North America

Celebrates 150 years of history with a posthumous tribute to Tito Puente, Típica 73 and Ismael Miranda

National Zalsa Day 2023

This year the privilege of conducting the Super Orchestra of the National Zalsa Day 2023 is for Maestro Isidro Infante, March 19 at the Hiram Bithorn Park in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

For many years the most important salsa event in Puerto Rico and internationally. Thanks to Z-93 and the entire SBS family. Mr. Alarcón, Víctor Roque, El Cacique and all the executives involved in such an important event.

We will also have Buho Loco and El Hachero, among others.

The radio station Zeta93FM and its sister company, LaMusica.com, announce the thirty-ninth edition of the National Zalsa Day; an award-winning concert, which, on this occasion, will pay a special tribute to the 50th anniversary of one of the most recognized orchestras in the world, La Típica 73.

Known as the pioneers in performing the famous “Descargas musicales”, Adalberto Santiago, José Alberto “El Canario”, Tito Allen and Johnny “Dandy” Rodríguez, have already confirmed their participation and we are proud that the members of this legendary band, which left such a deep mark on the salsa genre, have decided to join us in this celebration.

On April 20, 2023, the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary timbalero Tito Puente, his son.

Tito Puente Jr., along with great guest artists such as Orestes Vilato, Nicky Marrero, Endel Dueño, Frankie Figueroa, Frankie Morales, John “Dandy” Rodríguez and José Madera celebrarán playing on stage the greatest hits of the “King of Latin Music”, among which are: “Oye como va”, “Ran Kan Kan” and “Para los Rumberos”.

“Puente’s legacy of more than 50 years, known as ‘The King of the Timbal’, ‘The composer and musician of the eternal smile’ and ‘The godfather of Latin jazz and salsa’, will be exalted in front of more than 20,000 people at DNZ2023 and we are sure that all salseros will enjoy this presentation,” said announcer Marcos Rodríguez “El Cacique”.

In April 2000, the third Sunday of March was instituted as National Zalsa Day under Law #100 of the Senate of Puerto Rico.

History

National Zalsa Day was created in 1984 by Pedro Arroyo, Programming Director of Z-93, who always wanted to celebrate an event that would recognize the talent of popular salsa music, its composers and performers, to present it to the great public who love this tropical genre.

Since its first year, the great event took hold of an audience eager to enjoy this music live.

The support was total and it immediately positioned itself as the annual concert of the people of Puerto Rico and visitors from other countries.

From its beginnings, National Zalsa Day was dedicated to a figure of this genre, as a recognition of his talent and rootedness in the public.

1984 – Dedicated in life to Sonero Mayor, Ismael Rivera

1985 – Rafael Ithier of the Gran Combo de Puerto Rico

1986 – Tito Puente and Santitos Colón

1987 – Héctor Lavoe

1988 – Andy Montañez and Gilberto Santa Rosa

1989 – Celia Cruz and Sonora Ponceña

1990 – Willie Colón and Tite Curet Alonso

1991 – Bobby Valentín, Oscar D’León and composer Gloria González.

1992 – To the Best 5 trumpets of Puerto Rico: Elías Lopés, Charlie Sepúlveda, Juancito Torres, Mario Ortiz and Luis “Perico” Ortiz.

1993 – Celebration of the Tenth Anniversary of National Zalsa Day, dedicated to the Salsa People

1994 – Ray Barreto and Adalberto Santiago

1995 – “Duels at sunset”.

1996 – Dedicated to the reunions: Conjunto Clásico, Tito Nieves, Luis “Perico” Ortiz and Rafael De Jesús, El Gran Combo; Andy Montañez and

Roberto Rohena; Sonora Ponceña with Luigi Texidor and Yolanda Rivera.

