WKCR is excited to announce a special 48-hour salsa festival broadcast starting on Monday, September 30, in honor of Puerto Rican salsa legend Héctor Lavoe’s birthday. The festivities will continue on Tuesday, October 1, celebrating the greats of salsa. During this time, all regularly scheduled programs will be preempted. WKCR takes pride in being the first radio station to bring salsa music to the airwaves of New York City in 1971.
Héctor Lavoe, known as “el cantante” of salsa music, is celebrated for his one-of-a-kind voice, which propelled him to a successful music career. His clear, bright tone, impeccable diction, and natural ability to sing long, rapid phrases made him a favorite among Latin audiences. His collaboration with Willie Colón as a vocalist on Colón’s album marked a turning point in his career, leading to a lasting legacy in salsa music.
Salsa owes much of its development to the migration of Afro-Cuban music to New York. Elements of guguanacó and guaracha helped shape the rumba and mambo eras in the 1930s, ‘40s, and ’50s. The “Americanization” of Latin music began with the arrival of master Cuban arranger Mario Bauzà in the 1930s. His collaboration with Dizzy Gillespie played a crucial role in infusing jazz into Latin music, paving the way for the creation of mambo.
The rivalry between Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez played a key role in the transition from mambo to salsa. Puente’s education at Juilliard, where he studied the Schillinger system, encouraged him to experiment with his music, with influential mentors like Machito, Mario bauzà, and Dizzy Gillespie. Both Puente and Rodriguez began their careers in mambo but soon topped the charts— Puente frequently dominating. Tito Puente’s multicultural approach to honoring the Afro-Cuban roots of mambo is what allowed him to innovate and inspire a new generation of musicians, leading to the creation of salsa.
Listeners can tune in to our 2-day salsa festival broadcast for Héctor Lavoe and other salsa greats on 89.9 FM or stream the broadcast live on our website, wkcr.org. Follow WKCR on Instagram (@wkcr) and Twitter (@WKCRFM) for updates about this special broadcast and future events. As always, online listing is available 24/7 at wkcr.org via our web stream.
Source: The Latin Beat by Ed Morales.
