The Fania All-Stars is a musical group formed in 1968 as a showcase for the musicians on Fania Records, the leading
salsa music
Salsa music is a style of Latin American music, combining elements of Cuban and Puerto Rican influences. Because most of the basic musical components predate the labeling of salsa, there have been many controversies regarding its origin. Most ...
record label of the time.
History
Beginnings
In 1964, Fania Records was founded in New York City by Jerry Masucci, an Italian-American lawyer with a love for
Cuban music
The music of Cuba, including its instruments, performance, and dance, comprises a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west African and European (especially Spanish) music. Due to the syncretic nature of most of its genres, Cuban ...
, and
Johnny Pacheco
Juan Pablo Knipping Pacheco (25 March 1935 – 15 February 2021), known as Johnny Pacheco, was a Dominican musician, arranger, composer, bandleader, and record producer. Born in the Dominican Republic, Pacheco became a leading figure in the New ...
, a flutist,
percussionist
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...
and
bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...
born in the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
but raised in the
South Bronx
The South Bronx is an area of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...
who had similar musical tastes. Masucci later bought out his partner Pacheco from Fania Entertainment Group, Ltd. and was the sole owner until his death in December 1997.
Throughout the early years, Fania used to distribute its records around New York. Eventually success from Pacheco's ''Cañonazo'' recording would lead the label to develop its roster. Masucci and Pacheco, now executive negotiator and musical director respectively, began acquiring musicians such as Bobby Valentín, Larry Harlow, and
Ray Barretto
Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...
.
Success
In 1968, Fania Records created a continuously revolving line-up of entertainers known as the Fania All-Stars. They were considered some of the best Latin Music performers in the world at that time. The original lineup consisted of:
* Band Leaders:
Ray Barretto
Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...
Johnny Pacheco
Juan Pablo Knipping Pacheco (25 March 1935 – 15 February 2021), known as Johnny Pacheco, was a Dominican musician, arranger, composer, bandleader, and record producer. Born in the Dominican Republic, Pacheco became a leading figure in the New ...
Héctor Lavoe
Héctor Juan Pérez Martínez (September 30, 1946 – June 29, 1993), better known as Héctor Lavoe, was a Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican salsa music, salsa singer. Widely regarded as one of salsa’s most important and influential vocalist ...
,
Adalberto Santiago
Adalberto Santiago (born April 23, 1937) is an internationally known salsa singer.
Career
Born April 23, 1937, in Pozas barrio, Ciales, Puerto Rico, Adalberto's relaxed and flawless lead vocals are among the best in the salsa genre of Latin ...
Tito Puente
Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – May 31, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music. He was also k ...
,
Eddie Palmieri
Eddie Palmieri (born December 15, 1936) is an American Grammy Award-winning pianist, bandleader, musician, and composer of Corsican and Puerto Rican ancestry. He is the founder of the bands La Perfecta, La Perfecta II, and Harlem River Drive.
...
, Ricardo Ray and Jimmy Sabater.
They recorded ''Live At The Red Garter, Volumes 1 and 2'' with this original lineup. On August 26, 1971 they recorded ''Fania All-Stars: Live At The Cheetah, Volumes 1 and 2.'' It exhibited the entire All-Star family performing before a capacity audience in New York City's Cheetah Lounge.
Following sell-out concerts in
Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
,
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, and
Panama
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
, the All-Stars embarked on their first appearance at New York's
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer.
The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...
on August 24, 1973. The Stars performed before more than 40,000 spectators in a concert that featured
Ray Barretto
Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...
Carlos Santana
Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...
),
Celia Cruz
Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950s as a singer of , earning the nickna ...
, Héctor Lavoe,
Cheo Feliciano
Cheo Feliciano (3 July 1935 – 17 April 2014) was a Puerto Rican singer and composer of salsa and bolero music. Feliciano was the owner of a recording company called "Coche Records". He was the first tropical singer to perform at the "Amira ...
Santos Colón
Ángel Santos Vega Colon (November 1, 1922 – February 21, 1998), aka Santitos Colón, was a Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican bolero and Mambo (music), mambo singer, born in Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico and raised in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, Mayagüe ...
. ''Live at Yankee Stadium'' was included in the second set of 50 recordings in the U.S.
National Recording Registry
The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation ...
, solidifying the All-Stars as "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant."
