CELIA CRUZ & TITO PUENTE’S ALMA CON ALMA, WILLIE COLÓN’S
THE HUSTLER, FANIA ALL STARS’ LIVE AT YANKEE STADIUM AND CELIA CRUZ &
JOHNNY PACHECO’S CELIA & JOHNNY
In 1964, a young musician from the
Dominican Republic by the name of Johnny Pacheco teamed up with ambitious
Italian-American lawyer Jerry Masucci for the creation of a record label in New
York. Named Fania, the brand-new company captured the sheer excitement of Afro-Caribbean
music as it was just beginning to incorporate elements of soul, R&B and
jazz into a vibrant sonic stew known as salsa.
Fania grew in sales and scope at a rapid pace, documenting
the New York Salsa Explosion of the ’70s and establishing itself as the Latin
equivalent of Motown. Its catalogue of masterpieces from the ’60s, ’70s and
’80s remains one of the most prodigious bodies of work in all of Latin music.
On October 25th, Craft Latino, the Latin arm of Craft
Recordings, will unveil the first batch of vinyl reissues to be released since
the Fania catalogue was acquired by Concord in 2018. Cut from the original
analog masters by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, these four LPs offer an
exciting and intriguing sample of Fania’s salsa magic. There’s Alma Con Alma — an electrifying
collaboration between Cuban powerhouse Celia Cruz and timbales king Tito
Puente. Released in 1968, The Hustler is the second album by visionary producer
Willie Colón and his partner in crime, Puerto Rican singer Héctor Lavoe. The
Fania All Stars’ double-LP set Live At Yankee Stadium captures the label’s own
mega-orchestra recorded in concert at the height of its powers — an album that
was inducted into the National Recording Registry in 2003. Lastly, Celia &
Johnny, the Queen of Salsa’s 1974 artistic tour de force, in collaboration with
Fania co-founder and flautist Johnny Pacheco, is a salsa masterpiece that will
be available exclusively through Vinyl Me, Please Classics as the October
Record of the Month!
Strategically designed as an ideal introduction to the Fania
aesthetic, and timed to coincide with Hispanic Heritage Month, the releases
also illustrate the label’s breadth.
From salsified Cuban standards and funky boogaloos to raucous jam
sessions and trombone-heavy dancefloor scorchers, this initial collection
paints a vivid picture of Afro-Caribbean music as a genre marked by wide
stylistic variety.
During the late ’60s, Fania thrived on contrasts. On the one
hand, it championed the albums recorded by the prolific Johnny Pacheco,
honoring the Cuban roots of tropical music with elegant charanga
instrumentations and a certain innocence of spirit. At the same time, it was
also the label of choice for young musicians of Nuyorican and Puerto Rican
origin who wanted to disrupt the cultural status quo with the rebellious energy
of fresh sounds.
Trombonist, singer/songwriter and producer Willie Colón was
one such artist, and his 1968 LP The Hustler still breathes with
unpredictability, raw arrangements and the kind of visceral approach to
Afro-Cuban beats that would come to define the essence of ’70s salsa. In
retrospect, The Hustler sounds remarkably self-assured for a sophomore effort,
particularly thanks to the timeless vocalizing of Héctor Lavoe, the closest to
a rock star that salsa has ever known. On tracks such as “Que Lío” and “Eso Se
Baila Así,” Lavoe’s soulful singing brims with humor and personality, while the
piano licks by the late Markolino Dimond are, just by themselves, worth the
price of admission. This reissue is pressed on 180-gram vinyl with the original
artwork faithfully replicated on a classic tip-on record jacket.
Released in 1970, Alma Con Alma is a relatively obscure LP —
one of a handful of masterpieces that Tito Puente and Celia Cruz recorded together
between the late ’60s and the early ’70s. In later decades, both artists would
remember these releases as some of the best work of their careers, lamenting
the fact that poor promotion at the time caused these excellent albums to go
virtually unnoticed. But the inspiration is certainly there, as demonstrated by
the exotic strains of “Sahara” — with a solemn Celia chanting about the desert
— and the exuberant energy of “Salsa de Tomate,” where Puente’s brass section
and syncopated percussion are placed at the service of Celia’s powerhouse
vocals. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl, Alma Con Alma also features faithfully
replicated artwork printed on a tip-on jacket.
Whereas Alma Con Alma could find redemption as a newly
discovered masterpiece, the Fania All Stars’ Live At Yankee Stadium is widely
known as a testament of the salsa concert experience. It is difficult to
imagine the Anglo equivalent of this band — picture John Lennon, Bob Dylan,
Joni Mitchell and Elton John performing together as part of a touring group,
and you’re beginning to get a feel for the star power involved in the Fania All
Stars. But in this particular orchestra, even the instrumentalists — keyboardist
Larry Harlow, bongosero Roberto Roena, conguero Ray Barretto — were bandleaders
and legends in their own right.
By the time the Fania All Stars performed at Yankee Stadium
in 1973, the salsa explosion had already become a mainstream phenomenon. Here
we get a snapshot of a genre at its ultimate peak, and the performances are
appropriately epic, from Celia Cruz’s 12-minute long “Bemba Colorá” to Héctor
Lavoe’s moving “Mi Gente” — a Johnny Pacheco composition — and the warmth in
Ismael Miranda’s delivery throughout the jazzy “Qué Rico Suena Mi Tambor.” Live
At Yankee Stadium Volumes 1 & 2 are released here as a 2-LP set for the
first time!
If one had to pick a single Celia Cruz LP for the proverbial
desert island, 1974’s Celia & Johnny would be the obvious choice. In a way,
it crystallizes Johnny Pacheco’s entire career as an impossible dream that
comes true: a musician who grows up idolizing Cuba’s La Sonora Matancera, then
ends up recording a best-selling album of modernized classics with the orchestra’s
former star singer. Cruz always collaborated with superlative producers and
musical directors, but there was something about her partnership with Pacheco
that brought her best qualities to the forefront. She sounds positively
blissful on “Químbara” — an essential salsa nugget to this day — then travels
to Peru for an earthy take on “Toro Mata,” before showcasing endless amounts of
tenderness on the velvety bolero “Vieja Luna.”
On October 25th, Vinyl Me, Please will be releasing
exclusive 180-gram collectible color variants of these Fania titles. The
Hustler in custard yellow vinyl, Alma Con Alma in olive green vinyl, and Live
At Yankee Stadium in fire red vinyl.
More LP reissues will follow soon, continuing an ongoing exploration
and reevaluation of the Fania treasure trove.
~ ERNESTO LECHNER
