The Greatest Salsa Label Ever

July Playlist Highlights

Song

Artist

Category

Origin

Mi Gente Mi Gente - Hector Lavoe - Greatest Hits Hector Lavoe Salsa USA
Calle Luna Calle Sol Calle Luna Calle Sol - The Original Gangster Willie Colón y Hector Lavoe Salsa USA
Pedro Navaja Pedro Navaja - Ruben Blades - Greatest Hits Ruben Blades Salsa Panama
Anacaona Anacaona - Buena Vista Social Music Cheo Feliciano Salsa Puerto Rico
Mi Desastre Mi Desastre - Tiene Que Ser Manolín Manolin Salsa Cuba
Al Final de la Vida Al Final de la Vida - Super Salsa Summer 2012 Havana D’ Primera Salsa Cuba
El Jala Jala Elito Reve Jr. Salsa Cuba
La Llave de Mi Corazón La Llave de Mi Corazón (feat. Yunel Cruz) - Don Omar Presents MTO2 - New Generation Yunel Cruz y Don Omar Bachata USA
Amiga Veneno Amiga Veneno (Mi Nina Veneno) - Novia Mia Zacarias Ferreira Bachata Dominican Republic
Enamorada De Ti Enamorada de Ti (feat. Juan Magan) [Merengue Mix] - Enamorada de Ti Selena ft Juan Magan Merengue USA
La Luz De Mi Vida Zol y Luna Merengue USA
Boogaloo Blues Boogaloo Blues - Boogaloo Blues Johnny Colon Boogaloo USA

 

Fania

I was recently listening to a great double CD retrospective of music from the Fania Records label called “Fania Records 1964 – 1980”.  Not only does the compilation highlight many of the artists that were signed to the label but it also includes an excellent 32 page booklet that gives a bit of the back story on Fania and its incredible success.  Fania Records was probably the most successful label to release Salsa music.  Though the label didn’t invent Salsa as a musical genre and Salsa wasn’t the only type of music released by the label, Fania Records was the first to take what had traditionally been an assortment of distinct afro-Caribbean rhythms and produce and market them as a uniform sound (the “Fania Sound”).

Fania Records was the brainchild of musician/band leader Johnny Pacheco who with the help of his divorce lawyer, Jerry Masucci, made the label a reality in 1964.  It had humble beginnings and apparently the two started out by selling albums in Spanish Harlam from the trunks of their cars.  However, they were fortunate to have signed some great talent early on including Larry Harlow, Ray Barretto, Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe.  The talents of these artists complimented those of Pacheco’s and the label quickly grew based on the popularity of their music.  That said, the label didn’t really take off until the early Seventies when Masucci worked with a New York club owner, Ralph Mercado, to organize a couple of very successful live performances.  One of these performances was held at the Cheetah Club in Manhattan.  The concert featured the talents of Fania’s super group, the Fania All-Stars.  The evening was a huge success and Masucci had the event recorded and released as a movie called Our Latin Thing.  The next legendary performance was held at Yankee Stadium in 1973 in front of a crowd of over 60, 000 people.  The performance was also filmed and released under the title Salsa.

Through the Seventies Fania grow at a steady rate signing much of the top Latin talent in the US and releasing some of the most well know Salsa music along with way.  However, by the early Eighties many artists were dissatisfied with the fees Fania was paying them and were moving to other labels.  On top of that, it was rumored that the label was having financial difficulties, which may have been the reason why Masucci left the US for Argentian with an agenda “to play tennis”.   Masucci retained ownership in the label and was the sole owner by the early Ninties at which time Fania was a shadow of its 1970’s glory.  He did make a few attempts to revive the Fania legacy including a 1996 visit to Cuba were he signed Paulito FG and Dan Den to a new label called Nueva Fania.  Unfortunately, Masucci died in 1997 before this  label could develop any momentum.

Though the Fania label is now controlled by Signal-Equity its enormus catalogue of music is still available and hugely popular.  You can find most if not all of the Fania albums at the Fania website.

Questions, comments, requests? Send me an email

Hasta la próxima

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What’s in Your Salsa?

April Playlist Highlights

Song

 

Artist

Category

Origin

Pa’los rumberos Pa' Los Rumberos - 150 Cuban Classics Tito Puente Descarga Timbalera USA
Guaracha Guaracha - The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Willie Colon Guaracha Puerto Rico
Elige Tu Que Canto Yo Elige Tú Que Canto Yo - Cubano! Beny Moré Guaracha Cuba
Eres Como Yo Eres Como Yo - Andar Andando Azucar Negra Guaguancó Cuba
Que Bueno Baila Usted Qué Bueno Baila Usted - Benny Moré - El Bárbaro del Siglo Beny Moré Son Montuno Cuba
De Guantanamo De Guantanamo - Sabor al Guaso Ban Rarra Son Montuno Cuba
I like it Like that I Like It Like That - I Like it Like That Pete Rodriguez Boogaloo USA
Mercy Mercy Baby Mercy Mercy Baby - The Bad Boogaloo Ray Barretto Boogaloo USA
La Pachanga del Futbol La Pachanga del Futbol - Musica Tropical de Colombia, Vol. 16 Fruko y Sus Tesos Pachanga Colombia
Mas Pachanga Ray Barretto Pachanga USA
Bronx Pachanga USA Bronx Pachanga U.S.A. - Pachanga At The Caravana Club Charlie Palmieri Pachanga USA
Bomba De Navidad Richie Ray y Bobby Cruz Bomba USA
Bomba Carambomba Bomba Carabomba - Quitate de la Via Perico Rafael Cortijo Bomba Pureto Rico
Si Dios Fuera Negra Roberto Anglero Bomba Puerto Rico