1997 – To the salsa people

1998 – Jerry Masucci

1999 – Cheo Feliciano

2000 – Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz

2001 – Eddie Palmieri

2002 – Ruben Blades

2003 – Johnny Pacheco and Roberto Rohena

2004 – Quique Lucca, Papo Lucca and Willie Rosario

2005 – Tommy Olivencia and Roberto Angleró

2006 – Los Hermanos Lebrón and posthumous tribute to Charlie Palmieri, Tito Rodríguez and Ray Barretto

2007 – Ismael Miranda, Ramón Rodríguez, Raphy Leavitt and Sammy Marrero

2008 – Larry Harlow and Manny Oquendo

2009 – Celebration of the release of Tite Curet Alonso’s work on Puerto Rican radio. Dedicated to Louis Garcia.

2010 – Johnny Ortiz. Special recognition to Héctor Maisonave and Ángel Luis Córdova García “Paleco”.

2011 – Elvin Torres of Costa Brava, Luisito Ayala of Puerto Rican Power, Paquito Guzmán, Tito Allen and Luigi Texidor.

2012 – Posthumous tribute to Frankie Ruiz. Dedicated to Orquesta Zodiac and La Corporación Latina.

2013 – Posthumous tribute to Pedro Arroyo, former director of Z-93. Special recognition to Edwin Morales of La Mulenze, Pedro Brul, Pedro Conga of Orquesta Internacional and Cano Estremera.

2014 – El Gran Combo, Joe Rodríguez of La Terrífica, Justo Betancourt and Meñique.

2015 – Gilberto Santa Rosa receives the first National Zalsa Day Star Award. Dedicated to Sammy “Rolo” González, Mickey Cora, Nacho Sanabria.

2016 – Eddie Palmieri receives the second National Zalsa Day Star Award. Dedicated to Lalo Rodríguez and Tito Rojas.

2017 – Zeta 93 announced on the program of its director Néstor Galán, el Buho Loco, that the artists participating in the 34th edition of National Salsa Day are el Gran Combo, José Alberto el Canario, Andy Montañez, la India, Don Perignón y la Puertorriqueña, Grupo Niche, Víctor Manuelle, Luisito Carrión, Guillo Rivera, Camilo Azuquita, Raúl Marrero, Carlos D’ Castro, Juan Pablo Díaz, Orquesta DNZ2017 and Orquesta Canario.

2018 – Dedicated To The People Of Puerto Rico!

Domingo Quiñones, Maelo Ruiz, Chamaco Rivera, Pupy Cantor, Oscar de León, Orquesta Canela (Cali, Colombia), Tribute to Tito Nieves and Yolanda Rivera, La Orquesta del Día Nacional de La Salsa, Pete Pererignon y la Generación del Presente, El Maestro Sammy Velez with Nino Segarra, Héctor Tricoche y Simón Pérez, Víctor García y La Sonora San Juanera and Willie Otero y su Orquesta.

2019 – Los Reencuentros will be

Conjunto Clásico with Tito Nieves, Luis Perico Ortiz with Roberto Lugo, Orquesta Mulenze with Pedro Brull, Don Perignon y la Puertorriqueña with Víctor Manuelle, Frankie Vázquez, Pedro Bermúdez Big Band, Charlie Aponte, Pichie Pérez, Yolanda Rivera, Pedro Arroyo, Conjuno Chaney, Pirulo y la Tribu, Manolito Rodríguez.

2020 – Oscar D’ León, Eddie Palmieri, La India, Tito Rojas, Lalo Rodríguez, La Sonora Ponceña, Ray de la Paz, Ismael Miranda, Tony Vega, Orq. Del Día Nacional (directed by Louis García).

