Hello Sylvia and readers of Onda Carolina. I wanted to take the time to respond to your post publicly: as it stands, our local Latin music community is still small enough that there needn’t be an unapproachable distance between the artist, the critic, the listener.

I definitely encourage more discussion like this amongst local dancers and aficianados. The last thing I would want to see is an attitude of “Wow, the Triangle is so blessed to have a big salsa orchestra, so we best not criticize it, lest its success be diminished.” Hardly. Y’all are allowed to hold us up to your high standards, that’s how we grow and improve.

If you’ll remember the discussion from a previous post, I mentioned GarDel’s struggles of entertainer vs. artist, dance band vs. listening band, and cover band vs. original material, and how those dualities complicate our decision making process. If our catalog has recently become slightly homogenized, it is because we weren’t looking carefully at the band’s presentation at that level. Andy and I have spent the last few rehearsals guiding the band through a series of exercises that help the members listen to each other more, towards a better rhythmic concept for the rhythm section and a conscious focus on dynamics and articulations for the horns. These incremental improvements may not be readily apparent to an audience, especially for a band that rehearses and plays out only so often, but it is the essence of ensemble playing. Diversifying the musical library is one of the next tasks Andy and I will fold into the mix. Even then, we will learn the lesson of “you can’t satisfy everyone” (even amongst band members). Which artists should we focus on? What about this album? Should GarDel ever play merengue and cumbia or should it remain a “pure” salsa band? And so on.

Looking back on 2008, I think GarDel has entered its early adolescence and 2009 will see the band mature into a “grownup band.” Andy and I have a dream for the band that sees it becoming its own master, defining a sound that places it beyond “cover band/dance band/local all-star jam session” and into a realm of mostly original material, inspired by the bands roots as a “salsa dura” ensemble, but influenced by our diverse cultural backgrounds and eclectic taste in music. The current roadblock? A lyricist! But that is for another post.

Happy Holidays from Orquesta GarDel!

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 21st, 2008 at 5:58 pm and is filed under Orquesta GarDel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.