Customer Reviews

Across 110th Street

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

This is another glorified top 40 Salsa band. Their repertoire is all covers that pale before the originals. While it may be a good sampler for people who want to dabble in Salsa, the magic of the originals recordings by the original artists towers over this studio band''s versions. Get the originals.

I never really listened to much salsa before this album. none of it really every piqued my curiosity. A friend of mine, however, forced me to check out this record and damn am I impressed. Everything about this album screams DAAAAAAAAAANCE!!!!! From the tight, grooving percussion to the wailing brass instruments, this disc will make any music lover shake their asses. And as to the comment above about no orginiality? thats BS my friends. I did a lil research and it turns out that 5 of the tracks ARE original, with one of them being written by Ruben Blades himself. OH YEAH!!! check this one out, it's worth your time.

Rey, this is the one you'll need to start Diego and Pablo on the path to fine NY salsa. Maestro Rubén Blades starts your Saturday morning with a sound reminder of how much El Barrio means to its denizens: Un Gran Día en El Barrio. North of 110th West or East, you choose, the effect will be the same: alegría, comida y mucho meneo. Nothing surprising or new to you lovers of Cuban music other than a street polished urban side to the Son. You can close your eyes and see the turned palms of La Palma Real, el arcoiris of push cart of piraguas, raspado or rasco rasco, or hear el guaguancó in neighborhood parks or Sundays at Orchard Beach. The CD is a notable example of what we in New York came to understand Cuban music to be. Since Buena Vista, we have arrived at a deeper understanding of styles and complex rhythmic patterns. Like the previous outing, leader Oscar Hernández takes us across town to sample New York Salsa; faithful to Cuban rumba and New York's polished bands. There are plenty of rhythms and lead vocals to enjoy a mini tour of great salsa. A great CD to be placed alongside the best sounds arriving from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela and Colombia.

Many new bands today have taken the "big band" out of salsa today. However the "big band sound" in addition to the percussion, is what makes Salsa so exciting. This exciting release from the exellent SHO features tight arrangements, reminiscent of the 50's mambo bands, with a touch of modern, featuring some great jazz solos too. Exciting and fun to salsa dance to, or listen to!!! Great CD!!!

I just saw these guys in concert. They played some of the best salsa. I met some of the band members and they are so down to earth! This CD is awesome & a valuable addition to salseros/salseras collection.

I ran into this record doing searches on SALSA DURA, and how happy I am that I did. Amazing music, and of course Ruben Blades! He is at his best on this one. This is a must have record.

More salsa than jazz is this highly danceable album filled with talented musicians and classic full-orchestra salsa sounds.
 If it's dramatic salsa embellishments you seek with an unforgettable full orchestra sound, Spanish Harlem Orchestra's ACROSS 110TH STREET is the item of choice.