Johnny Pacheco

Few people had an impact on Latin music quite like Johnny Pacheco. A co-founder of the groundbreaking Fania Records, the Dominican Republic-born artist played a vital role both in shaping and championing the sounds of salsa and música tropical. Beginning in the 1960s and ending in the 1990s, his recorded output was a marvel of Caribbean influence and New York inspiration, from his work as a bandleader for the Fania All-Stars and his Tumbao Añejo to his percussive sideman showmanship on records by McCoy Tyner and George Benson. Yet it was Pacheco’s collaborations with irreplaceable vocal talents like Celia Cruz and Pete "El Conde” Rodríguez that best represented his greatness, leading to such classics as “Quimbara” and “La Esencia Del Guaguancó.”