Spanish Harlem Orchestra

(US)
salsa, Afro-Cuban, jazz

Located south of the 125th street on New York’s East Side, the Hispanic community El Barrio has produced boogaloo, Latin soul and salsa. There are no better purveyors of the latter than the Spanish

Harlem Orchestra. The 13-strong band spices their solid and classic NY salsa base with some creatively used modern elements.

Led by famous pianist, arranger and producer Oscar Hernández, the band started at the dawn of the millennium and boasts some of the hottest Latin musicians of the Big Apple. They have so far put

out three celebrated albums: Un Gran Dia En El Barrio (2002), the Grammy-winning Across The 110th Street (2004), featuring salsa legend Ruben Blades, and the new United We Swing

that offers a lot of original material.

None of these records can be listened sitting down and that is the case also, when witnessing the SHO live.