Supported by KNKX. The 3x GRAMMY-Winning ensemble brings New York / Puerto Rican Christmas Music to Life. Spanish Harlem Orchestra Celebrates 25 Years with Salsa Navidad, a Bold and Joyous New York Salsa Album Led by Pianist, Arranger, and Producer Oscar Hernández. For twenty-five years, Spanish Harlem Orchestra has carried the pulse of New York salsa into the twenty-first century—music powered by live horns, rhythm, and sheer human feel. With Salsa Navidad's 2025 release on Ovation Records, Hernández channels fifty years on bandstands into a holiday album that feels timeless: Puerto Rican Christmas music reimagined through the fierce, precise sound that made SHO a cornerstone of modern salsa.

Their music is characterized by the raw, organic and vintage sound defined by the genre. They are on a mission to keep the musical legacy of salsa dura (hard salsa) alive and expand its audience to those who love great music, not just Latin music. Grounded in the past, while focused on the future, they strive to keep the music relevant, creating a unique and fresh approach.

This vibrant collection captures the spirit of the holidays through authentic Puerto Rican rhythms, Plena, Bomba, and Aguinaldo, interwoven with SHO’s signature style: dynamic, organic, and deeply rooted in the golden era of salsa dura.

Band leader, Oscar Hernandez, has long been considered one of the most prominent pianists and arrangers in the Salsa & Latin Jazz scene. He is all about tradition. Born into a large Puerto Rican family living in the Bronx, it was the nearby Spanish Harlem neighborhood that shaped his cultural musical sensibilities. The soundtrack to this bustling enclave in the ‘60s, emanating from any given window on any given day, was a mix of Latin Jazz and American pop radio.