Video - Episode 2: Salsa

Episode 2: Salsa

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Salsa was created when The Fania All Stars band added a dynamic New York flavour to the rhythms of Cuba and Puerto Rico. "It offered a music we could live by, breathe and make love to: it was the essence of the Latin soul".

Filmed in Cuba, Puerto Rico and New York City, this programme reveals the untold story of Salsa music which burst upon the New York scene in the late '60s. A new Latino generation, tired of the Mambo big bands, was thrilled by the rebellious sounds of Eddie Palmieri's La Perfecta. "The music was an act of civil disobedience", says band-leader Willie Colon, and super-star Ruben Blades describes the cultural melting pot that created Latin Boogaloo.

Boogaloo giants Johnny Colon and Joe Bataan demonstrate this dance music that "reflected our lives, our environment". Bataan had joined a street gang and learned piano in prison. Their big hits: 'Subway Jo' and 'Boogaloo Blues' are a mix of rock, blues and Latin, despised by the old-time band leaders like Johnny Pacheco, who together with lawyer Jerry Masucci, started Fania Records to create a music that merged old and new.

At Fania, Willie Colon joined with pin-up Hector Lavoe and exploiting their new gangster image, became Fania's hottest property. Like his friend Hector, Willie Colon's roots lay in Puerto Rico, and we see how they both helped transform that island's folk sounds into full-blooded Salsa, with The Fania All Stars band in New York. Under the guidance of Pacheco and Masucci, The All Stars made a music that became "the essence of the Latin soul".

Pianist/producer Larry Harlow describes why, as a Jew among Latinos, he joined Fania. We follow Larry's trip to Cuba, which tells both his personal story and that of Salsa itself. Larry was "chasing the ghost of Arsenio Rodriguez", the legendary blind musician who helped create Salsa. We visit the dance halls of Cuba and watch the transformation of the song La Cartera, from its Cuban origins to Harlow's 1973 Salsa smash hit.

By the early '70s, Salsa music was everywhere in New York: from Central Park to Yankee Stadium where the we see the "greatest Salsa show of all time" featuring hit songs from Hector Lavoe and Celia Cruz. But we also see the confusion and disaster that ensued. The Salsa empire was beginning to crumble from dissention and drugs, until the charismatic Ruben Blades joined Willie Colon to create an exciting new politicised Salsa. And though it would soon enough be replaced by the smoother, safer Salsa Romantica, Fania's music lives on today in every suburb of every city. "The Fania All Stars were the Kings. We said we were going take over the world, and we did."

A BBC/WGBH Co-Production
Executive Producer: Mark Cooper
BBC Series Producer: Jeremy Marre
Director: Jeremy Marre