Around six weeks ago we went to see Oscar D’Leon at the Roundhouse in London. Aged 65, he’s one of the top salsa stars in the world. Which means that despite living in Oxford UK, hardly the home of salsa, I have now seen:
Oscar D’Leon (London)
Charanga Habanera (London)
Manolito y Su Trabuco (London)
Maikel Blanco (Havana)
Pupy y los que Son Son (Havana)
Septeto Santiaguero (Santiago de Cuba)
Los Van Van (London)
Buena Vista Social Club (London)
Afro-Cuban All-Stars (London)
Celia Cruz (London)
Jose Alberto (London)
If you’re not a salsa fan this won’t mean anything to you. But it’s roughly equivalent for an indie-rock/pop fan to have seen the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Blur, Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, Green Day and whatnot.
Damn I feel lucky. Oscar D’Leon, what can I say? He’s an amazing performer, a formidable dancer and bass player; he sang and elegantly danced his way through a two-hour set without a break, almost without pausing between songs. He can improvise in the most amazing way (but so can all the best soneros I’ve seen).
And he can do reggaeton. Maybe not like a young hipster. But man, he gives it a go.
Here’s a video I recorded that evening – quickly risen to be my Youtube channel’s most popular video. It’s distant – we were far away, but you can sense the energy in the audience. The camera work is a bit shaky for the first 30 seconds because I literally couldn’t stand still, I was so excited.
I mean. OSCAR D’LEON!!!! Jess – espero que te gusta pero MUCHO!
4 replies on “Belatedly, Oscar D’Leon”
In my dance school end-of-the-year presentation I’m gonna dance salsa! I was so so thrilled when my teacher told my group! I feel like a teenager for being so excited about this presentation, but when I was a teenager I didn’t have the chance to go on stage. 🙂
I’m back home and catching up in blogland – judging by your posts it seems you’ve been a busy lady. Your life sounds very glamourous attending book festivals and socialising with editors, authors etc. Your holiday sounded gorgeous. A place I’d definetly like to visit. The Oscar D’Leon concert looked/sounded like it was buzzing with energy. And it sounds like I may have missed your Birthday – if so a belated Happy Birthday.Of course if I’ve got it wrong then just ignore that last bit. LOL. Kat 🙂
Cami – you should video your presentation and put it on Youtube!
Katina – hope you enjoyed your travels! Thanks for birthday wishes too. As for glamorous, yeah! it’s all been great! Mind you being a scientist was pretty darn glamorous too. It’s not all night-time experiments in labs…there are conferences in the mountains, black tie dinners and stuff, too…
Of course I like him!!! 🙂 es lo máximo, nunca lo he visto en vivo pero voy a retomar mi vida de rumbera pronto (me falta que Billy le tome el gusto) y voy a tratar de verlo en cuanto venga. Algún día tenemos que ir a un concierto de salsa juntas…ojalá en Cuba 😉