If there is one thing that is evident in today’s Afro Caribbean music field is that there is talent out there worth listening to comparable to 60’s and 70’s. In 2005 we were introduced to the sounds of a mega group, La Excelencia, with their debut “Salsa Con Conciencia” and one of its bright young vocalists, Caguas, PR born, Edwin Perez. From day one Edwin made his mark and was destined to succeed with his unique voice rooted in the 70’s. He was also the lead vocalist with the off shoot of La Excelencia, Salsa Con Conciencia (Orquesta SCC) with Jose Vazquez-Cofresi, before going solo. With SCC he showed us his writing skills penning five of the ten tracks on “Renacimiento”.
What separated the band and Edwin form other bands was the lyrics and that awesome swing that salseros truly love to dance to. Edwin continued with that ‘no prisoners held’ attitude on his debut, “La Voz Del Pueblo”, in 2017. The hardcore sound continued and made his debut one of the top recordings of 2017 going into 2018.
Lightning has now struck twice with his second release, “Street Corner Chronicles”, that has already generated two hits in “El Muro” and “Guerrero Valiente”. The opening track of the CD is a scorcher that will be a huge hit, “La Salsa Que Me Crio”, and will soon be followed on the charts by “Hechale La Culpa Al Vino”, “Que Te Vaya Bien”, “Mi Tierra”, “Tus Mentiras”, “Esta Buena La Nena”, and the funny “Que Se Vaya Pa’ Las Ventas”. All the compositions belong to Edwin who continues to expand his talent for expressive lyrics.
The recording sessions were split between New York and Caracas, Venezuela (primarily the horns) and all the musicians excel on the astounding arrangements.
Whoever said Salsa was dead has not heard Edwin Perez!