Album Notes

“El que no canta, es porque tiene BAD BREATH!” -Hector Lavoe

Members of the New World Salsa Orchestra have played with or have split a bill with:
Gilberto Santa Rosa
Eddie Palmieri
Elvis Crespo
Victor Manuelle
Ray Sepulveda
Avance
Latin Expression
La Excelencia
Louie Romero y su grupo Mazacote
(The New World Salsa Orchestra’s debut album “Take Me To Your Leader” features (on all 11 songs) Louie Romero, a Fania original who has performed and recorded with Hector Lavoe, Willie Colon, Celia Cruz and many others.)

Antarctica and Australia, watch out! These are the only two remaining continents where Silas has not performed. Silas has performed across the United States, as well as in Brazil, Nicaragua, Ghana, India, Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

Here's why people in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa are so excited about his music:

Imagine that Tito Puente, Hector Lavoe, Celia Cruz, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, and the La Fania All-Stars got together to make a salsa super-group, and let They Might Be Giants compose the lyrics. Imagine that the Beatles were a salsa band. Imagine that kids raised on equal parts Ruben Blades and Schoolhouse Rock, on Willie Colon and Monty Python, grew up, cut their teeth playing with some of the best salsa musicians on the planet, and then found themselves at the forefront of a new salsa universe.

This is the New World Salsa Orchestra. This music will make you want to dance, but it will also change the way you think about salsa. Check it out. And TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER!

Instrumentation
Silas Meredith: lead vocals and bass
Peter Meredith: piano and organ
Joaquín Espinoza Goodman: Timbales
Matt Gordon: guitar
Louie Romero: bongo
Silvestre Martínez: conga
Olivia Malin: Trumpet
Sam Hoyt: Trumpet
Matthew Wright: Trombone
Tony Gomez: backup vocals
Eddy Rivera: backup vocals


Liner notes from "Take Me To Your Leader" (to be officially released March 2009):

This year, salsa fans around the world mark the 30th anniversary of "Siembra," an album that changed the history of salsa. In 1978, Rubén Blades and Willie Colón, without losing their famous ability to laugh at themselves, tapped into a deep well of social consciousness with anthems like "Plástico" and "Pedro Navaja." Years have passed, but I believe it is still the duty of a musician to envision a better world, and to enjoy the journey along the way. Though most of the members of the New World Salsa Orchestra weren’t born yet in 1978 (and though we were raised on Schoolhouse Rock, Super Mario Brothers, and Ani DiFranco as much as on Héctor Lavoe, El Gran Combo, and Celia Cruz), we hope to follow in the footsteps of those who brought salsa to this universe. In 1978, Willie and Rubén gave the command "siembra" – sow. We hope that we are part of the la cosecha – the harvest.