In a meeting this past Christmas, Andy and I decided to finally let loose from our high expectations and just start writing original tunes for Orquesta GarDel.  We were intimidated by all of the Puerto Rican, Cuban, and American composers and bandleaders that have come before us, and worried if people would think our “podunk” North Carolina salsa was worthy.  We realized that we should just try to write GarDel music, not other people’s salsa.  We are a collection of 12 musicians of all ages and musical backgrounds; our influences are disparate but we have a common passion for the clave.

So far we have held two rehearsals on three (unfinished) pieces by Andy and one (unfinished) piece by me, and the process has been very fun.  Andy and I bring in chunks of ideas and let the band play them through and make suggestions.  Brevan comes up with great percussion breaks, Jamie starts to improvise possible coros.  The collaborative spirit is right there.

And, as if the Salsa Muse was offering a guiding hand, NewMusicBox just published a fascinating interview with legendary arranger and trombonist, Willie Colón.  He says something that speaks to what I love about music, and the understanding I have of salsa:

A lot of people like to characterize salsa as a pastiche of Cuban son. There’s no denying that there is a Cuban influence and a Cuban base to it, but it’s so much more. Salsa is not a rhythm, it’s a concept. It’s a way of making music. It’s an open concept and the reason that it became so popular is because it was able to evolve and accept all of these other musics. We put the bombas and plenas in it; we put calypso, samba, bossa, and cumbia in it. It’s definitely not even a Puerto Rican or a Cuban music. It’s a reconciliation of everything you can find. And I think it could have only happened here in New York, where you had so many different kinds of people living and playing together. We used to get a lot of the black jazz players. They wanted to come and play salsa so they can blow over the changes. Where are you going to find players like than other than in a big city like New York? This was not going to happen in Cuba or Puerto Rico; it had to be here.

I like that. “Salsa is an open concept.”  It is exciting to watch GarDel’s interpretation of that concept finally start to blossom.  You will be able to hear us unveil these new tunes Thursday night at the Shakori Hills Music Festival in April!

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