Oscar Hernández

Óscar Hernández playing piano with Spanish Harlem Orchestra at Teatro de la Ciudad Esperanza Iris in Mexico City, 2019.
Image: Tania Victoria; Secretaría de Cultura de la Ciudad de México. CC BY 2.0. Source.

Summary

Oscar Hernández is a New York pianist, arranger and musical director associated with salsa and Latin jazz. He leads Spanish Harlem Orchestra, bringing a working musician's experience of the city's Latin ensembles into new orchestral arrangements.

Life and career

His professional career developed through performing, arranging and recording with major Latin-music ensembles. Work with Rubén Blades and Seis del Solar included piano, arrangement and musical direction. Spanish Harlem Orchestra became a further setting for his leadership and production.

Music and style

The piano works both as part of the rhythm section and as a source of arranged movement across the ensemble. His career connects dance-centered salsa with Latin-jazz collaboration: composed horn writing, rhythmic accompaniment and room for individual players belong to the same practice. Spanish Harlem Orchestra's recordings show his role in sustaining classic New York orchestral resources through contemporary sessions and performance.

Works and performances

Across 110th Street, Viva la Tradición and Anniversary document the orchestra's salsa work. The Latin Jazz Project highlights collaborations with jazz performers. His wider credits include arranging and musical direction for Paul Simon's stage production The Capeman, illustrating work beyond one band or genre.