In 1974, the All Stars performed in
Zaire
Zaire, officially the Republic of Zaire, was the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1971 to 18 May 1997. Located in Central Africa, it was, by area, the third-largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria, and the 11th-la ...
, Africa, at the 80,000-seat Stade du 20 mai in Kinshasa. This was captured on film and released as ''Live in Africa'' (''Salsa Madness'' in the UK). This Zairean appearance occurred along with
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
and others at a music festival held in conjunction with the Muhammad Ali/George Foreman heavyweight title fight. Footage of the performance was included in the 2008 documentary '' Soul Power''.
To attain a wider market for salsa music, Fania made a deal with
in the US for a series of crossover albums by the All-Stars, beginning with ''Delicate & Jumpy'' (1976), in which
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...
united with the All-Stars' Pacheco, Valentin, Barreto, and Roena. During the same year, the Fania All-Stars made their sole UK appearance, at London'sLyceum Ballroom, with Winwood appearing as guest.
In 1978 the All-Stars released ''Live'', recorded in concert on July 11, 1975 at San Juan's
Roberto Clemente Coliseum
Roberto Clemente Coliseum (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Coliseo Roberto Clemente'') is a sports and concert arena located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was, for many years, Puerto Rico's largest indoor event facility, and remains one of the large ...
. In 1979, they travelled to
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Havana Jam festival that took place between 2–4 March, alongside
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945) is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on ''Billboard'' magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and th ...
,
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...
,
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills (born January 3, 1945) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Crosby, Stills & Nash; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; and Manassas (band ...
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer Alphonse Mouzon a ...
, and
Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...
Tata Güines
Federico Arístides Soto Alejo (June 30, 1930 – February 4, 2008), better known as Tata Güines, was a Cuban percussionist, bandleader and arranger. He was widely regarded as a master of the conga drum, and alongside Carlos "Patato" Valdés, in ...
, and Orquesta Aragón. Their performance is captured on Ernesto Juan Castellanos's documentary ''Havana Jam '79''. During the same year the All-Stars released ''Crossover'' and ''Havana Jam on Fania'', which came from a concert recorded in Havana on March 2.
Legacy
In 2009, a historical documentary, ''Latin Music USA'', shown on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
TV, featured an episode on the Fania All-Stars, their evolution, career, and later demise. In 2009 as well, the All-Stars returned to the stage, opening
Carlos Santana
Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the Rock music, rock band Santana (band), Santana. Born and raised in Mexico where he developed his musical background, he r ...
's world tour in Bogotá, Colombia. The presentation caused mixed feelings inside the salsa circle though, mainly because they were treated as seconds by the concert's organizers.
In March 2011, and subsequently in November 2012, a limited roster of the All-Stars performed in
Lima, Peru
Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
. One thing to note about the 2012 performance is the return of
Ruben Blades
Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob.
Variants include Reuvein in Yiddish or as an English variant spelling on th ...
. Ismael Quintana was not present in the November 2012 performance though, as well as Yomo Toro (Yomo died on June 30, 2012). In October 2013, a new, complete roster of the All-Stars performed in San Juan Puerto Rico, celebrating the 40th anniversary of their first performance in San Juan. This roster included the return of Orestes Vilato and Luigi Texidor, as well as the participation of Andy Montañez, Cita Rodriguez (Pete's daughter) and Willie Colón. This was Cheo Feliciano's last performance with the All-Stars before dying in a car accident in April 2014 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 2015 the Fania All-Stars were chosen to receive
ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
, New York City on August 24 as part of the closing of the 50th anniversary celebration of the legendary Fania Records label.
In 2019, many of the classic Fania records were re-issued in vinyl as part of the renewed interest in the vinyl record format.
*''Live at the Red Garter, Vol. 1'' (Fania, 1968)
*''Live at the Red Garter, Vol. 2'' (Fania, 1969)
*''Live at the Cheetah, Vol. 1'' (Fania, 1972)
*''Live at the Cheetah, Vol. 2'' (Fania, 1972)
*''Latin-Soul-Rock'' (Fania, 1974)
*''Fania All-Stars'' (Island, 1975)
*''Live in Japan 76'' (Fania, 1976)
*''Live at Yankee Stadium, Vol. 1'' (Fania, 1976)
*''Live at Yankee Stadium, Vol. 2'' (Fania, 1976)
*''Live'' (Fania, 1978)
*''Habana Jam'' (Fania, 1979)
*''Live in Africa'' (Fania, 1986)