2022 – The gathering was Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz, Víctor Manuelle, Willie Rosario, Bobby Valentín, La Sonora Ponceña, Andy Montañez, Apollo Sound, La Mulenze, from Panama come to Puerto Rico the winners of the contest in which hundreds of salsa orchestras competed, Luis Lugo y La Orquesta 507, the women’s orchestra Son Divas, La Tribu de Abrante and Luis Vázquez,” said Marcos Rodríguez,

Sunday, March 19, 2023 – 9:00am

Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan

On stage:

– – José Alberto “El Canario”

– Adalberto Santiago

– Tito Allen & Johnny el Dandy Rodriguez

– Luis Figueroa

– Pirulo

– India

– Charlie Aponte

– Maelo Ruiz

– Yolanda Rivera

– Luigi Texidor

– Pichie Perez

– Isidoro Infante

– Alex D’ Castro

– Tributes to Tito Puente, Típica 73 and Ismael Miranda

Prices:

Early Bird : $10.00 + ivu & c.s (Limited quantities) SOLD OUT

Presale: $15.00 + ivu & c.s (Limited quantities) SOLD OUT

GENERAL – $20.00 + ivu & c.s

V.I.P. – $75.00 + ivu & c.s. (Includes numbered seat and preferred entrance)

PLATINUM – $225.00 + ivu & c.s. (Includes food, open bar, official t-shirt and preferential entrance)

Information and Tickets: 787-200-7110 or [email protected]

Ticket office open from 2 hours before the start of the event.

Read Also: “Mambo Night in Miami Beach” celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of “El Inolvidable”, our own Tito Rodriguez

Today’s character

After a long wait, we have managed to make the talented New York musician Nicholas Marrero, better known as Nicky Marrero, to come to the Spanish Harlem Salsa Museum to share with Johnny Cruz and his friendly staff on February 26th of this year. Therefore, we would like to take this opportunity to talk a little about his brilliant career and the great contributions he has made to Latin music in the United States.

Beginnings

Nicholas Marrero was born in the Bronx, New York, on June 17, 1950 and both his parents are Puerto Rican. This made the boy grow up among maracas, guitars, güiros and other instruments at home. In addition to the roots of his parents and the whole family, young Nicholas showed a talent that made him stand out very quickly and led him to study drums until his interests began to change and he started feeling drawn to the music made by Willie Bobo and ”The King of Timbales” Tito Puente. Both figures were arguably two of his greatest influences and inspirations in the world of music.

According to rumors in certain circles, his first recording was with Willie Colón’s band when he was only 15 years old, but the material was never released because of some alleged problems with the record label involved. The first albums with his participation as timbalero that were made public were ”El Malo” and ”The Hustler” by Willie Colón, both made in 1968. The usic productions were released in LP format in both cases.

Collaborations with Eddie Palmieri and others  (título 3)

That same year, the growing artist began collaborating with Eddie Palmieri’s orchestra and had an important participation in the album ”Champagne”, which was released through the Tico Records label and whose repertoire includes songs such as ”Cinturita”, ”Palo De Mango” and ”Ay Que Rico”. Marrero contribute his talent to Palmieri’s on 15 more productions over the next 50 years that followed. Many of them were extremely successful and earned him the Latin Grammy Award on several occasions.

Another important step in his career was the replacement of Orestes Vilato as timbalero in the Fania All Stars, with whom he performed all kinds of activities in many countries such as tours, concerts, press releases, among other things. He played in 25 music productions for this important salsa and Caribbean music orchestra during the time that he was a member of the group.

Although the artist’s most outstanding collaborations have been with Eddie Palmieri and Fania All Stars, the timbalero has also collaborated with other great names in the world of salsa and Latin music such as Hector Lavoe, Louie Ramirez, Larry Harlow, Alfredo De La Fé, Ismael Miranda, Cheo Feliciano, Joe Quijano, Daniel Santos and many more.

Among the latest works in which Nicky participated is the album ”Full Circle” by Eddie Palmieri for the Ropeadope Records / Uprising Music label. The unmistakable sound of the musician is more than present with his characteristic bongos and timbalitos along with the unforgettable notes from the piano of maestro Palmieri, who has been more than a mentor since the artist started his prolific career.

