Craft Latino Commemorates 60 Years Of Fania Records With A Global Year-Long Celebration Honoring The Iconic Latin Label’s Enduring Legacy And Birth Of Salsa Music
Celebration includes singles box set, newly remastered reissues, limited-edition merchandise, live events and more
The iconic Latin label’s catalog includes legendary music from Johnny Pacheco, Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoe, Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Ray Barretto and Rubén Blades, among many others
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Click here to listen to salsa duo Willie Colón and Héctor Lavoe’s reissue for La Gran Fuga
2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the legendary New York label Fania Records, one of the most significant Latin labels in the world, musically and culturally. In the ’60s, Fania was a pioneer in creating and spreading the sound of salsa music from New York City to the globe. In addition to salsa, Fania is the definitive home for genres such as Latin big band, Afro-Cuban jazz, boogaloo and Latin soul. Its roster of artists includes countless music legends, such as Johnny Pacheco, Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoe, Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Cheo Feliciano and Rubén Blades, among many others. In 1968, the creation of the international supergroup known as the Fania All-Stars, a vital force in Latin music, established the label’s signature musical style, which became known as the “Fania Sound.” Today, Fania’s legacy is just as meaningful to Latin music as Stax and Motown to soul or Prestige and Blue Note to jazz. It remains a cultural beacon, illuminating a powerful American immigrant story that is as timely today as when the label launched. To celebrate Fania’s legacy on this special milestone, Craft Latino will release over a dozen remastered 180-gram vinyl reissues, over two dozen remastered digital albums, many of which will debut in hi-res digital, a singles box set and a variety of content throughout the year, including curated playlists, artist spotlights and live events across New York, Los Angeles, Miami and London.
Kicking off the year-long celebration and available now is a newly remastered reissue for La Gran Fuga (The Big Break), the 1970 masterpiece from the magnificent salsa duo Willie Colón and Héctor Lavoe. The Gold-certified sixth collaboration has been newly remastered, featuring (AAA) lacquers cut from the original master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed on 180-gram vinyl, with a classic tip-on jacket and, as an added bonus, an 11” x 22” insert featuring Izzy Sanabria’s famous cover art—an FBI wanted poster with the bandleader’s mugshot—which took inspiration from Colón’s “Malo” alter-ego. La Gran Fuga is also finally available in 192/24 hi-res digital audio on all major music platforms—listen here.
Other vinyl reissues coming in 2024 include renowned recordings (available for pre-order now) such as Joe Cuba Sextet’s long-out-of-print debut album on Tico Records, Vagabundeando! Hangin’ Out (60th-anniversary edition), and the Fania All-Stars 50th-anniversary edition of the Latin-Soul-Rock album, which features live recordings from the band’s 1973 concerts at New York’s Yankee Stadium and Puerto Rico’s Roberto Clemente Coliseum with guest artists Jorge “Malo” Santana, Manu Dibango, Billy Cobham, Jan Hammer and more.
September 15th marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, a fitting moment to unveil details about the upcoming Fania singles box set this Fall, Fania 45s: the Latin Sound of New York. This long-awaited set will feature some of the most celebrated singles by some of Fania’s most-loved artists, including Johnny Pacheco, Celia Cruz, Joe Bataan, Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoe, Ray Barretto, Ismael Rivera, Pete Rodriguez and Eddie Palmieri. It will include archival images, ephemera and in-depth liner notes in English and Spanish by New York–based music historian, author and producer Aurora Flores.
About Fania Records:
Founded in 1964 by Dominican bandleader Johnny Pacheco and his attorney Jerry Masucci, Fania Records was a label that started from their mutual passion for Latin music. Together, they created a powerhouse label with a signature sound: the apex of tropical music, combined with the swing of big band jazz and the gritty vibe of American R&B, jazz, funk and soul. The label provided an artistic haven for a young generation of musicians who were inspired to experiment with new musical formats. The label started small, with the first official record release Cañonazo (Fania 321). In 1967, Masucci bought Pacheco’s share of the label, including its subsidiary labels. When Masucci passed in 1997, the label assets remained tied up for years, and in 2005, it was sold to V2 Records and Emusica. In 2018, Fania Records’ assets were sold to Concord, including 1.2K album masters, 15K songs and 7K compositions.
Fania’s rich master catalog also includes the Pete Rodriguez’s boogaloo classic “I Like It Like That” which was sampled by Cardi B in her #1 hit “I Like It.” In 2022, Bad Bunny sampled Ismael Rivera’s “Controversia” in the track “El Apagon” from his album Un Verano Sin Ti. Additionally, three Fania Recordings, Celia & Johnny by Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco, Azucar Pa’ Ti by Eddie Palmieri and Live at Yankee Stadium by the Fania All-Stars, appear in the National Recording Registry, a list of sound recordings that “are culturally, historically or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States.”
Throughout 2024, Craft Latino will take a deeper look at the label’s history and incredible roster of talent through special video and editorial content and playlists. Giveaways, additional releases, and live summer and fall Fania 60th events will be announced later in the year.
For more info on Fania, visit Fania.com and follow on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
About Craft Latino:
Craft Latino is home to one of the largest and most prestigious collections of Latin music master recordings and compositions in the world. Its rich and storied repertoire includes legendary artists such as Antonio Aguilar, Joan Sebastian, Pepe Aguilar, Celia Cruz, Héctor Lavoe, Willie Colón, Ray Barretto, La Lupe, Ruben Blades and the Fania All Stars, to name just a few. Renowned imprints with catalogs issued under the Craft banner include Musart, Fania, TH, Panart, West Side Latino and Kubaney, among many others. Craft creates thoughtfully curated packages, with a meticulous devotion to quality and a commitment to preservation, ensuring that these recordings endure for new generations to discover.
Craft Latino is the Latin repertoire arm of Craft Recordings, the catalog label team for Concord. For more info, visit CraftRecordings.com.
For more information, please contact:
Shore Fire Media
Allison Elbl, aelbl@shorefire.com
Jeremy Saunders, jsaunders@shorefire.com