Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe: Salsa's Original Gangsters

Source by Angel Diaz

 

Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe were very instrumental in Salsa's success during the late '60s and throughout the '70s and '80s. Under the banner of Fania Records, this duo pushed the boundaries of traditional Salsa, and, in turn, became worldwide superstars, touring Central and South America, and cities all across the Eastern Hemisphere, most notably, Paris.

To get a grasp of just how big these guys were, consider this: The Fania All-Stars shut down Yankee Stadium in 1973. The damage the stadium sustained during the show, caused by those in attendance dancing the night away, put Bronx Bombers' last month of home games in jeopardy. It was an electric time in New York City. Willie's revolutionary trombone-backed production shifted Salsa's mambo and boogaloo (Latin R&B) to a more street-oriented sound, with lyrics that reflected the harsh realities many artists skirted around. With the help of Hector's beautiful voice, the duo were able to have commercial success and still stay street.

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[VIDEO + AUDIO] On Fania Records And The Music That Made It Matter

Source by NPR Staff

Fifty years ago, New York City musician Johnny Pacheco and his lawyer friend Jerry Masucci started a small Latin music record label and delivered their first albums to record stores across the city — from the trunk of the musician's car.

From these humble beginnings, Fania Records eventually became a global brand, spreading the sound of salsa from the dance clubs of New York to the rest of the world. Felix Contreras, co-host of NPR Music's Alt.Latino podcast, says the impact of the label and the musicians it brought together — Celia Cruz, Willie Colón, Rubén Blades and the rest of what would come to be known as the Fania All-Stars — was social and political as well as musical

"The early 1970s was a political coming-of-age of Latinos across the country," Contreras says. "Fania was the soundtrack for the empowerment for many of these communities, because it was brash, it was vibrant, it was new. It embraced the Afro identity of Latin America. And it made me — a young Chicano teenager in California, just discovering music — want to be part of this exciting new sound and movement."
Hear more of Contreras' conversation with NPR's Rachel Martin, as well as some of the music that made Fania matter, at the audio link. Listent to the audio.

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Fania 50th Anniversary Concert Series Partners with SummerStage

By Justino Aguila 

The 50th anniversary of the iconic Latin label Fania Records will be celebrated this summer in partnership with Central Park's SummerStage program.

Starting June 14, the City Parks Foundation will feature a concert series, dance and theater performances, film screenings and other events that highlight the label's history in New York. The series will conclude with a Fania All Stars concert in Central Park on Aug. 24.

Fania Records was home to major recording artists who performed in genres such as Latin big band, Afro-Cuban jazz, boogaloo, salsa and Latin R&B. The label also introduced the musical group Fania All Stars and included entertainers such as Hector Lavoe, Willie Colon, Celia Cruz and Ruben Blades.

“The SummerStage series is one of best Summer concert series in the world,” said Michael Rucker, chief marketing officer at Codigo Group.  “We are thrilled to be a part of this series and couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate this iconic label’s 50th anniversary.”

The series is also scheduled to showcase new acts and DJs that embrace the Fania sound. Also, Fania is releasing eight digital albums from May through September to coincide with the SummerStage events. Each album will feature tracks from both well-known entertainers and new artists, all of whom will also be performing through the summer.

The June 14 kick off has scheduled performances by Roberto Roena y Su Apollo Sound, La Mecanica Popular and DJ Louie Vega.

RUBEN BLADES performs in Lincoln Center NYC 8-7-2013

It was a free NYC concert which attracted thousands of Rubén Blades fans from all parts of the world. They came out to enjoy a night of salsa music and dancing.  And for Blades performing his hits hasn't slowed down at all. He is in full swing to securing a music career as an iconic salsa performer. Well, in actuality, for many salsa music enthusiasts or critics, Rubén Blades has reach iconic salsa status many years ago. Not to mention, he also accomplished a successful acting career and as an influential activist for the urban Latino community.

 

Many fans have enjoyed plenty of Rubén Blades' performances in New York City but unfortunately many was left out in the streets from this particular concert at the Damrosch Park Bandshell in Lincoln Center, NYC. It could have been their worst concert experience, however it was a experience that was entertaining and enjoyable. Why was it enjoyable? Because the show was part of the Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival and its was an outdoor festival open for the public to listen and watch.

