Song:La Escensia del Guaguanco
Album:Introducing...
Johnny Pacheco is one of the most important figures in Latin music. He founded Fania Records and The Fania All Stars. But he also had a long career as a bandleader and was especially successful performing with singer Pete "Conde" Rodriguez. Pacheco was born Mar. 25, 1935 in Santiago, Dominican Republic. His father Rafael Pacheco led the Santa Cecilia Orchestra in the 40s. Pacheco's family moved to New York City in 1946. He started out playing flute and sax in Charlie Palmieri's orchestra before starting his own band in 1959. Pacheco y Su Charanga recorded for Allegre Records in the early 60s. They created the Pachanga dance craze. The biggest thing Pacheco ever did was found Fania Records in 1964 with his lawyer Jerry Masucci. Pacheco was the creative director and most Latin musicians recorded for Fania. Of course Pacheco led his own band and also led The Fania All Stars. His main collaborator was Puerto Rican born singer Pete "Conde" Rodriguez. He started out playing congas in New York bars. He met Pacheco in 1963 and was lead singer of his band from 1964-74. La Escensia del Guaguanco is from the 1971 album La Perfecta Combinacion. This album was just released as a digital download. Concord has been remastering and releasing all the Fania recordings. This comp CD from the British label Charly is a good intro to Pacheco's music. After Rodriguez left to go solo, Pacheco continued to record with other singers. And he continued to lead The Fania All Stars. Pacheco and Rodriguez reunited for four albums in the 80s. And they toured. Rodriguez died in 2000. But Pacheco just celebrated his 84th birthday. A Johnny Pacheco mural was recently unveiled in The Bronx. You can keep up with him on Facebook. Here's Johnny Pacheco featuring Pete "Conde" Rodriguez performing La Escensia del Guaguanco in Spain 1990.
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