El Gran Combo

A concert by El Gran Combo, the Puerto Rican salsa orchestra, at the Watsco Center on the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables.

El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico was formed in 1962 in Puerto Rico and has built its sound on salsa and Puerto Rican dance rhythms. The group was long directed by pianist and musical director Rafael Ithier, who shaped its arrangements and its horn-driven, percussion-heavy style. The orchestra has been active for more than six decades, and its work is rooted in the Caribbean dance music tradition of salsa.

The Watsco Center, on the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables, hosts concerts and shows, and this booking places a salsa orchestra on its stage. The evening suits listeners who follow Latin dance music and Puerto Rican salsa, whether they already know the band's catalog or are discovering it for the first time. The program is presented as world music.