Johnny Pacheco

Johnny Pacheco was a renaissance man and giant of Latin music. The Dominican-born and New York-bred bandleader, arranger, composer, and producer co-founded the legendary Fania Records in the early 1960s with lawyer Jerry Masucci. Together they created a home for groundbreaking Latin artists in the U.S., including Celia Cruz, Hector Lavoe, Ray Barretto, Willie Colón, and Larry Harlow. First in New York, then across the United States, the Caribbean, and South America, Fania propelled the explosion of the Latin big-band, Afro-Cuban jazz, bugalu, and salsa movements (Pacheco coine...