Across 110th Street

Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Ruben Blades | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 15, 2004)
• Original Release Date: 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Red Int / Red Ink
• ASIN: B00029RSY0
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,715 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Un Gran Dia En El Barrio

2. Cuando Te Vea

3. Tun Tun Suena El Tambo

4. Dime Se Llegue A Tiempo

5. Escucha El Ritmo

6. Bailadores

7. Te Cantare

8. Como Lo Canto Yo

9. maestro De Rumberos

10. La Hija De Lola

11. Perla Morena

12. Esperame En El Cielo

13. Tu Te Lo Pee Pee (Bonus Track)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ruben - please bring out another salsa album!, July 1, 2004

By 

Daniel Fernandez (Sydney, New South Wales Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Across 110th Street (Audio CD)

Spanish Harlem Orchestra are really hitting hard with this album. I really enjoyed it. For a 2004 salsa album it is sensational. Compared to the mediocre, formulaic, repetative pap (I mean timba, salsa moderna, salsa romantica, etc) that is coming out nowadays it is brilliant.

But how good is it really? Let's be clear, if you know your salsa and loved the salsa dura coming out of NY from the 70's then you'll like this album (maybe even alot) but you won't love it (BTW, I'm only 27 and was born in Sydney). It is a different sound SHO are trying to create. But here's where you will relate to it... the album swings! It swings from the beginning to the end. It gets credit just for that.

The band is tight, i'll give them that. This is a fully professional band and they play like one. They are qualified and get much love.

Lyrically, it's a little bland for my liking. Mainly songs about partying and dancing... like I said, if you are a fan of salsa dura with it's hard lyrics and it's depictions of street life, political struggles, and relationships then you may find the lyrical content a bit one sided and dull.

I'm not sure that the fact many songs are remade is something bad. At the end of the day most people will not recognise these songs... but further if they do write their own songs and they are not good enough it doesn't make much sense to release sub-standard material. On the flip side, some songs shouldn't be touched - Tito Puente's original "Cuando Te Vea" from Dancemania was better. The fact is no band or singer could have done justice to what Puente and Santos Colon did with this song back in '58 (and i'm not even a big Puente fan).

If you know nothing about salsa (except maybe Marc Anthony or DLG) then this album gets a huge recommendation. BUY IT!!! I think it's a great entry point to salsa that swings - salsa con clave. You will enjoy it.

Album highlights - One name...Ruben Blades. Here is where this album shines. Ruben is at his sonero best in this album. He does 4 tracks and nails every one of them. I have never heard Ruben phrase as well as he does in this one. You can really tell he has missed singing salsa and you must suspect that if there was money to be made in salsa he would go back to it. He is just spectacular in every song. (...).

Ruben even wrote the bonus track (which is a new composition) "tu te lo pierdes". IT IS THE BEST TRACK. A new Ruben Blades written and sung song being the best track should not surprise anyone. Apparently it was written before the SHO project came up and a demo version by Ruben was played on a Puerto Rican radio station a while back and it has been bootlegged (Read the www.descarga.com article on this SHO album). The track is about a guy who goes to a street full of call girls and asks for a freebie... it is champagne comedy and vintage blades. You even hear Ruben with his impersonations of the drunk man. Oh man!

It's interesting... you'd think I had forgotten it was a SHO release. But the fact is Ruben's new song and his 4 tracks as sonero really do stand apart. Ruben takes over and makes his mark. He is a legend at the top of his game on this one.

RUBEN... COME BACK WITH ANOTHER SALSA ALBUM!!!

For salsa dura lovers, buy this just for Ruben. For newbies, buy it because it swings!!!

OTHER RECOMMENDATION: I'd recommend the new Sonora Poncena album Back To The Road (I think it's an independent release so may be hard to get). The legends from Puerto Rico are back. The best salsa album i've heard in years.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Salsa Gold...I nominate it for Best Salsa CD of 2004!, June 19, 2004

By 

Rene Gonzalez (Amherst, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Across 110th Street (Audio CD)

The title of my review says it all. I checked this CD out after the salsa aficionado website Descarga.com (www.descarga.com) gave it high-praise. I agree with their assessment....this CD can be easily nominated to be among the top 5 salsa CDs of 2004, (and I'd make it THE CD, if I was deciding).

Where does it fit in the large Salsa panorama? This is New York, Jimmy Bosch's band meets Eddie Palmieri/Tito Puente's large salsa ensembles. In fact, Jimmy Bosch, Ruben Rodriguez, and other New York "first call" Salsa musicians make part of this All-Stars crew. The arrangers for the CD include such recognized masters as Marty Sheller, and others.

One other thing...this CD isn't for softie, "erotic salsa" lovers. One thing that I came to appreciate from it is that it is PURE ENERGY, from the first track to the last one. Mostly straight-ahead salsa (with the occasional son-montuno, bolero, and rumba rhythms sprinked on it). The band is loud, creative, and tight. You will snap your fingers to it....guaranteed.

And, I haven't even reached the biggie....the CD features the participation of Salsa Legend, "The Poet of Salsa", Ruben Blades on several tracks, marking his return to "street salsa", after Ruben's long experimentation with political Salsa and his creative immersion into World music styles.

What else do I have to say? You've got Ruben Blades, an All-Stars New York Crew, top Salsa arrangers, and a commitment to hit you, the listener, with pure, unadulterated, HARD Salsa.

You ready to dance? Buy this one!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Buena introduccion a Salsa, no para el veterano, January 18, 2005

By 

Marcos "salsero" (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Across 110th Street (Audio CD)

La salsa de este album tiene mucho que esta hecho bien. La voz de Ruben Blades es excellente, y probablemente le hubiese dado cuatro estrellas si el cantara todas las canciones. Pero el problema que tiene es que cuanto todo sea bueno, No hay nada que sea profundamente original. La emocion que se siente no es muy personal, y muchos de los arreglos terminan sonando bastante parecidos.