![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/spanish_harlem_orchestra.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOscar Hernandez already had a long-established career and sterling reputation as a musician and arranger when he got a call from Aaron Levinson in 2000. The producer had an idea for a new project, and he was sure Hernandez was the right person to bring the idea to life. Though much of Hernandez’s work to that point was focused on helping other artists realize their own goal \u2013 he had worked with Paul Simon, Kirsty MacColl, Rub\u00e9n Blades and many others \u2013 Levinson’s concept would place Hernandez front and center. After a serious of conversations during which the concept was refined, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra was born.<\/p>\n
SHO would embody the music and culture of New York City’s storied Spanish Harlem, a neighborhood rich in history for Americans of Latino heritage. But \u201cthe idea was just to do a record,\u201d Hernandez says today. \u201cThat’s it; nothing else.\u201d Neither man had any particular goals or aspirations for the project beyond that. And in fact the effort almost never got off the ground. After Hernandez assembled a band, booked studio time and recorded what would eventually be released as Un Gran Dia en el Barrio<\/i>, the Warner Brothers record label more or less dropped the project.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThey put it on the shelf,\u201d Hernandez says. And there it would remain for nearly a year and a half, until Levinson found another label to release the album. Ropeadope Records released the record \u2013 whose title means \u201ca great day in the neighborhood\u201d \u2013 and it earned a Grammy nomination. With requests and offers to book live dates, Hernandez realized he would have to put together a touring, performing version of his Spanish Harlem Orchestra. \u201cHere we are fifteen years later,\u201d Hernandez says with pride, \u201ctraveling all over the world, won two Grammys, nominated four times.\u201d He describes the mission of Spanish Harlem Orchestra as \u201csomething near, dear and precious to my heart: maintaining the history and the legacy of this music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hernandez grew up only a few miles from Spanish Harlem. And the neighborhood was an important part of his youth. \u201cIt’s a place where we used to go for social events, to shop for food, and we had family there as well,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd later on I would play in clubs there.\u201d He credits Levinson with picking the perfect name for the Latin jazz group, one that evokes the history and mystique of the neighborhood. Once the band took off, Hernandez found that there was much more interest than he had anticipated. \u201cPeople were calling from Europe, Scandinavia,\u201d he says. \u201c’Tell us about Spanish Harlem; we see it depicted in pictures and movies.’ Because it represented a culture, a people,\u201d Hernandez explains.<\/p>\n
The precision and exuberance of Latin jazz is brought to life with Hernandez’s 13-man ensemble. Even on the group’s studio albums \u2013 like 2007’s United We Swing<\/i> \u2013 the band vividly captures the excitement of live performance. \u201c Spanish Harlem Orchestra is one of the few bands that still records live [in the studio],\u201d the bandleader explains. \u201cIf we need to, we’ll fix something later. But we’re recording<\/i> live. That’s the way it was done back in the day, when I was coming up as a musician in the ’70s. It was always a natural thing, and I’ve made it a point that all of our records are recorded that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
The melodies and rhythms of Spanish Harlem Orchestra’s music evoke the spirit of what Hernandez calls the \u201cbig three\u201d bands, led by Machito, Tito Rodriguez and Tito Puente. \u201cThey don’t take a back seat to Duke Ellington or Count Basie,\u201d Hernandez insists. \u201cThe music is just as vital, just as important. I don’t spend a lot of time talking onstage, but I do tell the audience a little of that history, and the importance of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
And although Latin jazz is irresistible to dancers, he says that Spanish Harlem Orchestra is about much more than that. While he understands that the music makes people want to move, Hernandez prefers playing performing arts centers and festivals, \u201cwhere people can sit down and listen to the chemistry, the arrangements, the musicianship.\u201d He doesn’t want people to take all of that for granted. \u201cSometimes dancing trivializes the art aspect of the music,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Hernandez admits that English-speaking audiences don’t always understand the Spanish vocals, but they always react with great enthusiasm. And despite his broad background in both the pop and jazz worlds, he makes a point of maintaining the integrity of the music as he believes it should be played. \u201cI don’t make any concessions,\u201d Hernandez says. \u201cI think it’s important to stay true to how I learned it, how the music was handed down to me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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