Johnny Pacheco - El Maestro (Remastered 2024) '2024

Tracks list

Though born in the Dominican Republic in 1935, the multi-talented Johnny Pacheco
admits that he hates the island’s native merengue with a passion. In
fact, it was the music he heard on Cuban radio by the likes of Arcaño y sus
Maravillas, Arsenio Rodríguez and Chappottín, that he fixated on at an
early age. And despite such passing fads like as boogaloo and salsa
romántica, it has been hishis passion for typical Cuban music that hasis what
defined the course of his musical career, which spanned spanning seven decades.

He Pacheo was 11 years of age when his family relocated to the Bronx, New York,
and not unexpectedlyso it was no coinciden that, his initial gigs in New York
were with merengue bands. He later spurned a career in engineering when he
discovered that working as a musician could be more lucrative. Starting as a
percussionist, he worked with such prestigious names as Tito Puente, Pérez
Prado and Stan Kenton.

Pacheco Johnny was both conguero and bongosero with the Latin jazz- oriented
Charlie Palmieri Quartet in the late 19’50’s when the impact of
Cuban José Fajardo’s flute and fiddles-led charanga band on New
York’s Latino community inspired Charlie Palmieri to launch his Charanga
“La Duboney” with Johnny Pacheco on flute. After one album together,
Johnny and CharliePacheco and Palmieri developed professional differences, and
Johnny Pacheco split to lead his own charanga. Pacheco y Ssu Charanga became the
most popular band of the 1960-1964 pachanga / charanga craze and made the band
recorded five albums on Al Santiago’s Alegre label. The charanga fad
began to run out of steam by the mid-19’60’s, due, in part, to
theplus the Cuban revolution, which starved New York of a supply of musicians,
particularly violinists, who could perform this e style of popular Cuban dance
music.

Ever the pragmatist, Johnny Pacheco also had a conjunto (small musical group)
with horns on the side. Johnny Pacheco befriended Italian-American lawyer Jerry
Masucci, and from humble beginnings, they founded what would become the mighty
Fania Records empire. Johnny’s Pacheco’s pure Cuban conjunto of
vocals, trumpets and rhythm section, named Nuevo Tumbao (New Rhythm), kicked off
the label’s vast catalogue in 1964 with the album Cañonazo. Besides
his work on numerous other historical projects, Johnny’s,
Pacheco’s Nuevo Tumbao clockedchalked-up eight albums over the next nine
years.

Apart from a brief hiatus in the mid-19’60’s, Nuevo
Tumbao’s principal singer since Cañonazo had been Pete “El
Conde” Rodríguez, who launched a solo career in 1974. Johnny Pacheco
bought in the smoky voice of Havana-born Héctor Casanova for the
1975’s El Maestro, on whichat which time the group was reborn renamed as
Tumbao Añejo (Aged Rhythm). Héctor,Casanova, whose voice has a similar
timbre to Rodríguez’sPete’s, was criticizsed for imitating his
predecessor. Previously he sang on the excellent En Una Nota! (1974 on Inca) by
Monguito Santamaría, Mongo Santamaría’s son.

Detractors of Pacheco criticizsed him for copying the great Cuban musical
institution La Sonora Matancera. Though there is substance to this, his
“new” matancerized sound, executed with aplomb and verve, was a
triumph. On the Grammy-nominated El Maestro he shamelessly covers three numbers
from La Sonora’s extensive repertoire: “El Chivo”, “Las
Muchachas”, written by the great Dominican-born, but Venezuelan-based
bandleader Billo Frómeta, and “Mango Mangüee”, a classic
penned by Cuban Francisco Fellove. The versatile Casanova does justice to the
classic Beny Moré bolero “Hoy Como Ayer” written by Pedro Vega.

The jewel of the album is “Guaguancó Pa’lL Que Sabe”,
written by composer and arranger Felipe Yánez, to whom the album is
dedicated. This was also the biggest hit of the set, featuring an elegant piano
solo from Papo Lucca, who takes another solo on Johnny’s Pacheco’s
composition “Yo No Parlevu France”. A majestic solo from tres
guitarist Charlie Rodríguez distinguishes another highlight, “El
Faisán”.

Casanova recorded an additional further two albums with Johnny Pacheco before
going solo at the beginning of the 1980’s. In addition to making four
solo albums between 1980 and 1998, he has sung lead vocals on albums by
Africando, the Cuban Masters, Son 80’s and Los Soneros de Oriente. After
releasing a series of albums on which he teamed up with veteran singers like
Angel Luis Silva “Melón”, Daniel Santos, Celio González and
Rolando La Serie, Johnny Pacheco reunited with El Conde to make four more albums
for Fania between 1983 and 1989, including the Grammy-nominated Salsobita
(1987). Casanova guested was a guest on one track of Johnny’s
Pacheco’s final Fania solo outing, Sima! (1993), and in 2004 he
participated in Johnny’s Pacheco’s comeback album Entre Amigos on
Bronco.

Vocals: Hector Casanova
Producer: Johnny Pacheco
Photography: Lee Marshall
Album Design: Ron Levine
Recording Studio: Good Vibrations Sound Studios

Written by John Child

Tracklist:
1.01 - Johnny Pacheco - Las Muchachas (Remastered 2024) (4:56) 
1.02 - Johnny Pacheco - Guaguancó Pa’l Que Sabe (Remastered 2024)
(4:56) 
1.03 - Johnny Pacheco - Simani (Remastered 2024) (5:40) 
1.04 - Johnny Pacheco - El Chivo (Remastered 2024) (3:42) 
1.05 - Johnny Pacheco - Hoy Como Ayer (Remastered 2024) (3:08) 
1.06 - Johnny Pacheco - Prestame los Guantes (Remastered 2024) (3:59) 
1.07 - Johnny Pacheco - Yo Quiero una Mujer (Remastered 2024) (4:22) 
1.08 - Johnny Pacheco - El Faisán (Remastered 2024) (8:23) 
1.09 - Johnny Pacheco - Yo No Parlevu Francé (Remastered 2024) (3:55) 
1.10 - Johnny Pacheco - Mango Mangüe (Remastered 2024) (4:41) 

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