Read also: Life and career of Ernie Acevedo

        By Johnny Cruz, ISM Correspondents, New York, New York City

Celebrates 150 years of history with a posthumous tribute to Tito Puente, Típica 73 and Ismael Miranda

National Zalsa Day 2023

This year the privilege of conducting the Super Orchestra of the National Zalsa Day 2023 is for Maestro Isidro Infante, March 19 at the Hiram Bithorn Park in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

For many years the most important salsa event in Puerto Rico and internationally. Thanks to Z-93 and the entire SBS family. Mr. Alarcón, Víctor Roque, El Cacique and all the executives involved in such an important event.

We will also have Buho Loco and El Hachero, among others.

The radio station Zeta93FM and its sister company, LaMusica.com, announce the thirty-ninth edition of the National Zalsa Day; an award-winning concert, which, on this occasion, will pay a special tribute to the 50th anniversary of one of the most recognized orchestras in the world, La Típica 73.

Known as the pioneers in performing the famous “Descargas musicales”, Adalberto Santiago, José Alberto “El Canario”, Tito Allen and Johnny “Dandy” Rodríguez, have already confirmed their participation and we are proud that the members of this legendary band, which left such a deep mark on the salsa genre, have decided to join us in this celebration.

On April 20, 2023, the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary timbalero Tito Puente, his son.

Tito Puente Jr., along with great guest artists such as Orestes Vilato, Nicky Marrero, Endel Dueño, Frankie Figueroa, Frankie Morales, John “Dandy” Rodríguez and José Madera celebrarán playing on stage the greatest hits of the “King of Latin Music”, among which are: “Oye como va”, “Ran Kan Kan” and “Para los Rumberos”.

“Puente’s legacy of more than 50 years, known as ‘The King of the Timbal’, ‘The composer and musician of the eternal smile’ and ‘The godfather of Latin jazz and salsa’, will be exalted in front of more than 20,000 people at DNZ2023 and we are sure that all salseros will enjoy this presentation,” said announcer Marcos Rodríguez “El Cacique”.

In April 2000, the third Sunday of March was instituted as National Zalsa Day under Law #100 of the Senate of Puerto Rico.

History

National Zalsa Day was created in 1984 by Pedro Arroyo, Programming Director of Z-93, who always wanted to celebrate an event that would recognize the talent of popular salsa music, its composers and performers, to present it to the great public who love this tropical genre.

Since its first year, the great event took hold of an audience eager to enjoy this music live.

The support was total and it immediately positioned itself as the annual concert of the people of Puerto Rico and visitors from other countries.

From its beginnings, National Zalsa Day was dedicated to a figure of this genre, as a recognition of his talent and rootedness in the public.

1984 – Dedicated in life to Sonero Mayor, Ismael Rivera

1985 – Rafael Ithier of the Gran Combo de Puerto Rico

1986 – Tito Puente and Santitos Colón

1987 – Héctor Lavoe

1988 – Andy Montañez and Gilberto Santa Rosa

1989 – Celia Cruz and Sonora Ponceña

1990 – Willie Colón and Tite Curet Alonso

1991 – Bobby Valentín, Oscar D’León and composer Gloria González.

1992 – To the Best 5 trumpets of Puerto Rico: Elías Lopés, Charlie Sepúlveda, Juancito Torres, Mario Ortiz and Luis “Perico” Ortiz.

1993 – Celebration of the Tenth Anniversary of National Zalsa Day, dedicated to the Salsa People

1994 – Ray Barreto and Adalberto Santiago

1995 – “Duels at sunset”.

1996 – Dedicated to the reunions: Conjunto Clásico, Tito Nieves, Luis “Perico” Ortiz and Rafael De Jesús, El Gran Combo; Andy Montañez and

Roberto Rohena; Sonora Ponceña with Luigi Texidor and Yolanda Rivera.

