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Johnny Pacheco: The God of Salsa

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Johnny Pacheco, which is possibly the most important icon and the most dominant figure when talking about Salsa, was born in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.  Johnny Pacheco is an amazing artist who has had a more-than-successful career as a bandleader, musician and producer.  His passion for music is inherited from his father Rafael Azarias Pacheco.  Being a child, Johnny and his family moved to New York City.  His new label, which was named Fania in 1963, date when he created it, was focused on his musical experimentation.   He is very well-known due to the great rhythm combinations he made, including Puerto Rican, Cuban and other Latin music styles.  All this together is what, later on, came to be known as Salsa, and since he was a pioneer, he has got to be the most solicited producer within the Latin music field.

In addition to being an out-of-this-world musician by himself, he has worked with other famed artists such as Willie Colon, Ruben Blades, La Lupe, Celia Cruz, Hector Lavoe, Cheo Feliciano and Pete “El Conde” Rodriguez among others.  In fact, Mecano’s song called “Bailando Salsa”, included in an album that sold five thousand copies a month after it was released, was produced by Johnny Pacheco too.  Besides, three songs in the first album of David Byrne were produced and co-written by him.

Johhny Pacheco has been, since his beginnings, very interested in not only Latin music, but also Latin culture and community.  Thus, he has participated in several charitable concerts, encompassing the Concierto por la Vida, an AIDS benefit concert in 1988 in the New York City’s Avery Fisher Hall.  Recently, Johnny Pacheco released his new production called Entre Amigos, which is of course, another high-quality production as always.  Hence, Johnny Pacheco is and will always be one of the most significant figures in the Latin music and salsa industry.




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