“They broke the mold and reinvented the rules, making millions of fans fall in love with them without having to change who they are,” said Rocio Guerrero, global head of Latin Music at Amazon Music.

Slated to tributes are new Amazon Originals from different genres, including a remake of the classic merengue hit “Suavemente” by legendary merenguero Elvis Crespo, out on October 21. Other Originals include a beautiful tribute to the one and only Jenni Rivera by Mexican music star Eden Muñoz, through his version of “Inolvidable,” out on September 23, and singer-songwriter and producer Cuco’s cover of the classic “Mi Querido, Mi Viejo, Mi Amigo” by beloved artist Roberto Carlos, to be released on October 7. Cuco’s song will be accompanied by a Hollywood-themed video shot by Mexican Academy Award-nominated director Carlos Lopez Estrada.

Amazon Music will also launch the The Game Changers playlist, featuring some of the greatest artists and songs that reshaped the music scene as we know it. These artists revolutionized the way music was consumed, expanding its reach globally and proving music is its own universal language. Artists featured include Daddy Yankee, who has the most-viewed music video in YouTube  history; Celia Cruz, known as “The Queen of Salsa,” who received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 for her “outstanding artistic contributions to the field of recording;” Selena, whose album Dreaming of You was the fastest-selling album by a female artist in pop history per Billboard; Bad Bunny, the first artist to ever top the Billboard chart with a non-English album; and Romeo Santos, who holds four Guinness World Records. Other artists include: Ricky Martin, Jenni Rivera, Marc Anthony, Shakira, Aventura, Jennifer Lopez, Juanes, Carlos Vives, Roberto Carlos, Hector Lavoe, Luis Miguel, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Alejandro Sanz, Wisin & Yandel, Ivy Queen, Don Omar, Marco Antonio Solís, Juan Gabriel, and Vicente Fernández.

On October 5, Amazon Music will be premiering the podcast La Semanal, hosted by Christian Acosta and Jessica Flores. Inspired by the playlist of the same name, the podcast will dive deep into the top entertainment news of the week, the hottest new releases, and the most relevant artists in Latin pop culture, from every genre.

The campaign will also celebrate game-changing songwriters and producers who deliver hit after hit. On the “Written By” and “Produced By” playlists, Amazon Music recognizes the game changers behind all-time favorites that hold a place in music fans’ hearts and will feature demos from some of the most iconic and game-changing songs in history. Fans will be able to enjoy unreleased versions of their favorite songs, only on Amazon Music. 

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Latin music icon, pioneer, and trailblazer Johnny Pacheco has sadly died due to complications of pneumonia on February 15, 2021, in New Jersey.

Pacheco was the prolific musical talent, whose monumental professional musical career has spanned nearly seven decades, as a musician, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He is also known as the co-founder and musical director for Fania Records in 1963, alongside lawyer and promoter Jerry Masucci, to promote Latino music.

Pacheco, born Juan Azarias Pacheco Knipping, on March 25, 1935, in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. From a young age, Pacheco showed a natural talent for music. In 1946, the eleven-year-old Pacheco and his family moved to New York City. He continued his music education, becoming self-taught in multiple instruments and studying at the world-renounced music academy Juilliard for percussion.

In the 1950s, Pacheco performed percussion with a variety of New York City based orchestras, including the orchestras of the world-famous bandleaders Xavier Cugat and Tito Puente. Towards the end of the 1950s, in 1958, Pacheco was recruited by the Jazz bandleader and “Giant of the Keyboards” Charlie Palmieri, to perform on the Latin Jazz album, Easy Does It.

The 1960s was a groundbreaking decade for Pacheco. As a bandleader, Pacheco released multiple records under Alleger Records, finding initial success in 1960, with helping to popularize the newest dance craze in New York City, the Pachanga. This launched Pacheco into international stardom. His band made history in 1962, by becoming the first Latin band to head headline at the famous Apollo Theatre.

With Fania Records, Pacheco continued to develop his signature musical sound and uplift the careers of many of the most famous and talented Latin musicians in the 1960s and 1970s, most notably Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe, and “The Queen of Salsa” and “The Queen of Latin Music” Celia Cruz. To highlight the massive talent on the Fania Records roadster, the Fania All-Stars were formed in 1968. They played around the world, most notably Zaire 74, a three-day music festival in Zaire, Africa.

When developing Salsa, Pacheco explained in the documentary, Latino Music USA, “It was Cuban music that we took and we changed the arrangements, being that most of the guys were born here [in America], or were brought up on New York, we had the rock influence, the jazz influence, and we changed the approach.” He further added, “Now, what happened was, people would confuse [the sound of] the mambo, cha-cha-cha, and guaracha. So, what we did was put the music under one roof and called it Salsa”.   

Pacheco’s contribution to Latino music in America through many contemporary Latino musical talents, including singer/songwriter Marc Anthony. Anthony loving referred to Pacheco as the “Maestro of maestros”.

Featured Photo: Frans Schellenkens/Redferns

The post Johnny Pacheco, ‘The Godfather of Salsa’ Dies at 85 first appeared on .

Marisol “La Marisoul” Hernandez, lead singer of the Grammy Award-winning band La Santa Cecilia, has released the first of two installments that will form her first ever solo album: La Marisoul and The Love Notes Orchestra. 

Produced by Hernandez and recorded earlier this year in Los Angeles with a 24-piece live orchestra, the first volume of the album pays tribute to the complexities of love, offering reinterpretations of seven Spanish-language classics. The collection showcases songs about the magic of new love, nostalgia of past romances, and devastating heartbreak. Above all, however, with ‘La Marisoul and The Love Notes Orchestra, Hernandez delivers a compilation that provides her fans with a welcome dose of happiness and comfort during the challenges and unprecedented times we are all currently facing. 

Fans will be swept away in a glistening wave of romantic nostalgia, thanks to La Marisoul’s potent, velvety voice that’s been hailed by the LA Times as a remarkable blend of those of two of the world’s most iconic and powerful female artists, Janis Joplin (Piece of My Heart) and Celia Cruz (La Vida Es Un Carnaval). 

“This is a Love note to my father. Lalo, as they called my dad, was a charismatic, stylish, travieso. A lover of life, love and music – a bohemio! I remember he’d tell me how happy it would make him to one day hear me sing our favorite boleros in orquesta style, como Daniel Santos y Toña La Negra. We loved listening to boleros from this era.?Finally this year I had the opportunity to work with a 24-piece orchestra and have fun with new arrangements! It felt like this was becoming something very special, so we decided to have the event recorded. The result y la magia?was clear, this was that, a Love Note to the world and to my father. I hope you enjoy these classics as much as we did, with love y cariño siempre,” said La Marisoul.

Along with Volume 1, Hernandez also released the joyful, upbeat music video for the single, Un Telegrama, in which the artist sends a love message to the listeners while surrounded by beautiful artwork and stunning vintage photographs. Originally penned by Spanish brothers Gregorio and Alfredo García Segura in 1959, the award-winning piece garnered the top prize at the first edition of the Festival Español de la Canción de Benidorm, and it continued picking up momentum throughout the following decade, making appearances in multiple films. By the late ‘60s, the song achieved mass recognition across the Americas and Spain, and Chilean singer Mona Bell’s 1968 interpretation was awarded a Gold Record for its high sales.

Putting her own unique and soulful spin on the song, La Marisoul brings Un Telegrama to an entirely new generation of listeners, restoring a bit of refined flair and spirited swing to modern life.

La Marisoul and The Love Notes Orchestra Vol. 1 is now available to stream on digital platforms.

— Ana Perez

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