Craft Latino, a branch of Craft Recordings, will continue their celebration of the legendary Fania label with their first batch of vinyl reissues of classic titles from the label available just in time for Hispanic Heritage Month. On October 25, the label will reissue Celia Cruz and Tito Puente's Alma con alma (1970), Willie Colón's The Hustler (1968), The Fania All Stars' Live at Yankee Stadium (1973 - now presented as a double LP for the first time ever), and the Celia Cruz-Johnny Pacheco duets album Celia & Johnny (1974).

This quartet of Fania classics was carefully chosen as "an ideal introduction to the Fania aesthetic" and to demonstrate the label's eclecticism. Each title in the series will be pressed on 180-gram vinyl, cut in an all-analog workflow from the original tapes by Kevin Gray at CoHEARent Audio promising better audio quality than ever before.

When musician Johnny Pacheco and lawyer Jerry Masucci teamed up to create Fania, they ushered in a new era of Latin-American music by creating a home for the emerging scene in all its contexts. For every traditional album, there were equally exciting new sounds from talents that sought to explore the crossroads of rock, soul, and Latino traditions. Both strands of Fania's catalogue are present in this first offering of vinyl reissues.

Originally released in 1968, The Hustler was a breakthrough for the multi-hyphenate singer, songwriter, trombonist, and producer Willie Colón. Paired with vocalist Héctor Lavoe and a top-tier band, Colón brings a certain rawness and unpredictability to the emerging Afro-Cuban musical blend that would eventually be the base for Salsa music in the next decade. As Craft remarks in the press release: "On tracks such as 'Que Lío' and 'Eso Se Baila Así,' Lavoe's soulful singing brims with humor and personality, while the piano licks by the late Markolino Dimond are, just by themselves, worth the price of admission." Now, the album will be reissued on 180-gram vinyl and presented in a replica of the original tip-on sleeve.

On the same day, Craft Latino will release the lesser-known duets album Alma con alma, which brought together two legends of Latin American music, Tito Puente and Celia Cruz. The 1970 effort failed to reach audiences upon its original release, but that's due more to lack of promotion than to lack of material. From Cruz's "solemn chanting" on "Sahara" to "the exuberant energy of...Puente's brass section and syncopated percussion" on "Salsa de tomate," the album is a tour de force that will be a welcome addition to any seasoned fan or newcomer. For its new reissue, the LP will be pressed on 180-gram vinyl and housed in a tip-on sleeve with its original album artwork.

The legendary salsa album Live at Yankee Stadium by the Fania All Stars will also see a vinyl reissue on October 25. The 1976 two-volume set commemorated historic 1973 performances at the treasured New York ballpark and at Roberto Clemente Coliseum by a stacked lineup of Fania's best. Vocalists Ismael Miranda, Pete Rodriguez, Héctor Lavoe, and Celia Cruz are joined by bandleader Johnny Pacheco, keyboardist Larry Harlow, bongo maestro Roberto Roena, conga player Ray Barretto, along with guest stars Mongo Santamaría, Bobby Cruz, Cheo Feliciano, and Ricardo Ray. From Celia Cruz's 12-minute "Bemba colorá" to Héctor Levoe's moving take on Johnny Pacheco's "Mi gente" and Ismael Miranda's jazzy "Qué rico suena mi tambor," there's no shortage of amazing performances. Salsa had already grown in popularity by the time the album was released in 1976 and Live at Yankee Stadium remains a high water mark in its history - an epic recording showing the genre at its peak. For its vinyl reissue, the two volumes of Live At Yankee Stadium will be combined into one double-album set for the first time ever, remastered and presented in a new gatefold sleeve.

The final selection in this first batch of Fania classics is Celia & Johnny, a duets album by Cruz and Pacheco. As Ernesto Lechner writes, "In a way, [the album] crystallizes Johnny Pacheco's entire career as an impossible dream that comes true: a musician who grows up idolizing Cuba's La Sonora Matancera, then ends up recording a best-selling album of modernized classics with the orchestra's former star singer." The results are superlative, from the essential salsa sounds of "Químbara" and the earthy "Toro mata" to tthe "velvety bolero" "Vieja luna." As with the other titles, Celia & Johnny will be reissued on 180-gram vinyl in a faithful reproduction of its original sleeve. But this one will only be available through Vinyl Me, Please as the club's Record of the Month for October.

Craft Latino has also joined forces with Vinyl Me, Please to offer collectible color vinyl versions of three of the titles: The Hustler on custard yellow vinyl, Alma con alma on olive green vinyl, and Live At Yankee Stadium on fire red vinyl. These limited edition variants can be purchased individually or as a bundle from Vinyl Me, Please. The standard black vinyl editions are also available for pre-order from the links below!

Willie Colón, The Hustler (originally released Fania LP 347, 1968 -- reissued Craft Latino, 2019)

standard black vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
limited-edition custard color vinyl: Vinyl Me, Please

standard black vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
limited-edition olive green color vinyl: Vinyl Me, Please

1. Cuyi
2. Sahara
3. Mi bohío
4. Salsa de tomate
5. Elegua
6. Alguien vendrá
7. Trabalan
8. Güiro 6/8
9. Murmullo del mar
10. Chango

The Fania All-Stars, Live at Yankee Stadium (originally released as individual volumes: Fania LP 476 and Fania LP 477, 1975 -- reissued as double album, Craft Latino, 2019)

standard black vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
limited-edition fire red vinyl: Vinyl Me, Please

Disc 1:

1. Que rico suena mi tambor
2. Soy guajiro
3. Diosa del ritmo
4. Pueblo latino
5. Mi gente

Disc 2:

1. Hermandad Fania
2. Bemba colorá
3. Mi debilidad
4. Echate pa'lla
5. Congo bongo

Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco, Celia & Johnny (originally released Vaya Records LP VS 31 -- reissued Craft Latino through Vinyl Me, Please, 2019) (Links TBD)

1. Quimbara
2. Toro mata
3. Vieja luna
4. El paso del mulo
5. Tengo el Idde
6. Lo tuyo es mental
7. Canto a La Habana
8. No mercedes
9. El tumbao y Celia
10. El pregon del pescador