Larry Harlow's 35th Anniversary Show, Miami, FL - Concert Reviews

Nostalgia seems to be popular today, but what happened at The Spirit Lounge in Miami on February 9th was nothing old-fashioned. It was Miami’s version of the 35th Anniversary of the Larry Harlow Orchestra show (the original version having taken place in San Juan Puerto Rico on September 1st, 2001, at the Tito Puente Amphitheatre).

Sure, many of the numbers they played were classic Salsa Dura, from the hey-day of Salsa in New York with the Fania label artists, but there was nothing dated about their presentation. These folks COOKED!

That special sound that the Fania created is still alive and well in the Larry Harlow Orchestra. The band was tight, the singing was inspired and the dance floor was packed!

The night started out with ominous clouds that shortly turned to a tropical downpour. The competition was fierce with a show of the Cuban Masters at the James L. Knight Center and Fruko y sus Tesos at Club Mystique, but in spite of that, people were lined up out the door waiting to get in well after 10:30 when the live broadcast on Clásica 92.3 FM began.

The first set included the trademark song, La Cartera, but also some numbers from Larry Harlow’s Latin Legend Band’s phenomenally underrated album from 1998. There were a few numbers from the Orquesta Aragón and a lot of Charanga music in tribute to José Fajardo, the great Cuban flautist and band-leader who passed away in December of 2001.

Larry’s brother, Andy Harlow, played flute and sax and of course, Eddie “Guagua” Rivera did an awesome job on bass. Pancho Román was on Timbales and Sammy Timbalón on Bongó. Nestor Zabala was one of the trombone players and Marlow Rosado did a great job singing coro and some keyboards. There was also a very good violinist named Geraldo who broke a string in the first set but managed to play a mean charanga violin! Luisito Rosario was having trouble with the monitors during the first set. He couldn't hear himself, which was very unfortunate because that part was broadcast live. I hear from people that heard it on the radio that it sounded even worse over the airwaves than it did live. He did much better during the second set, but by then the radio station was not doing a live broadcast. This was not his fault, but whoever did the sound setup didn't give the singers enough volume on the monitors.

Even so,

Junior González did an awesome job with the lead vocals and he is in great shape having recently celebrated his 50th birthday (with his lovely daughter). Remember back when he was just a kid starting out with Larry Harlow?

The second set was even more smoking than the first one and included the famous “Quítate tú pa’ ponerme yo!” There were several surprise artists who came to jam with Larry, among them Meñique, the former singer from the Tito Puente Orchestra and Tito Puente, Jr., who sounded damn good singing salsa (I hope he does more of that and stays away from that rap stuff he was doing, which I didn’t care for much at all).

Larry took a moment to pay homage to Tito Puente, Sr., who Larry considers his mentor, by telling us a short personal story. The night was filled with intimacy and nostalgia, but mostly it brought to life SALSA DURA, which is the best there is! This is not Salsa Monga! The energy level continued to build until the grand finale, which was like a salsa orgasm!

If you missed this show, too bad and shame on you! But luckily, Larry is buying a place in Miami Beach and will soon be spending a lot more time here. Hopefully we will be able to hear him more often!

Evelyn Yllada
(SalsaPower columnist)
and Luis Espinal, together... the Miami Team!

Luis Espinal (SalsaPower Miami Correspondent), Avelina Rodríguez
and Carlos Alvarez (SalsaPower
Tallahassee Correspondent).

Also, keep your computers tuned to SalsaPower for information on the upcoming release of a CD from the original show in Puerto Rico. Larry is shooting for a June or July, 2002 release date. The musicians who played with him there read like a Who’s Who of Salsa! Don’t miss it!