Spanish Harlem Orchestra – Salsa Supreme! Greatest Salsa orchestra in North America!

July 10 -- Swing to the sounds of New York City Salsa with the thirteen-member all-star ensemble Spanish Harlem Orchestra at the free Twilight Dance Series concert on the Santa Monica Pier Thursday night.

Since their arrival in 2000, Spanish Harlem Orchestra (SHO) has established itself as a standard bearer of contemporary Latin music. Directed by world-renowned pianist, arranger, and producer Oscar Hernández, the band has reintroduced the classic sounds of New York City Salsa to music lovers worldwide.

United We Swing, SHO’s third album, is a stunning follow-up to their 2004 Grammy award-winning album Across 110th St., and their 2002 Grammy nominated debut, Un Gran Día En El Barrio.

“Our music style is the original sound of New York old school "Salsa dura" (heavy salsa) that was played in the early years by our pioneers,” says Oscar.

SHO’s sound pays tribute to the legacy of Manhattan’s Palladium Ballroom, “the home of the mambo,” that catered to Mambo dancers and featured the bands of the BIG-3: Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez and Machito.

Spanish Harlem Orchestra hearkens back to the era and neighborhood romanticized in Leonard Bernstein’s “Westside Story” and Ben E. King’s “A Rose in Spanish Harlem.”

The unique identity the band has forged is grounded on the musical legacy of El Barrio, a pulsating Eastside community in NYC located to the south of 125th St that gave rise to Boogaloo, Latin Soul, and Salsa. “I’m from the Bronx,” concludes Oscar, “but if you’re a Latino in NYC you always have a connection to Spanish Harlem.