1997 – To the salsa people

1998 – Jerry Masucci

1999 – Cheo Feliciano

2000 – Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz

2001 – Eddie Palmieri

2002 – Ruben Blades

2003 – Johnny Pacheco and Roberto Rohena

2004 – Quique Lucca, Papo Lucca and Willie Rosario

2005 – Tommy Olivencia and Roberto Angleró

2006 – Los Hermanos Lebrón and posthumous tribute to Charlie Palmieri, Tito Rodríguez and Ray Barretto

2007 – Ismael Miranda, Ramón Rodríguez, Raphy Leavitt and Sammy Marrero

2008 – Larry Harlow and Manny Oquendo

2009 – Celebration of the release of Tite Curet Alonso’s work on Puerto Rican radio. Dedicated to Louis Garcia.

2010 – Johnny Ortiz. Special recognition to Héctor Maisonave and Ángel Luis Córdova García “Paleco”.

2011 – Elvin Torres of Costa Brava, Luisito Ayala of Puerto Rican Power, Paquito Guzmán, Tito Allen and Luigi Texidor.

2012 – Posthumous tribute to Frankie Ruiz. Dedicated to Orquesta Zodiac and La Corporación Latina.

2013 – Posthumous tribute to Pedro Arroyo, former director of Z-93. Special recognition to Edwin Morales of La Mulenze, Pedro Brul, Pedro Conga of Orquesta Internacional and Cano Estremera.

2014 – El Gran Combo, Joe Rodríguez of La Terrífica, Justo Betancourt and Meñique.

2015 – Gilberto Santa Rosa receives the first National Zalsa Day Star Award. Dedicated to Sammy “Rolo” González, Mickey Cora, Nacho Sanabria.

2016 – Eddie Palmieri receives the second National Zalsa Day Star Award. Dedicated to Lalo Rodríguez and Tito Rojas.

2017 – Zeta 93 announced on the program of its director Néstor Galán, el Buho Loco, that the artists participating in the 34th edition of National Salsa Day are el Gran Combo, José Alberto el Canario, Andy Montañez, la India, Don Perignón y la Puertorriqueña, Grupo Niche, Víctor Manuelle, Luisito Carrión, Guillo Rivera, Camilo Azuquita, Raúl Marrero, Carlos D’ Castro, Juan Pablo Díaz, Orquesta DNZ2017 and Orquesta Canario.

2018 – Dedicated To The People Of Puerto Rico!

Domingo Quiñones, Maelo Ruiz, Chamaco Rivera, Pupy Cantor, Oscar de León, Orquesta Canela (Cali, Colombia), Tribute to Tito Nieves and Yolanda Rivera, La Orquesta del Día Nacional de La Salsa, Pete Pererignon y la Generación del Presente, El Maestro Sammy Velez with Nino Segarra, Héctor Tricoche y Simón Pérez, Víctor García y La Sonora San Juanera and Willie Otero y su Orquesta.

2019 – Los Reencuentros will be

Conjunto Clásico with Tito Nieves, Luis Perico Ortiz with Roberto Lugo, Orquesta Mulenze with Pedro Brull, Don Perignon y la Puertorriqueña with Víctor Manuelle, Frankie Vázquez, Pedro Bermúdez Big Band, Charlie Aponte, Pichie Pérez, Yolanda Rivera, Pedro Arroyo, Conjuno Chaney, Pirulo y la Tribu, Manolito Rodríguez.

2020 – Oscar D’ León, Eddie Palmieri, La India, Tito Rojas, Lalo Rodríguez, La Sonora Ponceña, Ray de la Paz, Ismael Miranda, Tony Vega, Orq. Del Día Nacional (directed by Louis García).

