MOLAA’s Salsa Intensifies the Heat

By Melina Paris, Music Columnist

Back in September, Grammy award-winning Herman Olivera sang to the driving rhythms of Conjunto Costazul during an evening of New York salsa at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach.

Olivera and Conjunto Costazul put on an energetic show in front of a full house of non-stop salsa dancers of all ages

Conjunto Costazul’s four trombones and powerful drumming made for a big sound with special guest Artie Webb, on flute, who added more flavor to the music.

“There is an incredible energy out there with the full moon tonight,” Olivera said. “The public is having a great time and the band is propelled to new heights”

Olivera calls the music a “stimulant.”

“You leave your house with a thousand problems and you come to a show, you want to forget your problems and so do I,” Olivera said. “I go to a musical high and I’m up there with the moon. I’m very honored to be here again closing the series.

Olvera has been trekking to Southern California since 1981 and says that he’s seen a lot of growth in the salsa scene ever since.

“There’s always a lot of dancing and activity out here, it’s public news that LA is into salsa,” Olivera said. “The whole state of California is happening from San Francisco to San Diego. It’s like what New York used to be in the 70s.”

Over the years, Olivera has worked with the likes of Johnny Pacheco, Ray Barretto, Bobby Rodriguez and La Compañia, and The Machito Orchestra. He currently performs with Eddie Palmieri’s orchestra and is featured on five of Palmieri’s CDs, including Masterpiece/Obra Maestra with the late, great Tito Puente, which earned two Grammys. The musicians who inspire him include Puente, Rodriguez, Palmieri, Machito, Hector Lavoe and Palmieri.

Olivera makes the music extraordinary by keeping to the original New York salsa style. It’s organic music that originated on the streets and in the clubs of New York from the late 1960s through the early 1980s. Singers of that era drew their lyrics from their often-raw feelings about what was happening in the streets, their lives and times and emotions.

As music tends to do, salsa has changed throughout the years, taking a turn toward pop-oriented romanticism, salsa romantica. But Olivera says he has put a “grasp” on the genre.

“I’ve maintained a certain musical structure from the 1970s,” Olivera said. “I haven’t been too commercial.”

Make no mistake, it’s not outdated. Olivera is the bridge between the 1970s and the new generation.

“I seem to be one of the only ones in this lane,” Olivera said. “Most of my counterparts have gone to the commercial side.There’s a market for that, but when you are the root, it’s very important. When you kill the root, you kill the tree.

“People are gyrating to this music. I’ve been very lucky to take this music globally, where some of my counterparts have a very small public. People want real music — you cannot fake it out, man — and they want to hear real music with real lyrics. This is dance music.”

Salsa thriving in Central and South America, where it was struggling 30 years ago, and has a presence in some unexpected places, such as Australia.

Olvera’s most recent solo release is La Voz Del Caribe, (The voice of the Caribbean), which was nominated for a Latin Grammy.

“It’s on the radio and it’s been accepted very well from salsa lovers all over the world,” Olivera said.

Olivera also just finished a new album with Palmieri called Mi Luz Mayor that’s set for release in February 2016. Some singles went on sale of Sept. 26.

Details: www.kxlu.com