Grammy-winning musician Oscar Hernandez (Photo/AB McNeely)
Oscar Hernandez says he isn’t conscious of when he first knew he wanted to be a musician – it just happened. What he does recall, however, is hearing salsa from as young as he can remember.
“In the ‘70’s, in the South Bronx, you heard music coming from every other window and door,” he says – mentioning the sounds and voices of Machito, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Ray Barretto, Tito Rodriguez, and Eddie Palmieri – which enveloped him since youth. “It was very much the part of the Latino culture that was developing in the city of New York.”
Hernandez was born and raised in the South Bronx area of New York City to Puerto Rican parents who migrated to the city in search of a better life in the 1940’s.
“I started playing trumpet when I was 11,” says Hernandez, who recently turned 60. “I came from a big family of 11 kids, and nobody ever played an instrument in my house, but I started playing the trumpet at the local Boys’ Club.”
Soon after, someone gave the Hernandez family a piano which was kept in the basement of their apartment building, and he started playing that. Before he knew it, Hernandez says he was playing with local neighborhood bands, and at 17, he started playing professionally with older musicians.
“I went from playing with one famous band to another famous band – getting a complete education live,” recalls Hernandez, who was mostly self-taught but eventually earned his bachelor’s degree in music from the City University of New York. “The first big band I played with was in 1973 with Ismael Miranda y La Revelación…I was very fortunate to start out with him, because we were playing five or six times a week. I became independent financially…I started making a name for myself…”
Since then, he has he written or arranged themes for the hit show, “Sex and the City,” various commercials, documentaries, and for the successful Broadway show “The Capeman” – for which he worked closely with Paul Simon.
“I earned my doctorate in music on that show,” says Hernandez jokingly about his music director role.
Most recently, he keeps himself busy as the leader of the two-time Grammy winning salsa band, Spanish Harlem Orchestra. In April, he and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra will be performing in NYC, and in May, at the 16th Annual International Los Angeles Salsa Congress.
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“I’m playing with my band – basically exposing that audience to our music, and also doing a seminar on the history of the music,” says Hernandez. “It should be a terrific experience.”
The Spanish Harlem Orchestra started in the year 2000. Hernandez says he wanted to bring the importance of the band back to salsa, as opposed to the focus on the singer – as well as the energy particular to NYC he felt had gone missing since the ‘80’s.
“As a Latino in New York, you were caught up in that energy,” says Hernandez about what is perhaps his biggest musical inspiration.
The 13-member band has gone on to produce four records – all of which have been nominated for Grammys, and two have won the prestigious award.
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In 2005, the year Hernandez and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra won their first Grammy for Best Merengue/Salsa Album, The Blind Boys of Alabama also won for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album.
“When [one of the founding members] got to the top of the stairs, he said, ‘It took me 30 years to walk up those stairs.’ That is pretty much my story,” says Hernandez. “I’ve been playing for so many years, and for so many people, and I can’t tell you the satisfaction that means. It gives you an instant credibility which is vital to keep going and keep doing the right thing.”
For those following in his footsteps, Hernandez says its important to have what he calls “stick-to-it-ness.”
“You have to persevere through obstacles and doubts and BS – especially if you are an inner city kid like I was,” says Hernandez. “Find something you love to do and persevere.”
He goes on to say that we have to keep learning about our music and culture.
“We need to keep promoting the arts,” says the musician about why his job is nowhere near done. “That’s one of the beautiful things that life has to offer us, and we have to keep it alive in any way we can.”
The Spanish Harlem Orchestra’s fifth album, “Swing del Barrio,” releasing in May, does just that.
“It’s music that comes from our hearts,” says Hernandez, who currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two of his four kids. “I’m a die-hard New Yorker.”