{"id":3294,"date":"2010-07-22T16:20:44","date_gmt":"2010-07-23T00:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/?p=3294"},"modified":"2010-07-22T21:24:52","modified_gmt":"2010-07-23T05:24:52","slug":"gimme-five-eric-hirsch-of-orquesta-gardel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/2010\/07\/gimme-five-eric-hirsch-of-orquesta-gardel\/","title":{"rendered":"Gimme Five! Eric Hirsch of Orquesta GarDel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In 2006, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/orquestagardel.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3296\" title=\"Orquesta GarDel\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/orquestagardel-300x178.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"178\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/orquestagardel-300x178.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/orquestagardel-360x214.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/orquestagardel-120x71.jpg 120w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/orquestagardel.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/strong>when David Garcia, a professor of Afro-Cuban music at UNC Chapel Hill, and Nelson Delgado, a singer and seasoned veteran of the Triangle latin music scene, decided to start a salsa group, they couldn&#8217;t have known the powerful music explosion that would become <a href=\"http:\/\/www.myspace.com\/orquestagardel\">Orquesta GarDel<\/a>. The band began by digging deep into the roots of classic and modern salsa and has since stretched its repertoire to include a host of originals that play into the members own unique, jazz and afro-cuban influenced perspectives.<\/p>\n<p>Now, eleven members strong, Orquesta GarDel is nothing short of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.indyweek.com\/indyweek\/the-big-brassy-sounds-of-orquesta-gardel\/Content?oid=1208944\">a salsa super-group<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 Featuring the talents of Eric Hirsh (piano, co-director), Neslon Delgado (lead vocals), Jaime Roman (lead vocals), Pete Kimosh (bass), Brevan Hampden (timbales), Julio Correa (congas, timbales), Jos\u00c3\u00a9 Sanchez (congas, bongos), Ram\u00c3\u00b3n Ortiz (bongos, timbales, backing vocals), Alberto Carrasquillo (trumpet), Al Strong (trumpet), Andy Kleindienst (trombone, co-director), Tim Smith (saxophones, flute), and Bluford Thompson (saxophones, flute), this orchestra plays music that will make you listen, make you smile, and make you dance your heart out.\u00c2\u00a0 You can experience this GarDel fever at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rivermillvillage.com\/bands07.html\">Saxapahaw Farmer&#8217;s Market Music Serie<\/a>s next Saturday, July 31st.<\/p>\n<p>Now just the five most furious questions in faux business:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. If your band were a kitchen appliance, what would it be?<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Picture-21.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-3297\" title=\"Eric Hirsch\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Picture-21-266x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"180\" height=\"204\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Picture-21-266x300.png 266w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Picture-21-71x80.png 71w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Definitely a Cuisenart food processor.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Its  power is restrained by its simple design, and the careful attachment of the variety of accessory parts.\u00c2\u00a0  You can cut things up many ways, but at the end of the day you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just making salsa.\u00c2\u00a0 And everyone likes salsa.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. How do you see Orquesta GarDel separating itself from other salsa bands that  have played around this area?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We are inherently  unique to this region for a number of reasons.\u00c2\u00a0 First, the  size of the ensemble.\u00c2\u00a0 At twelve members, we are able to  faithfully recreate the dense, polyrhythmic wall of sound that is the classic salsa orchestra.\u00c2\u00a0 There is just no substitution for having three percussionists, at least three brass players, and  multiple vocalists.\u00c2\u00a0 Secondly, we strive for a very high level of musicianship, which includes picking a repertoire  that avoids the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dclow hanging fruits\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 of the salsa canon and seeking out the  more interesting (and complex) arrangements coming out of Puerto Rico, Cuba,  and New York from the seventies through today.\u00c2\u00a0 Finally, while this area has a great Latino music community, many  bands and configurations have come and gone.\u00c2\u00a0 We hope that Orquesta GarDel will outlive its original founders  and members and become a cultural institution with a long life and an open door for musicians to keep this art form alive and progressing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Describe the dynamic of playing in such a large group. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The musical dynamic is actually very effortless.