2022 – The gathering was Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz, Víctor Manuelle, Willie Rosario, Bobby Valentín, La Sonora Ponceña, Andy Montañez, Apollo Sound, La Mulenze, from Panama come to Puerto Rico the winners of the contest in which hundreds of salsa orchestras competed, Luis Lugo y La Orquesta 507, the women’s orchestra Son Divas, La Tribu de Abrante and Luis Vázquez,” said Marcos Rodríguez,

Sunday, March 19, 2023 – 9:00am

Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan

On stage:

– – José Alberto “El Canario”

– Adalberto Santiago

– Tito Allen & Johnny el Dandy Rodriguez

– Luis Figueroa

– Pirulo

– India

– Charlie Aponte

– Maelo Ruiz

– Yolanda Rivera

– Luigi Texidor

– Pichie Perez

– Isidoro Infante

– Alex D’ Castro

– Tributes to Tito Puente, Típica 73 and Ismael Miranda

Prices:

Early Bird : $10.00 + ivu & c.s (Limited quantities) SOLD OUT

Presale: $15.00 + ivu & c.s (Limited quantities) SOLD OUT

GENERAL – $20.00 + ivu & c.s

V.I.P. – $75.00 + ivu & c.s. (Includes numbered seat and preferred entrance)

PLATINUM – $225.00 + ivu & c.s. (Includes food, open bar, official t-shirt and preferential entrance)

Information and Tickets: 787-200-7110 or [email protected]

Ticket office open from 2 hours before the start of the event.

Read Also: “Mambo Night in Miami Beach” celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of “El Inolvidable”, our own Tito Rodriguez

On Sunday, February 5, 2023, at about 5:00 p.m. Puerto Rican time, the curtain of the Coca Cola Music Hall rose to give way to a radiant Domingo Quiñones.

El más que canta’ arrived ready to share his voice and his usual nostalgic smile with the audience.

The 45th anniversary party began, the melodic style of the saxophone in charge of Jorge Baez. A minute after the orchestra played the first notes, Domingo let out a loud war cry that sounded like: “Puerto Rico”. Immediately, the first two songs were played: Chica romántica & Poeta y guerrero.

After a brief greeting in which Domingo thanked his fans for their support, the most emblematic songs of his career were heard, such as: Tú cómo estás, Soy, Enséñame, El progreso, Busco un amor, Falco de valor, Salsumba, Cuando se necesitan más, Fuera de control, Río abajo, Deseo salvaje y Devórame otra vez, A que no te atreves, Se necesita un milagro, Pasarás al libro del recuerdo, Lo reconozco y No voy a dejarte ir.

Keeping the rhythmic base going, Charlie Padilla was in charge of the tumbadoras, in perfect sync with Javier Oquendo on the bongos and Pablo Padín on the timbales. It was clear that Domingo was backed by a luxurious orchestra, under the musical direction of pianist, music producer, arranger, composer, singer and dancer: Carlos García.  Ricardo Lugo accompanied with his impeccable bass playing. Ramón Sánchez complemented the perfection of the stage behind the keyboard.

The wind section was formed by Ángel Hernández and Jesús Alonso on trumpets, and Eliut Cintrón and Víctor Vázquez on trombones. In the choirs, the vocal forcefulness and precision of Jorge Yadiel, Nahyra Pérez and David Carrero was heard.

About an hour into the celebration, Domingo decided to do a conga solo, what a surprise we were in for! The conga solo was very well done.

An hour and a half into the concert, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Luisito Carrión and Carlos García sang with Domingo Quiñones the song En el mismo barco, composed by Domingo in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The arrangement of the song allowed the wind instrumentalists to have their way with the big spoon before giving way to a very heavy rumba in the percussive corner.

A moment of great emotion was the one that gave way to the song Río abajo, with the accompaniment of Luis ‘Perico’ Ortiz in his impeccable trumpet solos, in addition to accompanying Domingo in the chorus.

This intervention made clear the affection that Domingo and Perico have for each other.  It must be because when Domingo decided to pursue his dream as a soloist, he was part of ‘Perico’s’ orchestra.

For this celebration, our Domingo Quiñones gave way to a repertoire that summarized very well those 45 years of career.  More than singing, Domingo interpreted with that emotionality of his best times.  The audience vibrated with his performance. His histrionic ability, his interpretative quality and the charisma with which he captures the audience’s attention, kept them captive for hours.

