Fania Records put salsa on the map. Can it evolve?
LA TimesThere was a time when Fania Records was the most transcendent label in Latin music — hailed as the Motown of salsa. “If you wore a Fania T-shirt in New York during the ‘90s, people would stop you on every block and ask where you got it,” says Bruce McIntosh, vice president of Latin catalog at Craft Recordings, the Concord imprint in charge of Fania and other prestige labels. It’s our mission to make the new generations aware of it.” Fania was founded in 1964 by Johnny Pacheco, a prolific Dominican musician and bandleader, and divorce attorney Jerry Masucci in order to release Pacheco’s “ Cañonazo ” — a lovely, rustic collection of lilting tropical dance tunes, including a cover of the Cuban standard “Fania.” Dozens of masterpieces followed, from Ray Barretto’s 1968 expansive “Acid” — a celebration of psychedelia, Latin soul and boogaloo — to Cruz and Pacheco’s joyful “ Celia & Johnny ” — a 1974 LP that gave Cruz her mojo back and confirmed her Queen of Salsa status with the mega-hit “Químbara.” “Fania All Stars” — Fania 60th anniversary’s cover art for 2024 vinyl reissues by Craft Recordings Latino. “We’re doing about a dozen vinyl releases around the 60th anniversary,” says Sig Sigworth, president of Craft Recordings. It could be added content — but digitally, there’s not a lot of places where you can put that.” “There’s another aspect where Fania has failed,” argues Blades.
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