An Interview with Orquesta DeeJay's Trombonist, Mr. Jerry Hernandez by Chris Soto
LaVoz Magazine

Salsa's Golden Era - A Young Trombonist's Perspective

Chris: Jerry, I want to say thanks for letting LaVoz do this interview. It's a pleasure for me to sit here with you and
listen to all the great stories you have when your band was hot on the streets. Instead of starting with a
question, I will just let you speak freely. We will freestyle this one.

Jerry: Thank you Chris. That was a really great time in my life. You know before I even started playing the
trombone I was a dancer bro. We would get together in the park with my little turn table and just dance listening
to Willie Colon, Richie Ray and some others. Back then we danced On2 too. We called it the lefty. I think its
great that all you guys take this so seriously. You guys are really taking the dancing to another level. Back in the
day I used to go to a place in the Bronx called the Hunts Point Palace. Of course you had your dancers doing
the side to side thing but I was trying to be fancier than that. Sometimes there would be 10 guys there dancing
with one girl. We all would switch and cut in trying our new moves.

Chris: So did you grow up in the Bronx?

Jerry: Nah, I actually grew up in the Lower East Side's Smith Projects. There were some other musicians that
lived in the area like Angel Rivera from the New Swing Sextet. Nowadays every kid around here wants to be a
rapper. Well back then, everyone wanted to play in a band. Early on I used to play trumpet in my school's drum
& bugle corps. My dad kinda encouraged me to keep playing. It was ok but when I got out of practice I would
come home and listen to the spanish radio with Symphony Sid. I still remember when I heard Eddie Palmeiri's
"Molasses". I heard Barry Rogers playing that Trombone and I was like "what the heck is that sound?!?" From
then on, I knew thats what I wanted to play. Oddly enough, I was at my job when I saw a trombone. I told my
friend Richie to get it and show me how to play it. After that, I would just practice and practice.

Chris: So how did you start playing with Orquesta Dee Jay?

Jerry: Well, George DeJesus - the leader of the band, had his members but was getting rid of his trombonist and
singer. George then brought Joe Rivera, myself, and singer Rafael DeJesus to replace them. The rest is history.
It was 1969 and I hadn't even been playing a year. It was funny cause we didnt have any musical training. We
just heard the sounds and played. There would be guys here and there bragging about their bands and how
this guy or that guy knows how to read music. To us, we really didnt care cause we knew we could move the
crowd.

Chris: How did you guys get so popular in a short amount of time, especially with the city saturated with so many
bands?

Jerry: Well like I said, I was a dancer before I played and so were some of the other guys. We knew what tempo
we liked to dance at. You gotta remember, back then, there were no sit-down concerts. You were playing for
people who were dancing. If you didnt have a good sound, the crowd would let you know it right away. We were
getting popular and hitting all the big clubs but no label wanted to sign us. We went to Cotique, Tico, Fania - no
one wanted us so we were like screw it! We'll keep doing our thing. Then Ralph Lew heard us, liked the sound,
and started producing us. He saw that not only did we move the crowd at the place, but we always brought big
crowds with us. We were all pretty young so we brought our friends, and they brought their girlfriends and
boyfriends, and so on. That was really important for promoters and managers because they knew their place
would be packed if they had us. It was a marketing tool. As we got more poplular we started getting bigger gigs
and then approached for a a gig at the Village Gate. Only top headliners were playing here at the time.

Chris: If you were playing with the top headliners, I imagine you had a lot of haters?

Jerry: Heck yea bro. There were all these little bands trying to make it but there was something about our sound.
A lot of it was created from us messin' around. We would be down in the basement playing with diffferent ideas.
No one person wrote all the music, we all gave ideas. We had a lot of power too - meaning a big sound. With
those haters it only pushed us to do more and get better. We never really created anything to be better than
anyone but we always knew that whatever we put out had to be hard hitting. See back then, it wasnt really about
the singer. People rarely listened to the lyrics, it was about the band and the way they jammed. Think about it.
Think about all the solos you hear with the older music. Now all you hear is vocals. That was the difference. But
going back to the Villlage Gate gig. I remember one time seeing Roberto Roena come from PR and they were
sharp man. They came in with uniforms all decked out. After we saw that we were like, "we gotta do something
hot like that for the Village Gate." George's (Bandleader) mom had a bridal shop and she did up our uniforms.
Man, we came out with tuxedo jackets, white pants, and bowties and everyone was like "whoa!" We even came
out that night with little dance steps on stage... lol!

Chris: From the big bands that you played with who did you enjoy playing with the most?

Jerry: Well from a friendly perspective, Willie Colon's band always showed us love. They were like the band of
the people. Between all the personalities (Willie, Hector, etc..), they really had a following. So did the Lebron
Brothers - strong sound and they moved the crowd. I personally liked playing with Eddie Palmeiri because thats
where I learned the most. They really knew how to work the crowd. Harlow's band acted kinda funny. They were
poplular so they had that swagger to them.

Chris: So after you guys released your first album what happened?

Jerry: Well, we started playing more and more. We were playing 6 days a week. For almost two years I went
without seeing sunlight. We would play all night, sleep all day, wake up in the afternoon and go straight to
rehearsal for the gig that night. It was crazy but fun.

Chris: What about after the second album?

Jerry: Well after the second one things got different. We were playing so much that we didnt rehearse. Of
course, you had those guys that wanted to branch off and do their own thing - same thing as the big bands.
Only problem was, they were signed to bigger labels and they had the flexibility to do that. We asked them why
they wanted to leave and they said we were working too hard. Now tell me Chris, does that make any sense to
you? Of course we are working hard. We are trying to make it. How the heck are we going to make it if we are
not playing? They even asked if I was going to go and I was like heck no, I'm staying. We tried to get new band
members but it wasnt the same. Someone told us we needed to get the original band back together and I told
him it was impossible. I mean, can you put the beatles back together?

Chris: So did you have to transition back into a normal working routine?

Jerry: Yea man. I aint gonna lie though, I was burnt out so it was kind of a good thing. I actually started dancing
again too. At that time it was the disco era and the hustle was really big. It was funny though cause the only
people dancing hustle were the gringos. Then Latinos started doing it, adding their little turns and moves in and
then it got fancier.

Chris: Orquesta Dee Jay was one of the scene's hottest bands in the 70s. Many say you were underrated. How
do you feel about this?

Jerry: What can I say, the people loved us but no one wanted to give us a deal. A lot of bands were underrated
back then. Everything was run by the big labels so it was hard to make it. Thats just the way it went.

Chris: Well Jerry, I think a lot of the dancers and readers will truly enjoy this interview. It has been great talking
to you and we will continue to ensure that your legacy lives on.

Jerry: Thank you Chris & Johnny and God Bless you guys for what you're doing.

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