Photo credits: Félix Guayciba

Bella Martínez

Read Also: “Mambo Night in Miami Beach” celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of “El Inolvidable”, our own Tito Rodriguez

Bella Martínez Writer, researcher of Afro-Caribbean music and author of Un conguero para la historia, Las memorias de Jimmie Morales.

787-424-8868

This is Pacifica Radio

Pacifica Radio has been one of the largest radio networks in the United States in recent decades and its importance remains enormous today despite the time elapsed. It has given voice to figures of all kinds of political and ideological trends and artists from all genres who sought a platform in order to be heard. However, such popularity does not make this organization to be free from controversy that, like its history and shows, we would also like to explore with the greatest possible respect.

Next, we will talk about the most outstanding to observe about this radio station since its beginnings from 1946 to this day, since talking about Pacifica Radio is also talking about communication in the United States and the role played played by Latino culture and music in all of this.

Beginnings of Pacifica Radio

Pacifica Foundation is a non-profit organization that owns five independent radio stations financed from listener contributions. It is widely known for its progressive and liberal tendencies and is located next to KPFK in Los Angeles, California.

This organization is also responsible for managing everything related to Pacifica Network, which, in turn, runs much more than a hundred affiliated stations with all kinds of shows and content, although it specializes on political and social issues to varying degrees. It is the oldest radio network in the country and the oldest non-profit network in the world, which speaks of Pacifica’s relevance compared to other media.

It was founded in 1946 by E. John Lewis and Lewis Hill after the Second World War. Both men were totally anti-war and refused to perform military service as conscientious objectors. They joined other pacifists to create Pacifica Foundation, whose first station started to air on April 15, 1949 in Berkeley, California.

Being true to the beliefs with which they started this project, the founders gave voice to all those who were against the Korean War the following year along with many other minorities who could not find means of communication to express their views contrary to the majority position of the time.

The station started operating in several cities over the years due to its enormous success and the following radio stations were created in several cities: KPFA/94.1 and KPFB/89.3 in Berkeley, California (San Francisco Bay Area), KPFK/90.7 in Los Angeles, WBAI/99.5 in New York, KPFT/90.1 in Houston and WPFW/89.3 in Washington, DC.

Operation

Pacifica is governed by a board of directors that sets out the policies that determine the organization and oversees the network operations. The board is comprised of representatives from each of the stations that comprise the foundation, as well as directors elected by the Pacifica community.

The members of this board are elected and replaced every three years and have regular meetings to discuss issues related to the operation of the foundation and decision-making regarding the management of the network. It is from there that the use of resources donated by the audience is being decided.

The board members are as follows:

Lydia Brazon (Chair), representing KPFT in Houston, Texas

Sabrina Jacobs (Vice-Chair), representing KPFA in Berkeley, California

Alex Steinberg (Secretary), representing WBAI in New York City, New York

Donald Goldmacher (Treasurer), representing KPFA in Berkeley, California

Christina Huggins, representing WPFW in Washington, D.C.

T.M. Scruggs, representing WBAI in New York City, New York

Janet Coleman, representing WBAI in New York City, New York

Cerene Roberts, representing KPFA in Berkeley

Pacifica Foundation’s Latino shows

If there is something Pacifica Radio has stood out is for the enormous space provided to the Latino community to spread its music and culture in general. That is why there have been many shows entirely dedicated to these topics and whose hosts have been Latinos or children of Latinos.

KPFA has Luis Medina and Emiliano Echeverría, who are in charge of hosting the show ”Con Sabor”, which specializes in artists and news related to salsa, Latin jazz, Afro-Cuban and Afro-Caribbean music, among other genres. In addition, they also interview these artists, provide the audience with the musical calendar and offer concert tickets.

