Spanish Harlem Orchestra

Spanish Harlem Orchestra has appeared throughout the USA in Chicago, Connecticut, Los Angeles, NYC, Philadelphia, Rhode Island, San Francisco, Seattle, Virginia, Washington DC, just to name a few. Internationally they have been filling venues in Barcelona, Belgium, Dublin, Istanbul, Holland, London, Manchester, Paris, Scotland and scheduled to make many more international appearances.

Harlems influence on American culture is immeasurable. From Duke Ellington at the Cotton Club to Charles Mingus at the Mintons Playhouse to James Brown's legendary Apollo Theater shows. Harlem has always been seen as a Mecca for African-American music. While the staggering contribution of African-Americans to this history is securely in place, the contribution of Latinos in general-and Puerto Ricans in particular-needs to be recognized. The stage of the Apollo has seen Ella and Duke, but it has also seen Tito Puente and Eddie Palmieri. James Brown revolutionized soul music in Harlem in 1963, but at the same moment, Mongo Santamaria was changing the way people heard rhythm around the world. Spanish Harlem occupies the lower southeastern corner of Harlem itself. The musical contribution of this neighborhood is the last great chapter in the history of 20th Century music in America.....

Remarkably, it is a story that remains largely untold. El Barrio, as it is called within the community, has been the birthplace for Salsa, Latin Soul, Boogaloo and countless other variants within the tropical Latin idiom. From Tito Puente to Marc Anthony, this small enclave has exerted a monumental effect on the sound of American music today. Using the most accomplished players in the New York Latino community, this album features a cross-section of compositions that create a bridge into this exhilarating place.

Led by world famous pianist and arranger Oscar Hernandez, with outstanding performances by such singers as Ray De La Paz, Herm‘n Olivera, Frankie Vazquez and musicians such as Ruben Rodriguez and Bobby Allende, this album is a long-overdue missing link to the music and history of Spanish Harlem. This album does not celebrate the famous figures of Salsa: rather, it is a glimpse inside the secret history of the Nuyorican experience. Hector Rivera, Orlando Marin, Tito Rodriguez, and Pete El Conde Rodriguez are not household names, yet their contribution to American culture at large surrounds us everyday in the popular music of such artists such as Marc Anthony and Carlos Santana, who both owe an enormous musical debt to their unsung masters of La Musica Latina.

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