\u00c2\u00a0  I have much respect for large bands like Lost In The Trees, Efterklang, and Broken Social Scene, who must necessarily  engage with new performance practices for their unique instrumentation.\u00c2\u00a0 But  salsa comes with a deep tradition, rooted in West African and Afro-Cuban ritualistic musics.\u00c2\u00a0 Every  player, each instrument has a defined role, a set of rhythms to play, locking in with each other in a very  delicate way.\u00c2\u00a0 But you know what they say, out of constraint comes freedom.\u00c2\u00a0 The experience of playing a repeating-but-evolving part along with eleven other people  is powerful and even trance-like.<\/p>\n<p>The logistical dynamic of running such a large  group?\u00c2\u00a0 Not so trance-like.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Who\/what might be a few inspirations or influences that might really surprise  people?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You know, salsa  music, its subgenres, and its innovators are not really the main inspiration for the group.\u00c2\u00a0 That collective knowledge of the style ends up being very secondary when we  get together to play or write.\u00c2\u00a0 Our biggest inspiration is probably the state of North Carolina, each other, and our community.\u00c2\u00a0 Though we play traditional music, we aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a very \u00e2\u20ac\u0153traditional\u00e2\u20ac\u009d group of people.\u00c2\u00a0 We  are men of different ages, some are dads with families, some are fresh college graduates.\u00c2\u00a0 We are  Puerto Rican, Dominican, white, and African-American.\u00c2\u00a0 Most of us have jazz degrees, some of us used to play merengue seven nights a week in PR,  many of us actively play in funk, reggae, or hip hop bands.\u00c2\u00a0 We live  all over the state, and we play shows for mixed crowds in all sorts of unexpected venues.\u00c2\u00a0 This  diversity, this set of seeming contradictions makes us both an anomaly and a perfect fit for the  growing culture of North Carolina.\u00c2\u00a0 What compels us is to get up on that stage and make people dance and have a great  time, and to be able to see it in their faces and the way they move.<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/orquesta.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3299\" title=\"orquesta\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/orquesta-300x172.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"430\" height=\"246\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/orquesta-300x172.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/orquesta-360x207.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/orquesta-120x69.jpg 120w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/orquesta.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 430px) 100vw, 430px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>5. What did you dream of being when you were a kid? (How \u00e2\u20ac\u2122d that turn out?)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Surveyed the gang, got some responses back:<\/p>\n<p>Eric Hirsh (pianist, co-director): Pretty early on I  dreamt of being a musician, gave up on it in high school (for the sexy allure of\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6physics!), returned to it in college and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stuck ever since.\u00c2\u00a0  Also as a kid I dreamt of being a train engineer (I might have even owned a pair of blue corduroy overalls;  definitely owned a few dozen picture books on the subject).<\/p>\n<p>Tim Smith (saxophonist): As a kid\u00c2\u00a0I always wanted  to be a chef (been there, done that), a poet (I am and I know it) and a  multi-faceted musician\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6the jury is still out on that last one.\u00c2\u00a0 GarDel is certainly helping me to explore one more facet of the plethora of musics out there\u00c2\u00a0in the world today and I must say that I&#8217;m lovin&#8217; it.<\/p>\n<p>Nelson Delgado (lead vocalist): Nelson tells me  that he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even remember what he thought about as a kid anymore, but he does recall thinking it would be really cool to be a jet engine mechanic.\u00c2\u00a0 He  ended up in research chemistry for agriculture.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c<\/p>\n<p>Head out to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rivermillvillage.com\/bands07.html\">Saxapahaw Farmer&#8217;s Market Music Serie<\/a>s Saturday, July 31st to hear Orquesta GarDel live.\u00c2\u00a0 And be sure to give Eric a high five  when you see him!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2006, when David Garcia, a professor of Afro-Cuban music at UNC Chapel Hill, and Nelson Delgado, a singer and seasoned veteran of the Triangle latin music scene, decided to start a salsa group, they couldn&#8217;t have known the powerful music explosion that would become Orquesta GarDel. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":3296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[311],"class_list":["post-3294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","tag-gimme-five"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3294"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3309,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3294\/revisions\/3309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}