 

If you have ever wondered why one Salsa song can sound so drastically different from another the answer could be in the origins of the genre.  The fact is that the musical genre known as Salsa is made up of several sub-genres each with their own unique rhythm and musical arrangement.  These sub-genres are the focus of this month’s blog post.

You will often read or hear about how Salsa music, like the food, is a mix of many different ingredients.  This fact was was brought home for me by a podcast episode I was recently listening to entitled ‘Por qué la salsa no existe’.  The episode came from ‘La Salsa no Existe’ written by Juan Fernando Rodríguez Escoba,  a podcast I have mentioned before in another blog post.   I was so impressed by how the episode opened my ears to the many sub-genres that make up Salsa that I contacted Juan asking him if I could translate and reproduce the text for this blog.  He gracisouly gave his permission.  The translated text is below and for those who are interested, here is a link to the original podcast text and the podcast itself.

 

Por qué la salsa no existe by Juan Fernando Rodríguez Escobar

Translated by Clavecito with the help of Sara M.

On this site we argue that “Salsa” is not a real genre because it is too simplistic a way of labeling a world of music made of many rhythms that share a common language.  The fact is that this is not a language of just one word.

Take Tito Puente’s song “Pa’los rumberos”, which could be called a Salsa but is actually a descarga timbalera.

Willie Colon y su Orquesta’s “Guaracha”, a song which marketing has labeled “Salsa”, is as its name indicates a modern version of a guaracha, a popular Cuban genre of music that has ancient traditions, and which has added its own thread to the [Salsa] musical quilt.

Willie Rosario’s “La Esencia del Guaguancó”, as its title indicates is not a Salsa but a guaguancó, another Cuban genre known as rumba.  Guaguanco has also participated in the making of this unique but heterogeneous language that brings us together on this website.

Pete Rodriguez sang “I like it Like that” never thinking of it as a salsa.  What this famous New York Latin American artist gave the world was a boogaloo, a genre which we discuss at length in another podcast, and which consists of Afro Caribbean rhythms mentioned above, as well as Afro North American rhythms like Jazz, Rock and Soul.

The genre [Salsa] is also composed of “son montuno”, which many experts believe provided the musical foundation for what has become the unified commercial sound of Salsa.

Furthermore, what is often called “Salsa” should be called “Pachanga” like Fruko y sus Tesos’ song “Los Charcos”.  This Cuban rhythm evolved among Hispanics in New York and swept through Latin America at the end of the 50s.  It was interpreted by many great musicians from Joe Quijano to Rubén Blades, Charlie Palmieri through to Ray Barretto.

Then along came Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz  in the 70’s who threw a bomb into the Caribbean that spread throughout Latin America.  Not a bomb like those that threatened the world during the Cold War but a Bomba ,the afro-Puerto Rican musical genre from the time of slavery, which itself contains a dozen sub-genres and in which the protagonists are the drums as well as the dance.

While the rhythms of Cuba and Puerto Rico have borne the majority of the load in creating this genre, many others have contributed their heritage, including those of Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and the Dominican Republic.  Even Brazilian rhythms can be heard in songs such as “La Vide es Bonita” by Hector Lavoe.

And if Colombia added a large part of its musical richness to this new language, so too would Venezuela.  Nelson González [of the Venezuelan group Nelson y Sus Estrellas] is one of the main people responsible for exploring the frontier of this new genre adding a touch of the Andean-Caribbean that refreshed the [Salsa] music that came from North of the continent.

Tito Puente, one of the heroes of afro-Caribbean music in the 60’s and 70’s, detested the concept of “Salsa”.  For the best timbalero of all time, Salsa was something that you ate but could not see nor could you dance.  “It’s a word that does not signify anything” he said at every opportunity and we can understand why.  He could hear the mix of dozens of musical genres defined by such a narrow term. “Salsa is something I eat with spaghetti” he said.

Therefore we say again that “Salsa” does not exist

As you can see, the podcast identifies some of the influences in modern Salsa and there are many more.  Artists continue to add new rhythms to the Salsa universe.  A recent example is the addition of a reggaetón (dembow) beat to Salsa music.  This type of Salsa has become known as Salsaton and Cubaton.   I am sure you can identify other rhythms in your own music collections.  Ulimately, it is my hope that this knowledge will inspire you to increase your appreciation and understanding of  the “Salsa” music that you listen to and enjoy.

Questions, comments requests? Send me an email.

Hasta la próxima

 

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