In the case of KPFK, the Latin community has the well-known show ”Canto Tropical” hosted by Kathy Diaz and Hector Resendez, whose work is focused on promoting the main Latin music genres such as Latin jazz, Afro-Cuban music and salsa. They also focus on interviewing and giving space to both local and foreign artists to promote their talent and be made known to the widest possible audience.

On WBAI, ”Salsa Con Candela” is a weekly celebration of the rich history and diversity of the salsa music genre. The show hosted by DJ Candela includes a mix of classic and contemporary songs, as well as interesting and enlightening interviews with artists and important figures in Latin music culture.

Another noteworthy Latin program is ”Salsa y más” on KPFT, which explores in detail the world of salsa and other important Latin genres. The program hosted by DJ Leonard Trujillo, as well as ”Salsa Con Candela” also offers a mix of Latin and contemporary songs along with interviews with local and international artists.

And finally, WPFW has ”Latin Flavor”, a program dedicated to the most important Latin genres such as salsa, Latin jazz and many others. The show hosted by DJ Jim Byers explores the cultural and historical roots of Latin music and provides a platform to present new artists from around the world.

Controversy

Since the beginning of this foundation, its stations have been embroiled in a series of scandals that have not gone unnoticed by telecommunications and the community at large, especially political and ideological. Among the many events suffered by Pacifica, we cannot fail to mention the requests from the government to obtain the recordings of some shows, controversial interviews such as the one with Che Guevara, reports about embezzlement of funds, financial crisis, among many other things.

In 2020, it was learned that some Pacifica listeners, volunteers and donors have created an organization called Pacifica Safety Net with which they seek to expose mishandling and attitudes of Pacifica’s board members, whom they accuse of compromising the main mission of the station network. The members of this group have filed a lawsuit against this board for prevarication and mismanagement, assuring that the board’s lack of leadership resulted in the loss of many revenues in the station network and, therefore, caused a serious problem of solvency in the organization.

A great example of this mismanagement is the reduction from 120,000 to 40,000 members the network has today, as was the case in just a few years. There are also many complaints about the type of programmes broadcast by the network in recent years due to their high content of hate, conspiracy theories, racism and a lot of things that did not represent the values upon which Pacifica Foundation was based.  

In that sense, the members of the aforementioned committee make an urgent call to all members of the radio network to recover these spaces to go back to the main mission of the foundation, which unfortunately has been taken by other interests completely unrelated to those of the donors, workers and listeners.

In 2019, the network was able to get a $3 million loan that would allow it to pay part of the debt accumulated up to that date, but the possibility of the foundation achieving long-term financial stability is not even close to being a fact. Due to mismanagement, the foundation is not able to pay this amount back, so it is forced to cut costs. This reduction in income is causing the board of directors to seek to sell the building where WBAI operates, which had been given by the Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) in exchange for a rental agreement that is quite detrimental to the foundation from the point of view of current and former workers.

Wit regard to this issue, Mexican broadcaster Jesse ”Chuy” Varela, who worked for several years at KPFA, told us a little about the irregularities presented both there and at other stations where he worked. The radio professional points out that there have always been serious communication problems between administrations and workers. ”The board always thinks they can do something better with the money raised and spend a lot of resources without notifying the audience about what they are doing. When you ask for money from the listeners, they have to trust that when they give it to you, you are going to put it to good use” declared Varela.

”I knew of many cases where executives who had meetings in different cities, stayed in expensive hotels and ate in exclusive restaurants. I consider this is an abuse and a lack of respect for those who donate their money. I have seen this in all the stations where I worked unfortunately. In this sense, trade unions play a fundamental role to avoid these kinds of problems” the broadcaster continued.

As for other announcers and former Pacifica Radio employees or managers, they did not want to make comments in this respect. We presume that this could be because of possible reprisals due to the power accumulated by the largest radio network in the United States.

It should be noted that everything written here is based on testimonies of others that have not yet been confirmed, so we neither confirm nor deny any of the facts as presented here.

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