Johnny Pacheco/Charlie Palmieri/Jose Fajardo

LP: Las Charangas: Pacheco, Palmieri, Fajardo

Artist: Johnny Pacheco y su Charanga

Song: "Verano de Amor"

[ listen ]
Artist: Charlie Palmieri y su Charanga

Song: "Lloraras"

[ listen ]
Artist: Jose Fajardo y su Charanga

Song: "El Silver Star"

[ listen ]

I thought the Charanga was a sandwich until I found this terrific 1963 Alegre Records compilation at Rooky Ricardo's Records on my trip to San Francisco a few weeks ago. The record features three Latin bandleaders who spearheaded the Pachanga dance craze in New York in the early 1960s. Johnny Pacheco, from the Dominican Republic, actually played with Charlie Palmieri's Latin orchestra before forming his own band in 1959. His was the first Latin band to headline at The Apollo, in 1962, and then in 1964 Pacheco created the Fania Records label with lawyer Jerry Masucci. You can read more about Johnny Pacheco here, and visit his official website here to find out what he's up to nowadays and to see where you can catch his next performance. Charlie Palmieri, known as "The Giant of the Keyboards," was born in the South Bronx in 1927 after his parents immigrated to the USA from Puerto Rico in 1926. Palmieri started playing piano by ear at an early age and was a member of Tito Puente's band by the time he was 20. Palmieri played with Puente's group from 1947-1953 after which he continued performing on his own and with artists like Celia Cruz, Herbie Mann, Ray Barretto, Mongo Santamaría and others until his death from a heart attack in 1988. Cuban flutist Jose Fajardo worked as a policeman in Havana before taking over flute duties from Antonio Arcaño of Arcaño y sus Maravillas in the late 1940s. After forming his own group, Fajardo y sus Estrellas, by the end of that decade, Fajardo's music took him around the globe during the 1950s. He was touring Japan in 1961 when Fidel Castro's government ordered him to steer his tour into Communist territories. Fajardo refused and settled in the United States rather than returning to Cuba. He continued to perform in New York City and Puerto Rico until his death from an aneurysm in 2001. You can read more about Jose Fajardo in his New York Times obituary here. The LP liner notes, written by Tom Rosado, are included below; LP cover art is by Abel G. Navarro and the record was produced by Al Santiago.

[ Johnny Pacheco, b. March 24, 1935 ]

 [ Charlie Palmieri: November 21, 1927 — September 12, 1988 ]

[ Jose Fajardo: 1919 — December 11, 2001 ]