My Favorite Latin Music

Juan Louis Guerra - Born in 1957 in the Dominican Republic. I like Guerra's voice and his music and lyrics are always upbeat. Guerra is also a Christian and released a great spiritual album in 2004 entitled, Para Ti. Guerra also plays great dance music, mostly merengue. He won 5 Latin Grammy awards in 2007 in the same night which ties him with Juanes to hold the record for most Latin Grammys won in one night.

I started listening to Guerra after he released the spiritually-based Para Ti, but I also own La Llave de mi Corazón, which is a truly great record.

Alejandro Sanz - Born in 1968 in Spain. Sanz is Spain's most popular performer. He is a brilliant songwriter and has a unique voice. Sanz's music to me is jazzy and sophisticated. He has won a record 17 Latin Grammys, more than any other Spanish musician in history.

I really love the MTV Unplugged record. It is Sanz at his best. Also, his duets with Shakira are now legendary.

Marc Anthony - Born in 1968 in the U.S., but the child of Puerto Rican parents. He is hands-down my favorite living salsa singer and one of the greatest voices on the planet!

I have been listening to Anthony for a while. I have many of his records, but a couple of my favorites are Valió la Pena and El Cantante Soundtrack. Anthony is also a movie star of note. Most recently Anthony played Hector Lavoe (another of my favorites...see below) in El Cantante.

Shakira - Born in 1977 in Baranquilla, Colombia. What can I say? She is my dream girl and one of the greatest performers on the planet. Heck, I am not ever sure if she is from this planet! They say she has an I.Q. approaching 200, and that is just one of her many assets (no pun intended). She writes all her own stuff and the lyrics of her old stuff are really quite profound. Lately she has become more of an international pop star and her music has lost some of its earlier edgeness. However, she still remains one of my favorite performers. She is also a great humanitarian.

If you want to hear the "early Shakira" at her best, I highly recommend the MTV Unplugged record.

Juanes - Born in 1972 in (or near) Medillin, Colombia. He is the greatest selling Colombian artist next to Shakira. I saw him in concert once and it was really a great show. Great lyricist as well as performer.

I have Juanes' last three records and all are great. I really like the hit single Tengo La Camisa Negra!

Maná - The kings of Latin American rock, these guys from Mexico have been around for the better of three decades. Many have compared their sound to that of U2. They are great musicians and the chief songwriter and vocalist, Fer, writes some really good stuff. I have never seen them in concert, but I have heard they are great live.

All of their records are good (I have most), but ¿Dónde Jugarán los Niños? has many of their greatest hits. My absolute favorite, however, is the MTV Unplugged record.

Alejandro Fernandez - El Potrillo (or Little Colt), was born in 1971 in Mexico and is the son of the legendary Vicente Fernandez. His old music is mostly of the Mexican "ranchera" variety, but much of his new stuff in more pop. He has one of the best voices in the business.

It is hard to recommend a particular record. I would say the recent greatest hit record would give you a great sampling of his best work, old and new.

Vicente Fernandez - Like Elvis in the U.S., in Latin America he is "El Rey" (the King). His style is unabashedly ranchera and nothing but. The greatest drinking and karaoke music known to man! He is also one of the most famous Latin film stars. This guy has been around forever, and hopefully for many more years to come.

Without a doubt I recommend Historia de un Idolo. There are two volumes, and Volume I is the best, but get Volume II as well, since it has some of his greatest songs, like El Rey.

Ricardo Arjona - Born in 1964 in Guatemala. I like to refer to Arjona as the "Bob Dylan" of Latin music. He is probably the greatest living Latin lyricist.

I went through a bad breakup in 2006 and Arjona's Adentro got me through it. It is one of his best (especially for the broken-hearted). 2007's Quien Dijo Ayer is a compilation record with a couple new songs, however, the old stuff is done in new ways and with many famous guest appearances. I highly recommend it.

Ruben Blades - Born in 1948 in Panama. Blades is a little bit of everything. Great songwriter. