Fania Records & things "salsa"

[Adam]

I can't find the old thread discussing the "troubled" treatment of Fania & Alegre labels through the years.

In today's LA Times:

http://www.latimes.com/business/custom/cot...1,5434052.story

Spicing up that beat

Releases from Fania Records, the label that set the world pulsing to salsa, are being reissued with refurbishments.

By Agustin Gurza, Times Staff Writer

ONCE, a record label of the humblest beginnings turned into an international powerhouse by gambling on unknown talent in a minority community overlooked or underestimated by the industry at large. Its success was fueled by tirelessly promoting artists intent on asserting their cultural identity and seeking recognition within the U.S. mainstream.

In the '60s, that label was Motown Records.

In the '70s, it was Fania Records, the barrio label once peddled from the back of a truck in the streets of New York that single-handedly set the whole world dancing to a salsa beat.

Starting next month, Fania's extensive and vital music vaults will be rejuvenated with the first in a series of reissues, as well box sets available for the first time. The label's catalog of salsa classics are being rereleased on CD with refurbished sound and fresh liner notes after its recent purchase by Miami-based Emusica Entertainment Group.

Just as Motown shaped soul and R&B, Fania created its own sound in Latin dance music. It was based on traditional Afro-Caribbean styles with an array of rhythms — son, guaguanco, bomba, plena, rumba, merengue, mambo. But Fania's savvy promoters were the first to market the modernized versions under a single catch-all expression that became a readily recognizable brand in any language: salsa.

The music was so influential that it inspired Carlos Santana to create Latin rock, turning Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va" into a crossover smash. At its peak, salsa became so popular that the Fania All Stars, the label's supergroup, went from playing small Latin clubs to selling out Yankee Stadium. Their concerts, many recorded for live albums, were electrifying events that drew wild fan followings from the Congo to Tokyo.

"It's almost like every release they had, small or large, had artistic value," says veteran music executive Bill Marin, Fania's West Coast promoter in the mid-'70s. "The music made a difference. It gave you the pulse of something fresh and new."

Fania's catalog includes many historic recordings and several musical milestones. Among the notables:

• The very first albums made by a then-beardless Eddie Palmieri with his groundbreaking 1960s band, La Perfecta.

• The early works of singer-songwriter Rubén Blades, including 1977's "Siembra," his second album with bandleader Willie Colón, considered the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" of salsa music for its fresh sound and complex songs.

• The first collaboration between Dominican bandleader and Fania co-founder Johnny Pacheco with singer Celia Cruz, 1974's "Celia & Johnny," one of the bestselling salsa albums of all time.

• The career work of the late Hector Lavoe, a brash but beloved street singer specializing in quick-witted improvisations and exquisitely soulful boleros. This revered folk figure's tragic life is the subject of a new movie to star Marc Anthony, now in production.

• The early live recordings of the Fania All Stars, especially 1971's "Live at the Cheetah" (Volumes 1 and 2), which was featured in the documentary "Our Latin Thing," helping spark the '70s salsa explosion.

*

It began with ambition

THE label was launched in 1964 by Pacheco and his Brooklyn-born attorney, Jerry Masucci, a former New York cop who had handled the bandleader's divorce. The pair set about signing unknown bands led by artists who would later become salsa superstars, including trombonist Willie Colón, pianist Larry Harlow, bongocero Roberto Roena, conguero Ray Barretto and bassist Bobby Valentin. Their company became so powerful it soon gobbled up the catalogs of older Latin labels, such as Tico and Alegre, bringing into the fold almost every significant salsa artist from that era, outside of Cuba.

The long-awaited purchase of Fania comes at a time when sales of new salsa CDs are down dramatically. Still, it's a testament to Fania's strength that it was able to survive exclusively on catalog sales long after its heyday faded in the early '80s and its stable of artists scattered to other record companies. Until the recent sale of its assets, the label was shrouded in a web of lawsuits from aggrieved artists and a confusing trail of ownership after Masucci's mysterious move to Argentina, where he died in 1997.

The corporate and probate entanglements stalled previous acquisition efforts even by the most eager and resourceful of suitors, such as Zach Horowitz, president of Universal Music Group.

"I'm just happy as a fan that this stuff is going to come out again," says Horowitz, who settled for a distribution deal with Fania's new owners. "It's the first time in 30 years, maybe ever, that somebody has done the historic treatment this catalog deserves."

Music executive Giora Breil had been trying for five years to acquire Fania. But only after sealing the deal last summer did he realize he may have unearthed previously unreleased gems in the bargain.

In trying to match paperwork to some 13,000 tracks on 1,300 albums, Breil was led to a storage facility in upstate New York, near a farm once owned by Masucci. But instead of files, the new owner found a stash of original, multitrack tapes, used to mix and master the original releases.

Some of the studio tapes were too old and unstable to play without risking damage. Thus began the process of actually baking the salsa tapes to loosen the old emulsion and perhaps liberate a trove of forgotten or discarded songs from one of the great Latin music eras of all time.

"We haven't been able to hear everything," said Breil, a former advertising and Spanish television executive. "It's quite possible we are sitting on stuff we don't even know yet, because it's kind of hard to put your arms around 40 years of recording."

The first batch of 30 Emusica reissues is scheduled for Feb. 28. They are all being remastered and repackaged with original art, new liner notes and lower prices. (The old Fania rarely discounted.) The new owners (Breil and partners Stuart Livingston, Bob Grever and David Good) also recently acquired the Kubaney label, respected primarily for Dominican merengue.

*

No ordinary restoration

ALTHOUGH much of the Fania catalog has been issued previously on CD, many of those digital versions suffer from poor sound quality, far inferior to the original vinyl releases. Many were digitized without being remastered, sometimes transferred from vinyl copies rather than original master tapes.

Much of the work to prepare the old recordings for a digital rebirth is being done by Grammy-winning mastering engineer Bob Katz at his Digital Domain studio outside Orlando, Fla. Though the quality of the old masters varies widely, Katz said, state-of-the-art mastering equipment can fill in sound gaps, called dropouts, and reveal even richer detail than the originals.

"This is more than a restoration," said Katz, who is married to salsa author Mary Kent. "It's what I would call a renovation."

The discovery of the multitrack studio tapes opens even more tantalizing possibilities. It means new mixes would be possible, using separate tracks that hold discrete elements — Cruz's voice, Barretto's congas, Puente's timbales.

The thought tempts veteran sound engineer Jon Fausty, credited with raising recording standards on scores of Fania productions.

"I'd love to get my hands on those multitracks," says Fausty, who worked with Wilson Pickett, Gene Pitney and others before becoming staff engineer at Fania in 1971. "They're my recordings, and it would be very exciting to take part in the reprocessing of this wonderful old music to make it sound as good as we did back then."

So far, however, there are no plans for making remixes. Breil, a German immigrant who moved to New York the year Fania was founded, says the first reissues will remain true to the originals.

"We inherited a cultural responsibility here," he says. "Fania is part of the patrimonio latino, the wealth of Latin culture."

[Adam]

I did find this old thread that went nowhere, as far as I can tell:

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...=15262&hl=salsa

But it deserved to get some answers, so I'm bringing its contents over here as well:

Greg Waits

Dec 7 2004, 12:08 AM

I have been studying up on the development and history of Afro-Cuban music, and have been fortunate to get some nice books on the subject. One is by Scott Yanow and the other (which I am currently reading) is by Sue Steward and is entitled "Musica".

Two questions:

1) Are there any other books on this subject that are worthy of tracking down?

2) I am trying to get a copy of Eddie Palmieri and Barry Rogers "La Perfecta". Is this out on CD? It was recorded in 1962, and is reputed to be a very pivitol recording.

mikeweil

Dec 7 2004, 05:56 AM

Post #3

Move it to the Miscellaneous Music forum, and I will post an answer ....

[Adam]

Which raised the question...

I've been eyeing this book:

Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo , by Ned Sublette

Have any of you read it? How is it?

[JSngry]

This is great news, I hope!

[mikeweil]

Which raised the question...

I've been eyeing this book:

Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo , by Ned Sublette

Have any of you read it? How is it?

Sorry no, but I will check this out - there are not too many on this subject.

Some I have been reading with various degrees of satisfaction are:

Vernon W. Boggs (ed.): Salsiology. Afro-Cuban Music and the Evolution of Salsa in New York City

Excelsior Music Publishing Company, New York 1992

- a collection of essays by various authors, might help to fin some pieces of the puzzle

Charley Gerard and Marty Sheller: Salsa. The Rhythm of Latin Music.

White Cliffs Media Company, Crown Point, IN 1989

- a basic musical and historical introduction, okay as a first step.

John Storm Roberts: The Latin Tinge. The Impact of Latin American Music on the United States.

Original Music, Tivoli, NY 1985

- Robert has a somewhat scattered writing style, but there are some interesting bits and pieces along the way ....

John Storm Roberts: Latin Jazz. The first of the Fusions - 1880's to today.

Schirmer BooksNew York 1999

- a pretty thorough covering of the subject - I'd recommend it.

Alejo Carpentier: Music in Cuba. University of Minnesota Press 2001

- a classic, originally published in 1946, finally translated. It covers the Cuban classical composers for the most part, but is indispensable for a complete picture of Cuban music.

Peter Manuel (ed.): Essays on Cuban Music. North American and Cuban Perspectives.

University Press of America, Lanham 1991

- an indispensable collection of essays.

Dr. Olavo Alén Rodriguez: From Afrocuban Music to Salsa.

[pi'ra:nha] Berlin BCD-PIR 1258 1998

- a book and a CD of musical examples, perhaps the best introduction to the subject by a leading expert.

There's probably more ....

[Adam]

up - here's the old thread

[JSngry]

Check this out - live as hell, Venezuelan TV, 1979, Sal Cuevas, Celia, hell, EVERYBODY, on top of the world!

 

After the interview, 2:36, approx., Reuben with FAS, live on Columbian TV, 1980...THIS guy, whoa...

How much other stuff like this is out there?

[soulpope]

11 hours ago, JSngry said:

How much other stuff like this is out there?

Some priceless  Pete "El Conde" Rodriguez .... with Luigi Texidor and Ruben Blades ....

[soulpope]

Same show, this time featuring both the superb Luigi Texidor and Papo Lucca of La Sonora Ponceña fame....

[Rabshakeh]

Sad to hear the news but it sounds like Larry Harlow has passed away.

[JSngry]

RIP el Judio Maravilloso

[Rabshakeh]

On 20/08/2021 at 11:49 PM, JSngry said:

 el Judio Maravilloso

I forgot that was his nickname.