Weighing in with 30 tracks accompanied by a 32-page liner note booklet that includes photos, Johnny Pacheco: El Maestro, follows the career of the Dominican-born bandleader who was Fania Records’s music director and first hit recording artist. The compilation, by Ernesto Lechner, features Pacheco’s hits like “El Güiro de Macorina,” “La Esencia del Guaguancó,” “Quimbara,” and “El Paso de Encarnación,” and includes collaborations with Pete “El Conde” Rodríguez, Celia Cruz, Daniel Santos, José Fajardo, and Rolando Laserie. In doing so, it travels from Pacheco’s days with a charanga (flute-and-violins dance band) to his signature two-trumpet Cuban-style conjunto.
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