Foundations of Salsa: Johnny Pacheco & Celia Cruz!

Let’s give Johnny Pacheco, a founding member of La Fania All-stars, his due. Without the contributions of this talented Dominican born Afro-Latino, we wouldn’t have the gift of the genre we now call “Salsa.”

Since the 1960's, many rising stars from Motown have gone on to create classic Rock & Roll tunes, Jazz masterpieces, and Latin rhythms, to name a few. These creative geniuses reinterpreted rhythms and infused them into myriad styles - creating new genres and adding life to old ones in the process.

The Fania All-Stars took off in the 1970's in New York City. The group gave many aspiring Latin musicians the opportunity to showcase their talents under the influential hand of Johnny Pacheco. The group comprised music collaborators, singers, producers and personalities who came together to tell the story of their daily struggles in the big city, their stories of migrating to the US, of eternally missing their motherland while also celebrating the many joys of life. 

Back then this wasn't categorize as "Salsa." It was a fusion of Latin rhythms, Rumba, Mambo, Guaguanco, Sonmontuno, Latin Funk and Jazz, Ballads, Boogaloo, among many others. All of them evolved to become the category known today as Salsa. 

In 1974, Johnny Pacheco teamed up with Cuban star Celia Cruz and produced one of the quintessential albums in Latin Music, simply titled “Celia & Johnny.” The album paved the road for singing talents such as Ruben Blades, Adalberto Santiago, Cheo Feliciano, Ismael Miranda, Willie Colon, Pete "El Conde" Rodriguez, Hector Lavoe, and many others. 

In 2014, the Library of Congress named “Celia & Johnny” to the National Recording Registry. In 2015, it was selected by Billboard magazine as one of the "50 Essential Latin Albums of the Last 50 Years." 

Celia was a regular guest of honor when La Fania toured the world, with humble upbringings in La Habana, Celia started her music career with La Sonora Matancera then exile to Mexico and then the US where she blossom to become “La Reina de la Salsa” with many hits songs as Quimbara, Burundanga, La vida es un carnaval and La negra tiene tumbao to name a few.

Johnny and Celia were proud of both their Latin and African heritage. They sought to integrate the sounds and energy of Africa into their music with tambores, plenas, bongos, tons of soulful voices, and plenty of charisma and personality. They shaped the sounds of the genre and popularized them into mainstream radio, media, movies, musicals and dance halls across the US, and the world. 

From the US, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Panama, Colombia, and Venezuela the members of La Fania All-Stars and Celia inspired many generations of musicians. They helped give a voice to Afro-Latinxs across the US, connecting them to their roots in El Caribe, South America, Africa and beyond. We honor their life's work and remember all their classics with a playlist for you to enjoy.