The Spanish Harlem Orchestra has brought about a resurgence of the traditional salsa of 1950s New York with their Grammy-award winning compositions, and now they will bring those saucy rhythms to Weehawken on July 30 at 7 p.m. for the Hudson Riverfront Performing Arts Center (HRPAC) at Lincoln Harbor Park.
The 13-member ensemble includes five horn players, three percussionists, a bass player, a pianist, and three vocalists. All three of their albums – Un Gran Dia En El Barrio, Across 110th Street, and United We Swing – have been nominated for Grammy Awards with Across 110th Street won in 2004 for best salsa album.
The group is coming to the Hudson hot off the stage of Santa Monica Pier in the Los Angeles area, where they played for an audience of approximately 15,000 people, and Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night Swing series in New York.
Revitalizing the classic soul of salsa
Bronx, N.Y. native Oscar Hernandez, who currently lives in Los Angeles and returns to New York a couple times a month, is the director of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra (SHO) in addition to acting as a producer, composer, arranger, and though he treasures all the roles he plays, he thinks he enjoys that of pianist most.
“The element of creating something in front of an audience is a wonderful experience,” says Hernandez, adding, “I’m very fortunate.”
Hernandez believes that the popularity the orchestra has enjoyed would not have been possible 25 years ago when “pop salsa” was favored in the industry.
Someone once made the observation to Hernandez that it took him “30 years to become an overnight sensation.” The long struggle to success has made all the years of hard work well worth the effort.
“There’s a sense of vindication,” he says, explaining that the industry was not so receptive to his style before SHO, casting his music as “old-fashioned.”
But Hernandez’s philosophy is one of musical talent being timeless: “I just feel a good musician is a good musician is a good musician.”
With his fellow SHO ensemble members, Hernandez feels they are preserving the true essence of what salsa music has been from its beginnings, maintaining a cultural heritage that was dominated by greats such as his own musical influences, Eddie Palmieri, whom Hernandez calls a “wizard on the piano,” as well as Tito Rodriguez, Machito, and the Latin music king himself, Tito Puente. Hernandez has even had the honor of playing with Puente. He’s also recorded with Paul Simon on SHO’s latest album, United We Swing, as the group of 13 plus their iconic guest re-imagined Simon’s hit song “Late in the Evening” salsa-style.
When Hernandez began learning to play the piano at 16 years old, it may have been difficult to imagine performing with such legends – though, the first noteworthy band he played with featured Ismael Miranda, a popular vocalist whose star rose with the salsa boom of the 1970s.
Hernandez explains, “When people think of salsa these days, they think of Marc Anthony, right? Well, [Miranda] was the Marc Anthony of his time. I never thought I’d be working with him, because I used to listen to his records as a youngster, and [performing with him] was a great experience.”
This time of the salsa explosion was when Hernandez began his career as a professional musician, and work was good when he could get it.
“If you were with a known band, you worked five days a week, and sometimes, a couple times on Saturday,” said Hernandez of this important era for music in the Big Apple.
Now with his dozen peers in the ensemble, all from New York, Hernandez carries on the legacy of that time to bring salsa back to the essence of its roots in its original glory.
United they swing
“We are continuing that legacy in that tradition, because the music in the ’80s and ’90s became very pop,” says Hernandez, who feels that the pop salsa was good but lacked elements that his fellow band members believe are the heart and soul of the style. “People kind of forgot what [salsa] was and we reminded people that this is what the music used to sound like back in the day.”
Hernandez describes SHO’s award-winning sound as “hardcore salsa music from New York City that is representative of the music of the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s with a touch of what we experience now 30 years later.”
And it seems that the spirit of traditional salsa is catching. Everywhere SHO goes now, the ensemble has been finding fans.
“We’ve turned a lot of people on to who we are and what we’re about,” Hernandez explains. “We’ve been traveling a lot,” with upcoming tour stops scheduled for Yoshi’s in Oakland, Calif.; the Terrace Stage in Bethel, N.Y.; and the Expo Latino Festival in Calgary, Canada. “We’re happy to be able to do what we do and have people there to enjoy it.”
Set on maintaining a level of sophistication that recalls the original sound and style of salsa, Hernandez says that SHO keeps their music alive with new songs and new arrangements, but the sound will always remain the same.
“We don’t want to change what we do, and we love the concept of what we’re doing,” he says, explaining that they like to mix in some Latin jazz to get some improvisation going and the creativity flowing.
Hernandez believes that the orchestra’s award-winning talent encompasses the three decades of experience they’ve had, honing themselves against the standard that was set when they first entered the salsa scene.
He says, “It only comes from working 30-something years now with the best musicians in this genre.”
For more information, visit www.hrpac.org.
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