Live - The Spanish Harlem Orchestra
with Ellas y Amigos at Flamingo
21st Street between 10th and 11th Ave.
New York, NY
October 7th, 2002

By

For weeks I was anticipating this show, excited with the possibilities of seeing this band live. Arriving at 8 p.m., the place was basically empty, nothing but folks who stayed from earlier, taking dance lessons. From the moment I got there, DJ Henry Knowles was spinning some heavy duty stuff, hard salsa from Willie Rosario to Wayne Gorbea you knew there was not going to be any salsa monga in here tonight. And faster than you can say, "Elvis has left the building", the place was getting jam-packed with men and women gyrating at every turn. (Even I took one spin with this beauty hoping I wouldn't lose my spot to have a good look at the band.)

I saw the instruments being set up on the stage, when the DJ announced, "...And making their debut, Ellas y Amigos."

WHO? Where's the Spanish Harlem Orquestra? This band was not part of the program! And to make matters worse, the whole band looked like they were Anglos. "Oh boy," I thought to myself, "It's going to be a long night."

The dance floor was cleared because everyone was waiting to see who this band was and if they could even play. The flute player gives the cue and band kicks into a traditional son / cha-cha-chá groove ála Aragón and folks are looking at each other like, "No way they can be Anglo." Comprised of two males playing the bass and timbales in the background, the frontline is represented by four talented young women playing piano, bongós, congas and flute/sax. After the first cut, folks forgot they were new-comers and jammed the dance floor. Piano solos, flute solos, bongó solos ...these women were kicking butt. Unfortunately, since I wasn't expecting an opening act I didn't get the chance to acquire the band members names (I apologize for that). However, the person who kept it all together was the lead singer, Venissa Santi.

This young woman has chops, singing with passion and gusto in the band's own composition, "Malecón" and an off the hook rendition of "Yambú". I mean not just her voice, but her stage presence and when she started moving those hips, Oh Lord, I think all the guys in unison said, "Oh yeah! She's Cuban". This was a great opening act and a good sign of things to come. Hopefully, they'll be back to the New York area soon. By the way, they come from Philly.

Well, it was back to the DJ and after Ellas y Amigos performed, the crowd was in full swing waiting for the main act, I even took another spin and this time it was with Venissa the lead singer from "Ellas" and coñó! Esa mujer sí que se mueve, carajo!

Radio announcer Izzy Santiago introduced the Spanish Harlem Orchestra and we were off with the classic Willie Colón / Hector Lavoe tune, "La banda." Like on the CD, the vocal duties are handled by Frankie Vásquez and this man has swing! The band stretched this song for about nine minutes, giving it a powerful jazz arrangement. Next was the man of soneos, Herman Olivera, with a rendition of Pete Conde's "Pueblo Latino" and while this song was hot, it was just a warm up for what Mr. Olivera was going to do later. "Guaguancó" followed with Ray De La Paz and what a voice. This man seems like he hasn't aged, singing, improvising on the one.

Short intermission and the second set begun, with the band feeling looser and more energized. This set belonged to Herman Olivera, hands down. His long version of "La música es mi vida" had dancers drooling with ecstasy. His soneos were as sharp as Don King's haircut, as fast as George Bush wanting to bomb Iraq, and he knew he had the crowd in his hands. This man should be a star!

The band performed every cut from their CD (that's what I'm talking about) and as we say in Central America, they gave us a "ñapa" (something extra) ...a descarga with each sonero just improvising their asses off, touching on topics from the dancers to their influences. Ah, what an ending, and what a shame that such a beautiful night had to end.

But as I got up to go to work, all I could think about were the lyrics of "A vivir así prefiero la muerte" over and over and of course, how Venissa la cubana se movía. Coñóoooo!!!

 

Actualizada el día 28-May-2009