Not everyone had a good seat. Some of the crowd audience watched the performances from the city streets through a protect screen that was used to make it look something  similar to a closed venue. It didn't matter because the sound of the music was vibrant for everyone to hear and dance the night away.

Overall, the entire scene was exuberant. Rubén Blades delivered several of his classic songs while providing the audience with a little brief  history of his musical journey for them to take home and remember.


VIDEO: Ruben Blades performs El Cantante. (Tribute to Hector Lavoe)



 

 To see more pictures of the concert click here. Photographs by Kevin Yatarola.

 

 

Louie Vega - Elements of Life - Eclipse

On Elements Of Life Eclipse, which was 4 ½ years in the making, Vega kept the style of the earlier albums (African, Jazz, Latin, World) but has added Soul, R&B, Gospel and Blues. The lyrics are deeper now and are bringing more conscious messages to the world. Joining Elements Of Life on this album are singers Lisa Fischer and Cindy Mizelle, and poets: Ursula Rucker and Oveous Maximus as well as percussionist Luisito Quintero (Vega produced his last two albums). Singer/songwriter, and global DJ Anané has blossomed since her full length release of Ananésworld and brought in more of her Cape Verdean influences and has also experimented more with the R&B/Soul sounds which she’s made her own on songs like the Roy Ayers penned “You Came Into My Life” and the Cesaria Evora classic “Sodade.” Lisa and Cindy have brought in their Gospel and R&B influences, and have even experimented with Jazz, Funk, and House. They performed backgrounds on live shows for many years for artists like Luther Vandross, the Rolling Stones, Steely Dan, Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston, and Mary J. Blige to name a few. For years Vega wanted to do a project and take Lisa and Cindy from the background to the forefront as leads. Rounding out the stellar talent are poets Ursula Rucker and Oveous Maximus who bring their storytelling and poetry in the form of spoken word to E.O.L. As Vega states, “It was all perfect for the new album.” Ongoing themes for the new album are about reaching out to our young generation, and paying homage to women. Vega adds, “I feel in these times we need songs like this to help inspire moves.”

Vega concludes, “It’s a true honor for me to be the first new artist album signed to Fania Records in years. It really comes full circle now, being able to be on the label my uncle Hector Lavoe was on and the Fania All Stars who are also great inspirations for me. Fania Records is to Latin music what Motown is to R&B and Soul, so to be even a small page in this encyclopedia of music is a dream come true for me.”

Elements of Life - Eclipse

Juanito Alimaña vs. Pedro Navaja

                          
                Can you imagine this? It’s a match between two criminals, two tales written by two iconic salsa giants Hector Lavoe and Rubén Blades. Each song portrays the lifestyle of the urban Latino American experience and who would have thought that these songs were going to be part of the salsa explosion of Fania records. Well, the songs Juanito Alimaña and Pedro Navaja are classics now and the lyrics to both songs are well worthy enough of be craved in stone.


Coming straight from a New York City street corner, we have Juanito Alimaña that tells the story of a street thug that is irreconcilable with society. He is vicious and dangerous; his cousin is a police officer, which makes it seem that he can get away with any crime. Hector Lavoe depicts Juanito’s world as sordid and exquisite but the song keep us engage as if you was watching Carlito’s Way.

Juanito Alimaña (Hector Lavoe)

From the street corner of lower Manhattan, it’s known that the track Pedro Navaja was dislike by Fania bosses Johnny Pacheco and Jerry Mascucci. However, when Willie Colón and Rubén Blades’ second collaboration album, Siembra hit the record stores in 1978. The song Pedro Navaja became famous and a hit classic. Blades wrote and narrated Pedro Navaja with a tale illustrating life, death and with an unexpected dark ending. We have to ask ourselves, was there anything between Pedro Navaja and the prostitute. Did he already have a grudge? And where did the drunk come from?

Pedro Navaja (Rubén Blades)

What’s your opinion? Which one is the best song of all-time? 

Leave a comment.

Two Salsa Icons and Fania All-Stars

Two Salsa Icons and Fania All-Stars - Ruben Blades & Hector Lavoe (1981)