Was someone on ILX mentioning the Spanish Harlem Orchestra CD, or am I imagining things?

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I heard some of it at a listening station at Tower, then went over to Funk-O-Mart to buy a copy. It's pretty consistently good, nothing particularly ground breaking (why do I always say that?--how many albums are "particularly ground breaking"?--but I mean there's nothing that stands out obviously unique about it), but solidly done for the sort of thing it is. Definitely made me feel like getting up and dancing while I had the head-phones on at Tower. The group is a NuYorican "super group" (more or less). Mostly salsa, with a bolero and a couple cha cha chas. And I really did think I saw it mentioned here. That's not just a ploy.

― Rockist Scientist, Wednesday, 29 January 2003 21:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Correction: a bolero that turns into a cha cha cha (or maybe a guajira?).

― Rockist Scientist, Wednesday, 29 January 2003 21:46 (twenty-three years ago)

i just found this on my desk! the cover says "Spanish Harlem's answer to Cuba's Buena Vista Social Club": aaaaaaaaaaargh.

― gaz (gaz), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 23:04 (twenty-three years ago)

gaz, LOL. Everyone (well, not everyone) wants to ride on the success of the Buena Vista Social Club. I'm not particularly down on BVSC, though they are'nt my cup of tea. (I haven't really gotten into pre-60's forms of Latin music, and my ears seem more attuned to the Puerto Rican take on Cuban music than on Cuban music itself.) It's a pretty misleading comparison anyway, since I don't think the equivalent of BVSC's "forgotten legends" appearing on this CD, and since the style of music being played here is mostly something a bit more recent than the styles BVSC cover (though salsa goes back at least to the 60's, so it's not so much newer).

Did you get a review copy or something? I hope you will listen despite the BVSC comment on the package.

― Rockist Scientist, Wednesday, 29 January 2003 23:23 (twenty-three years ago)

i will put it on right now (:

― gaz (gaz), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 23:36 (twenty-three years ago)

I think the BVSC reference is also out of a sense of frustration that some Americans who have never listened to Latin music before are listening to them, but aren't familiar with the music that has been made in the U.S. by Latinos. Plus there's the Cuba vs. Puerto Rico angle.

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 30 January 2003 00:15 (twenty-three years ago)

can i use that in my review? nah, just kidding. I know next to nothing about this music and I'm not going to touch it. Sounds nice though, and yes, a colleague has just said "hmmm this makes me feel like dancing"

― gaz (gaz), Thursday, 30 January 2003 00:18 (twenty-three years ago)

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a review copy of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra CD.

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 30 January 2003 01:46 (twenty-three years ago)

This album is really kind of disappointing. If you are curious about salsa, I wouldn't recommend starting here.

― Rockist Scientist, Sunday, 2 February 2003 18:36 (twenty-three years ago)

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