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| GRAMMY Winning Spanish Harlem Orchestra at Jazz Standard Feb 21-24 Spanish Harlem Orchestra, winner of Best Latin Tropical Album at the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards for their new album Anniversary, will return to New York City to perform at the Jazz Standard for four nights, beginning February 21 through February 24th. The iconic ensemble will perform two sets nightly; the first set will be at 7:30 and the second at 9:30. Since their inception 15 years ago, Spanish Harlem Orchestra (SHO), under the direction of pianist, composer and arranger Oscar Hernández, has earned its reputation as the true voice of the barrio with intricate arrangements and pulsating rhythms that are steeped in the authentic salsa tradition. Their high-energy performances have delighted audiences across the globe from Asia to Australia, from Latin America to Europe. Grounded in the past, but with a focused eye on the future, Spanish Harlem Orchestra continues to play an integral role in ensuring salsa dura ("hard salsa") is not just alive, but a thriving musical force. "Over the course of 15 years, the consistent thread in each of our records has been the hardcore rhythm, sophisticated arrangements and a lot of care toward producing quality music with high integrity for our genre, " says Hernández. Each member of Spanish Harlem Orchestra has a significant connection to the authentic salsa tradition. It begins with Hernández, who has long been considered one of the most prominent musicians on the Latin, salsa and Latin-jazz music scene. Hernández's musical legacy can be traced back to the 1970's, a time in which he performed with a who's who of salsa legends including Tito Puente, Machito, Celia Cruz, Ray Barretto, Rubén Blades, Conjunto Libre, and Willie Colon. Later, Hernández went on to become the Musical Director for Paul Simon as well as the orchestrator and arranger for Gloria Estefan. Produced by Hernández and co-produced by SHO trombonist and 2018 GRAMMY Nominee Doug Beavers, Anniversary builds on the dynamic legacy built by their previous five releases. Considered "virtuosic journeymen who are one of New York's great musical resources" (The New York Times), SHO has expanded greatly from their home turf of Harlem to some of the world's premiere stages including the Sydney Opera House, The Edmonton Jazz Festival, the Playboy Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall, and many others. Anniversary has received worldwide acclaim from prominent outlets such as Downbeat Magazine, Jazzwise, Jazz Journal, New York City Jazz Record, The Mercury News, Edmonton Journal, KCRW, and others. This years' GRAMMY nomination punctuates a landmark year for Spanish Harlem Orchestra. After releasing Anniversary to worldwide acclaim, the ensemble maintained a vigorous touring schedule that brought them across the country, and the world. After performing at numerous Canadian jazz festivals, SHO performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival to present Monterey Encounter (A Latin Jazz Suite for Flute), a special commissioned piece written by Oscar Hernández, featuring NEA Jazz Master Hubert Laws. This is the fifth nomination for the ensemble. Previous nominations including Best Salsa Album for Un Gran Día En El Barrio (2002) and Best Tropical Latin Album for United We Swing (2007). In 2004, Spanish Harlem Orchestra won their first GRAMMY in the Best Salsa/Merengue Album category for Across 110th Street. In 2010, the group won Best Tropical Latin Album for Viva La Tradición. write your comments about the article :: © 2019 Jazz News :: home page |