La Exelencia supporting, Barbican Hall, Jan 24th 2010

By Amaranta Wright

It was as though all the salsa freaks of England had converged in one place. And I imagine the Colombianos there were also in seventh heaven, reeling in the 'salsa dura' of support band La Excelencia, direct from the Bronx. All those horns and the big aggressive sound of New York 'hard salsa' is not everyone's choice of salsa though and unless the lead singer brings something extra special, and the compositions something original, playing this style inevitably sounds like an outdated copy of Fania, and leaves one pining for the resurrection of Hector Lavoe. Which is what happened.

La Exelencia, though the band tight and the musicians talented, possess none of the grace and zeal of the original salsa legends, nor the lead singer the charisma. But then, barring Luis Enrique, Marc Anthony, which young salseros do? Which does beg the question why the BBC brought this kind of old skool salsa rather than music that represents contemporary US-Latin creativity to launch its BBC4 series on Latin Music in the USA. If there was a good reason, it was evident in the absolute delight of the salsa fans in the packed audience, who rarely get the chance to hear quality live salsa that the likes of the Big 3 Palladium (and even La Exelencia) can produce, and the gratitude of the musicians, who no longer get asked to tour as much and were being recorded live on Radio 3 to boot. All present were determined to make this a really special night, celebrating a genre that has provided so much joy all over the world over the last 40 years, and consequently the atmosphere was euphoric.

The style and flare of the headline act, which featured original salsa legends Larry Harlow and Jimmy Bosch, marked the difference from the first act: from the suits and impeccable styling of the orchestra (I mean, If you are going to play old-style salsa, that's the way to do it) which left the former's cool jeans and shades look distinctly shabby, to the quality of the compositions and the smoothness of the delivery. Any post salsa-freaks in the audience who no longer get inhebriated by the first beat were no doubt fighting boredom with La Excelencia, but few would find it difficult to resist the goove of classic tunes like Tito Roqriguez' Chevere, or La Catera by Arsenio Rodriguez, or the quality of the delivery, of the Big 3.

More than anything, this show was a trip down Nostalgia Lane. Nothing drove this home more than Tito Rodriguez Jr harping on about his dad, or Larry Harlow talking about the good old days. Adding to this is the fact that the Big 3 Palladium is not a functioning band in itself but a collection of outstanding musicians with distinguished guests who come together for occasions like these. They did the nostalgia thing well because that is what they do but the performance was bound to lack the hunger and edge of a group working creatively together on a consistant basis. It left me wondering how much more relevent the event would have been had Radio 3, who promoted it to tie in with Latin Music USA, brought new urban Latin legends such as Joell Ortiz, Tego Calderón, or Aventura, the urban bachata group who are to young US Latinos what Tito Rodriguez was to their grandparents. These are the ones taking US Latino music forward, not looking back. But then it would have been a different concert. Otherwise, why not Willie Rosario or (original Fania arranger) Bobby Valentín, both Fania legends who are still creating and whose bands are still going strong?