What do you get when you cross an accomplished ethnomusicology professor with a dynamic lead vocalist and a bevy of North Carolina’s finest salsa and jazz musicians? None other than the eleven member salsa “supergroup” known as Orquesta GarDel!

Founded in 2006 by David Garcia, a professor at UNC Chapel Hill who specializes in Afro-Cuban music studies, and Nelson Delgado, a singer and seasoned veteran of the Triangle latin music scene, Orquesta GarDel plays classic and modern salsa music rooted in the sound of the New York-Puerto Rico connection of the 1970s represented by artists such as Rubén Blades, Willie Colón, Eddie Palmieri, Ray Baretto, and Sonora Ponceña. Having established a book of classic salsa covers, GarDel is now writing original material that better reflects the band's personality and modern sensibilities.

It is an amazing treat for any audience member to hear this type of music live, since by its very nature it requires a large ensemble of excellent players. All salsa dancers know there is nothing like dancing to a live band, and Orquesta GarDel delivers its music with a sense of authenticity and precision that dancers and music lovers crave.

Comprised of both Latino and Anglo musicians, Orquesta GarDel is on a mission to bring its energetic music to both populations in an effort to unify and celebrate the cultures, appearing at such events and venues as Shakori Hills, the North Carolina Salsa Festival, La Fiesta del Pueblo, Saxapahaw Music Series, Festival Ritmo Latino, Rocky Mount’s Fiesta Latina, the Carrboro ArtsCenter, Mosquito, Montas Lounge, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and other private events.

Upon watching dancers react to GarDel’s set at the 2007 Fiesta del Pubelo, the Independent Weekly remarked that “Orquesta GarDel is reaching hurricane strength. With vocalist Nelson Delgado and a cast of some of the Triangle’s freshest and finest musicians, it may well be the salsa band to be reckoned with.”