This Saturday, Feb. 14, most people will be celebrating Valentine’s Day — but Whitney Kat Salinas Arenas, who goes by Kat, will be performing on her double bass at Radio City Music Hall. She’s a member of the ensemble for the world-famous Puerto Rican vocal sensation, Yandel.
Kat, from Brightwaters, is hard at work this week studying the music for Yandel’s Valentine’s Day show. This Saturday, she will spend most of the day at Radio City rehearsing, preparing for the 8 p.m. showtime. Her efforts included obtaining a new 3/4 size Romanian double bass last week from Kolstein Music in Baldwin. Kat is a Kolstein Music Artist.
Born and raised in Colombia, Kat learned piano and, later, the double bass.
“When I immigrated to Long Island in 2019, one of my first meetups was with Kolstein Music owner Manny Alvarez to acquire a double bass,” she said. “I love the unique sound vibration, the rich music I can play from it, together with the color and workmanship of the wood. The double bass is a beautiful universe unto itself. Some of my musician friends have urged me to go electric bass, but no. I feel a deep connection to this instrument.”
She practices a minimum of two hours daily, often longer.
Kat has played with Yandel — whose off-stage name is Llandel Veguilla Malavé — on a number of engagements, including a major Summer Stage event in Central Park and backing him up on The Jimmy Fallon Tonight Show on NBC. Yandel discovered Kat when she was performing at Carnegie Hall with Puerto Rican rapper and singer Ivy Queen.
When she is not with Yandel, Kat can be found performing with Long Island’s North Shore Symphony Orchestra, the Island Symphonic Orchestra and the Massapequa Philharmonic. Kat has performed at Tilles Center, Suffolk Theatre in Riverhead, Patchogue Theatre, the Adelphi University Theatre and more.
“Several highlights for me [since] coming to the New York City region have been getting to meet the late Gary Karr, considered the father of the double bass,” she said. Also, “Victor Wooten, a five-time Grammy-winning bassist, introduced me to his friend, the mega bassist icon, Ron Carter!”
Aside from her music engagements, Kat loves to dance and paint — and she teaches Spanish online. Of her Feb. 14 plans, she says:
“This double bass is my pal, my buddy, and will be my Valentine this Saturday!”
