Spanish Harlem Orchestra Live!

[Jongo]

I saw the Spanish Harlem Orchestra last night at the Empire Theater here in San Antonio and they were great! Chino Nunez on timbales and I think it was George Delgado on bongo, I don't remember who was on congas. He was fine but Chino and George Delgado really stood out, they were very impressive players. I was surprised that Jimmy Bosch was touring with SHO, he played a few great solos that really got the crowd going. Chino Nunez did not always play a lot of notes but the ones he did play were perfectly placed, (IMHO) same with George Delgado, he did not overplay but stayed tight and "tasty" as my mentor Neftali Medina would say. Also, his bell playing was really good, on bongo bell he was tearing it up, I am not sure what he was doing differently, it was bell patterns I have heard before but he was making it swing.
Overall it was like 13 musicians totally tight playing classic salsa dura from back in the day and they were putting it down. I enjoy some of the new salsa but that classic sound is where it's at. Another aspect that I really enjoyed was how much fun they were having on stage. That really came through in the music, the energy and joy they brought to the crowd was pretty amazing. I don't know where the tour is going next but if you have chance consider checking them out.

[ABAKUA]

I saw them while on tour here and they bored me, I was over it by the 2nd song.
However, Top class musicians, Jimmy Bosch was simply awesome as usual, he has been out here a few times now, Luisito Quintero was on Timbales, again, he was fantastic to watch. Delgado was on congas, played dead straight tumbao with no variance. On bongo, I cant remember his name, but again he was good to watch, another stand out was the asian looking guy on trumpet who has also played with JLO, he was amazing also. But the repertoire was putting me to sleep, IM not a fan of dead straight old style salsa, their repertoire (that I saw and heard of some of their recordings) is far from what I would call "Salsa dura".
I enjoyed observing the musicians and even jammed on after wards, but the band for my personal taste... Not for me.