bay Area, get in some hiking in Mill Valley and do lots and lots of shopping.
“They love shopping,” their publicist, Nathalie Denis, said with a laugh. “More than me. More than a lot of people. That’s a common point: red wine and shopping.”
All three are French natives who found their way to Tahiti more than a decade ago for different reasons. For Denis, it was an opportunity to live somewhere where the people are a little less serious and the weather is a little nicer. Camille followed a girl and the sun and Baudu, who also works in the pearl industry, said he went to Tahiti for vacation and ended up staying for good.
But now the group finds Tahiti, beautiful as it is, too small–one can easily drive around the island in 2½ to three hours–and want to broaden their horizons. The group dreams of performing in Europe and Austin, Texas, which is a big music capital, Carino said.
“I love the Texas blues,” said Camille, adding that he’d also love to visit New Orleans, both for the music and the food. “It’s very pleasant to come here in the U.S. for a blues musician.”
Piro describes the group’s musical style as one that incorporates elements of rhythm and blues, swing, jazz and rockabilly. They have two albums to their name: Blues Torride and Rock and Roll Spaghetti, and Live at Sam’s Bar-B-Que. The latter is a live recording of their concert at Sam’s in 2014.
They’ll return to Sam’s, 1110 S. Bascom Ave. in San Jose, on May 5 for a free concert starting at 6 p.m. on the patio. They’ll be joined by singer-songwriter and guitar player Mick Schott, who will also be the opening act for their concert at Savannah-Chanelle on May 1. That concert starts at noon on the terrace at the villa and is free for members and $10 for non-members.
To learn more about Rom MC and the MCs, visit their Facebook page atfacebook.com/Rom-MC-the-MCS.
