Few musical ensembles have survived for fifty years without losing their distinctive rhythmic identity, bucking the recording industry's pressures and withstanding the ups and downs of popular culture like El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico has.
In contrast to other salsa orchestras, especially those that have been active in New York since the late 1960s, our so-called "Mulatos del Sabor" have always defended their distinctive, straightforward, and melodic sound against technological advancements and intricate experiments.
This does not imply that they have ignored the relevance of the new methods and harmonic inclinations brought forth by new eras and generations during the course of their 54-year existence.
Like very few other Afro-Antillean groups, the group lead by Rafael Ithier Nadal has established a rubric because of their creative circumspection. Its validity also reacts to the synchronization between collective fraternity—which is maintained by the cooperativism philosophy—and artistic production, which contributes music and talent. Without fear of error, no one in the Latin American and Caribbean environment, inside or outside the United States, has been able to match its distinction and its historical predominance. In other words, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico is the group that best defines what we call salsa. This conclusion is reached if we consider other creative and sociological elements in addition to the sound and rhythm of their songs..

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