Un Gran Dia en El Barrio

1	Mama Guela
2	Obsesion
3	Tambori
4	Aprende a Querer
5	La Musica Es Mi Vida
6	Llego la Banda
7	Pa' Gozar
8	Somos Iguales
9	Guaguanco
10	Pueblo Latino

Barnes & Noble

Looking to give New York's flagging Latin music scene the same shot in the arm that Havana's Buena Vista Social Club provided for Cuba, producer Aaron Luis Levinson convened some of the music's unsung heroes for a tribute to classic salsa that sounds like the heartbeat of an uptown Saturday night circa 1973. Helmed by Oscar Hernandez, pianist in Rubén Blades's band and Manny Oquendo's Libre, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra gathers today's leading exponents of classic salsa, or salsa dura -- nonpareil sonero Herman Olivera, trumpeter Ray Vega, bongosero Bobby Allende, trombonist Jose Davila -- and a sprinkling of veterans such as neighborhood boy Jimmy Sabater, the vocal favorite from Joe Cuba's sextet. Apart from the Willie Colon/Hector Lavoe classic "Llegó la Banda" and the opener "Mama Guela" by Tito Puente, the repertoire consists of lesser-known material and a tapestry of Spanish Harlem salsa diversity -- fiery mambos, concupiscent boleros, moody guajiras -- as it existed in the '60s, somewhere between Blades's nascent social consciousness and the hard-charging sound that was eventually overpowered by disco. Levinson, who apprenticed himself to legendary Latin producer Al Santiago, is likewise loyal to the classic method -- Un Gran Día en El Barrio crackles with the power of a live band together in the studio. Collective centuries of experience are caught on tape, from the vets down to ringers such as bari saxman Mitch Frohman, a resident of Tito Puente's band and representative of the strong Jewish presence in the heyday of salsa. Above all, the album reaffirms the primacy of a New York sound, powered by Puerto Rican adaptations of Cuban music, performed by the mosaic of Latinos (and Jews and African Americans) that made up East Harlem. The music that became salsa, which in turn infected all of South America and finally the world, truly began here. All props given to the oldsters of Havana, but if you really wanna dance, there's only one social club to join. Mark Schwartz

All Music Guide

If the Spanish Harlem Orchestra are, as the promo copy suggests, "Harlem's answer to Cuba's Buena Vista Social Club", then Un Gran Dia en el Barrio is the soundtrack to a sweaty summer party in the city. One can almost hear the music and beats reverberating off the cement as they come curling out of a streetside window. The disc documents the salsa music native to upper Manhattan's Spanish Harlem and presents the music's tightly entwined grooves -- synchronized horn lines twisting over syncopated rhythms -- with enough fidelity for clarity and sufficient warmth for liveliness. Pianist Oscar Hernandez serves as bandleader to the dozen or so veteran musicians who make up the effortlessly grooving band. ~ Jesse Jarnow, All Music Guide