Music a longtime love affair for Toto Zara

Every entertainer starts performing somewhere. And Toto Zara's musical square one was performing with his brothers and sisters in a sort of European version of the Osmonds.

Zara -- "Toto" is a nickname for his given name, Vincenté, while "Zara" is an abbreviation of his surname, Zarateigui -- was born in Pamplona, Spain. His father was in the Spanish diplomatic corps, so the family moved throughout Europe during Zara's childhood years, and Zara grew up mostly in Paris.

Zara's dad also was a guitar teacher.

"I guess his love was always music," Zara says. "He taught music, and then he taught us as we traveled."

Eventually, the children became so musically adept that they formed a '60s rock-oriented musical group that performed in USO shows and on military bases, as well as at large concert venues and nightclubs throughout Europe.

"It was three brothers and three sisters," Zara recalls. "They used to call it like the Von Trapp family, only from Spain. Actually, our last (shows) before we came to America, we were with the British band Herman's Hermits. So we had quite a name over there."

Through such shows, the group became acquainted with a military officer who brought them to the United States in 1969, when Zara was about 13. The officer became their manager and found the family bookings in Las Vegas and Tahoe as well as, eventually, in Miami, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.

But, eventually, Zara says, "everybody sort of got into (other) businesses, and I was the only one left in the family (playing) music."

He opened a recording studio here, even as he continued playing as part of ensembles and, eventually, as a solo act.

Just over two months ago, he began playing at Red Rock Resort's Onyx Bar. There, he sings and accompanies himself mostly on guitar and keyboards.

Zara calls his repertoire "a little bit of everything, but mostly stuff that's crowd-pleasers."

It's "a lot of fun," he adds. "I haven't had this much fun in a long time playing live music, because it's quite a challenge. It's all up to me."

Occasionally, Zara even is approached by audience members who remember seeing him back in his family-act days.

"It's amazing," he says. "It's a wonderful thing."

Toto Zara performs at 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays in the Onyx Bar at Red Rock Resort.

-- By JOHN PRZYBYS