After their great Band On The Wall "Tito Puente" tribute show at the start of the year, we're happy to welcome back the UK's top mambo band Orchestra Mambo International on Saturday 21st December for a big Christmas salsa party. This time, the band is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the greatest Latin music label of all time.....Fania Records. The label's standing in Latin music is equivalent to what Blue Note is to jazz, Tamla Motown is to soul and Trojan is to reggae.....simply the greatest of all time.
Fania Records was founded in 1964 by Dominican musician Johnny Pacheco and his Italian-American lawyer (and Cuban music fan) Jerry Masucci. It would become the greatest Latin music label of all time and the driving force behind the spread of salsa music from New York City to the rest of the world.
From selling records out of the boot of their car to the many Latin music stores around the Big Apple in the 1960s, Pacheco and Masucci would take the salsa gospel across the globe with the release of the 1971 award winning documentary "Our Latin Thing" and world tours by the label's in-house band the Fania All-Stars. The label would also be at the heart of Latin crossover music in the 1960s and 1970s via the NYC fusion of Latin and soul music, which gave the world Latin soul, bugalu, Latin funk and Latin disco.
Orchestra Mambo International will be playing iconic songs and music by the Fania Allstars, Ray Barretto, Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe, Larry Harlow, Tito Puente, Cheo Feliciano, Louie Ramirez and many more amazing Fania artists. Featuring musicians who have played with Latin legends such Joe Bataan, Larry Harlow, Oscar D'Leon, Tito Allen, Jimmy Bosch, the 12 piece salsa and mambo ensemble really bring the heat to the dancefloor.
Their debut single "Mambo Te Llama", released in May 2024, had huge support from the likes of Gilles Peterson/Huey Morgan (BBC 6 Music), Jamie Cullum (BBC Radio 2), Jazz FM (B Playlist & Tony Minvielle/Dom Servini/Yolanda Brown), NTS Radio (Coco Maria/Patrick Forge), and BBC Radio 3 (Round Midnight with Soweto Kinch). It was also picked up worldwide by the salsa scene including top DJs like Chino Valero (Cali Colombia), Richie Sanchez (Puerto Rico), Pablo Iglesias (NYC), Gury Gury (Canada), Dimitri Matalka (Germany) and Angel Figueroa (Japan).
The night will be hosted by DJ Lubi, who will also play salsa sets before, between and after the live music sets. DJ Lubi has compiled several titles for the re-launched Fania label, including the 4 CD boxed set "Salsa : A Musical History" and the critically acclaimed and ever-popular "NYC Salsa" series (Vols 1, 2 and 3).
Latin Jam After-Party - 10pm to late - Band On The Wall Bar - hosted by DJ Lubi and DJ Jane Salsaldi - playing salsa, mambo, Latin bugalu, Cuban music, merengue, bachata and Latin electronica.....entry is free for everyone, gig goers and late night revellers alike
