Salsa
The 8 Best Salsa
Tracks of All Time
Cuban son rebuilt in New York by Puerto Rican musicians in the sixties and seventies, harder and brassier than its parent, with jazz voicings on top and a political charge the original never carried.
- Origin
- New York City, 1967
- Tempo
- 150–250 BPM
- Also known as
- salsa dura, fania, nuyorican, salsa romántica
- Tracks
- 8
- Updated
- 2026-08-30
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Number 1: Rubén Blades / Pedro Navaja
1978 · Fania
Seven minutes of narrative about a mugging that goes wrong both ways. Blades wrote salsa's great short story, and the band never lets the tension drop.
Number 2: Willie Colón and Héctor Lavoe / Che Che Colé
1969 · Fania
A Ghanaian children's song, two trombones and a teenager from the Bronx who could not really play yet. Crude, and one of the most joyful records here.
Number 3: Fania All-Stars / Quítate Tú
1971 · Fania
Six singers taking turns to insist the others move aside, recorded live at the Cheetah. The label's entire roster in one competitive twelve minutes.
Number 4: Héctor Lavoe / El Cantante
1978 · Fania
Written by Blades for Lavoe: the singer everyone comes to hear, whom nobody asks how he is. Given what happened to Lavoe afterwards, it is hard to hear now.
Also on Dancing to Bad News
Number 5: Celia Cruz / Bemba Colorá
1974 · Vaya
Cruz had already been a star in Cuba for twenty years before exile. Her timing against Tito Puente's band is the best evidence for calling her the greatest voice in the music.
Number 6: Tito Puente / Oye Como Va
1962 · Tico
A cha-cha-chá that predates the word salsa, and Santana's 1970 cover took it to the rock audience. Puente reportedly enjoyed the royalties considerably.
Number 7: Cheo Feliciano / Anacaona
1971 · Vaya
A Taíno chief burned by the Spanish, sung as a swinging tribute. Salsa routinely smuggles history into records people dance to without listening.
Number 8: Ray Barretto / Indestructible
1973 · Fania
Barretto's band had just walked out on him, so he built another and called the record this. The conga playing is the hardest-hitting on the label.