All through I school I  played in jazz bands, and this was something that actually took up a ton of my time – so when I got to Cornell I decided I was no longer going to pursue it. I had lost touch with the genre, and had never really been bothered by it. I signed up for the Spanish Harlem Orchestra event thinking that it would be a string orchestra – I had never heard of this band or their music. But as soon as I stepped into Bailey and saw the setup on stage, I was hit with a wave of familiarity – I knew they were a jazz band even before they hit their (very impressive) first note. Their pieces were intriguing, and even gave some latin takes on American jazz classics. It was an immersive experiences, surrounded by Latin sounds, Spanish lyrics, the distinctive beat of the bongos and the steady clicks of claves and the cowbell. They played a mamba and a cha cha and swing dancers danced in the aisles – the music was certainly dance worthy.

This event was a very pleasant surprise and their efforts to preserve that Spanish Harlem sound are admirable. Not many young people today get interested in jazz, especially such a remote subculture of the genre, but they really made it come to life.