Two founding fathers of salsa, Johnny Pacheco and Eddie Palmieri, discuss the history of their wonderful musical style and the birth of the Fania record label in this interesting and entertaining interview with
Latino USA's Maria Hinojosa.
Starting with only $2500, Johnny Pacheco and his partner, Jerry Masucci, built a family of musicians that would sell out venues as large as Yankees Stadium and Madison Square Garden, and go on to travel around the world with their exciting new music.
Pacheco recalls traveling to Zaire for a performance during the historic Muhammad Ali-George Foreman boxing match, billed as "The Rumble in the Jungle." The Fania All-Star musicians may have been asked to perform, but James Brown was "the honcho," says Pacheco. "So, when we landed in Africa, he wanted to be the first one out of the plane. So he comes out of the plane, and he goes like this,
'My people! My people! My lovely people!' And there must have been about 5000 Africans, and they went past him and they started chanting,
'PA-CHE-CO! PA-CHE-CO!' They went bananas. I swear to god. So, he wanted to know who Pacheco was."
The interview is filled with laughter, happiness, and hope.
