UK Salsa Band Salseology Proves That Salsa Is NOT Dead

March 3, 2013 - PRLog -- LONDON, UK – The level of public interest in live salsa music has experienced massive growth over the past year.  For the second year in a row, Salseology, a 12 piece live salsa band, has been voted UK Salsa Act of the Year in the Air Europa LUKAS Awards. But what’s most astonishing is the dramatic increase in public awareness and participation in the voting this year compared to last.  

Salseology is a full scale, 12 piece live salsa band which specialises in salsa dura. Salsa dura refers to the style of salsa developed during the 1970’s in New York by combining influences from Cuba, Puerto Rico and Colombia with jazz and funk. It is also sometimes called old school salsa, salsa gorda, salsa brava or salsa con golpe.

Last year’s LUKAS Awards gave Salseology a decisive victory with total votes numbering in the hundreds.  This year, there were over 6500 votes for the top two finishers alone. The runner up in the “Salsa Act of the Year” category was another large band which plays very similar music to Salseology. Other top contenders in the category which play different styles of salsa music such as timba and son finished with hundreds of votes, similar to last year. There are two clear messages to take from this:
(1) People are really starting to pay attention to and appreciate live salsa music once again in the UK.
(2) The salsa dura style is once again growing in popularity and creating renewed interest from groups which have not previously been huge advocates of live Latin music (e.g. dancers, non-Latinos, etc.).

Salseology has spent the last two years building a reputation for being authentic, passionate and energetic. While they are busy perfecting original material for a 2013 EP release, even Salseology’s “covers” are fresh and exciting for the UK salsa lover. Salseology selects a unique mix of Fania era classics (Ray Barretto’s Indestructible), modern trendsetters (Spanish Harlem Orchestra’s Ahora Si) and classy romantic salsa (Tony Vega’s Esa Mujer) to keep the dance floor packed. While there is no purely Cuban music in their repertoire, the Colombian, Puerto Rican, Venezuelan and New York flavours they offer are appealing to a huge audience. They’ve also listened to feedback from dancers and club goers, keeping their songs at a length similar to DJ tracks and avoiding tempos which are either uninspiring or undanceable.

The salsa craze of the 90’s is long gone. While salsa is still played by DJs in many venues across the country, live salsa music is noticeably harder to find. To keep costs low, it has become common practice to have one singer, a couple of percussionists and a pre-recorded backing track. For events which call for truly live music, bands often scale down to 5 or 7 musicians in order to remain competitive. But Salseology has found a winning formula which generates enough energy and excitement to support a full band. With excitement and public interest trending upwards, the UK is likely to be buzzing with more live salsa music from the many great salsa bands on the scene.

Salseology’s two year anniversary party will be held in one of North London’s top salsa venues, The Dome, 30th March 2013. To find out more about the band, visit http://www.salseology.com.