On August 24, 1973, 40,000 salsa fans (a record-breaking crowd at the time for a Latin music event) eagerly piled into New York’s Yankee Stadium to watch some of the world’s most influential artists share the stage. But the Fania All Stars a collective that included such legends as Johnny Pacheco, Willie Colon, Ray Barretto, and Héctor Lavoe was eager to highlight its versatility by performing not just Latin hits, but also soul and rock hits from the day.
The Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture will present the three-time Grammy-Award winning Spanish Harlem Orchestra featuring Paquito D'Rivera and Hermán Olivera on Saturday, May 14, 2022 at 8:00 pm (EDT) live and in-person at the Main Theater of Hostos Community College.
Ray Barretto · Barretto Power
It was 1970 when Fania Records released
Barretto Power, one of a series of seminal albums by master percussionist and bandleader
Ray Barretto. 1970, the beginning of an explosive decade in our planet. A decade of crisis and change, especially in New York. A decade of socioeconomic and cultural challenges for a new Latino generation in the Big Apple. Tropical music, the explosion of the so called salsa movement as a unifying phenomenon was gathering momentum, a diverse community searching for identity was embracing their roots in times of challenge. Ray Barretto, a New Yorker from Puerto Rican ancestry [Nuyorican] was redefining again his sound, always open to experimentation and new combinations.