Edwin Perez y su Orquestra

Edwin Perez leads an eight-piece salsa ensemble, leading the renaissance of salsa dura, a New York style that flourished in the 1970s and 1980s. With propulsive percussion, dynamic brass lines, and emphatic, emotional vocals, Edwin Perez y su Orquesta inspires audiences to find both joy and meaning on the dance floor.

Today salsa enjoys worldwide popularity, but its roots are in New York’s Spanish-speaking barrios. Salsa emerged here in the early 1970s from a blend of Afro-Cuban song traditions, Puerto Rican rhythms, and big band jazz. Along with social movements of the day, the music helped to define an emerging Latino community identity. Commercially popular artists gradually moved towards the smoother sounds of salsa romántica, but bandleader Edwin Perez is part of a newer vanguard committed to reviving the sounds and spirit of salsa dura, or “hardcore salsa”—music that does not shy away from mixing social commentary with driving dance beats.

Born in New York, Edwin Perez was raised by his grandparents in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Edwin excelled as a singer in the church choir his grandfather directed but felt a strong draw to music that spoke to what he calls the “drums in my heart.” He fell asleep each night listening to salsa on his beloved shortwave radio. As an adult, he moved back to New York, where music remained a private pursuit until a chance encounter with a Cuban band while he was dining out turned into an impromptu performance. Soon he was performing six nights a week after working his day job.

In 2004, Perez became a founding member, composer, and lead singer of a young salsa band led by Jose Vazquez-Cofresi, where his vocals headlined three albums until they disbanded in 2012. In 2013, Edwin founded and produced his new salsa dura project Orquesta SCC. After touring worldwide and gaining international acclaim, Perez next embarked on a solo career in 2017, and has released three albums under his own label.