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Biography
Refimprove|date=June 2010The Fania All-Stars was a musical ensemble established in 1968 by the composer , Johnny Pacheco , as a showcase for the musicians on the record label Fania Records , the leading salsa (music)|salsa record company 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 Latin melodies, and Johnny Pacheco, a composer and bandleader , born in the Dominican Republic . Masucci later bought out his partner Pacheco from Fania Entertainment Group Ltd., and was the sole owner for many years until his death in December 1997.
Throughout the early years, Fania used to distribute its records around New York City|New York . Eventually success from Pacheco's Cañonaso 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 (salsa)|Larry Harlow and Ray Barreto .
Success
In 1968, Fania Records created a continuously revolving line-up of entertainers known as the Fania All-Stars. In 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's Cheetah Lounge.
Following sell-out concerts in Puerto Rico, Chicago and Panama, the All-Stars embarked on their first appearance at New York's Yankee Stadium on August 24, 1973. The Stars performed before 63,000 spectators in a concert that performed by Ray Barretto , Willie Colón , Ruben Blades , Larry Harlow, Johnny Pacheco, Roberto Roena , Bobby Valentín, and Jorge Santana (younger brother of Carlos Santana ), amongst others. When the All-Stars returned to Yankee Stadium in 1975, they included Celia Cruz , Héctor Lavoe , Cheo Feliciano , Ismael Miranda , Justo Betancourt , Ismael Quintana , Pete "El Conde" Rodríguez , Bobby Cruz and Santos Colón . That year, Live at Yankee Stadium was included in the second set of 50 recordings in the List of recordings preserved in the United States National Recording Registry , solidifying the All-Stars as "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant."
Just a few months before, in 1974, the All Stars had performed in Zaire , Africa, at the 80,000-seat Stadu du Hai 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 and others, at a music festival held in conjunction with the Muhammed Ali / George Foreman Rumble in the Jungle|heavyweight title fight . Footage of the performance was also included in the 2008 documentary film Soul Power (film)|Soul Power .cite news | last = Scott | first = O.A. | title = Music and Musicians Still Echo 35 Years Later | publisher = New York Times | date = 2009-07-10 | url = http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/07/10/movies/10soul.html
In an attempt to attain a wider market for salsa, Fania made a deal with Columbia Records in the US for a series of crossover albums by the All-Stars. The first project was Delicate & Jumpy (1976), in which Steve Winwood united with the All-Stars' Pacheco, Valentin, Barreto and Roena. The same year the Fania All-Stars made their sole UK appearance, at London's Lyceum Theatre, London|Lyceum Ballroom , with Winwood guesting.
In 1978 the All-Stars released Live , recorded in concert at New York's Madison Square Garden in September of that year.
In 1979, Fania All-Stars travelled to Havana , Cuba , to participate in the Havana Jam festival that took place between 2–4 March, alongside Rita Coolidge , Kris Kristofferson , Stephen Stills , the CBS Jazz All-Stars, Trio of Doom , Billy Swan , Bonnie Bramlett , Weather Report , and Billy Joel , plus Cuban artists such as Irakere , Pacho Alonso , Tata Güines and Orquesta Aragón . Their performance is captured on Ernesto Juan Castellanos 's documentary '' Havana Jam '79 . That same year saw the release of Crossover'', the All-Stars' last Columbia Records album, as well as Havana Jam on Fania , which came from a concert recorded in Havana on March 2.
Legacy
Although the Fania-All Stars reached a low during the late 1980s, many of the members continued to have solo careers. Most notable was Lavoe, and in 2007, two films about Lavoe were released, including one produced by Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony . Cruz continued making hits until her death in 2003. Colon continued producing hits with Rubén Blades and as a solo artist. His latest album was released in 2007, and he currently works for Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City.
In 2008, Cheo Feliciano celebrated his 50 years in the music industry by hosting a concert at Madison Square Garden, where Bloomberg declared July 20 "Cheo Feliciano Day" in New York.
In 2009, an historical documentary, Latin Music USA , shown on Public Broadcasting Service|PBS TV, featured an episode on the Fania All-Stars, their evolution, career, and later demise. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/latinmusicusa/index.html#/en/wat/02/05 "Latin Music USA: Chapter 5: Our Latin Thing & the Fania All-Stars", Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) TV documentary, October 2009.
Discography
Studio albums
A Tribute to Tito Rodríguez (Fania, 1976)
Delicate and Jumpy (Columbia, 1976)
Rhythm Machine (Columbia, 1977)
Spanish Fever (CBS, 1978)
Cross Over (CBS, 1979)
California Jam (Musica Latina, 1980)
Commitment (FNA, 1980)
Latin Connection (Fania, 1981)
Social Change (Fania, 1981)
Lo que pide la gente (StyllaPhone, 1984)
Viva la charanga (Sterns, 1986)
Bamboleo (Caliente, 1988)
Latin Jazz Fusion (Charly, 1988)
Guasasa (Fania, 1989)
Bravo 97 (Sony International, 1997)
Live albums
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)
Live at the Cheetah, Vol. 2 (Fania, 1973)
Latin-Soul-Rock (Fania, 1974)
Fania All-Stars (Island, 1975)
Live at Yankee Stadium, Vol. 1 (Fania, 1976)
Live at Yankee Stadium, Vol. 2 (Fania, 1976)
Live (Fania, 1978)
Habana Jam (Fania, 1979)
Fania All-Stars in Japan (Fania, 1986)
Live in Africa (Fania, 1986)
DVDs
Our Latin Thing
Salsa (Fania, 1974)
In Africa (Fania, 1993)
Live (Fania, 1995)
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.salsaclasica.com/faniaallstars/default.asp? l=en Fania All-Stars @ SalsaClasica.com, Biography, Discography, Lyric and more
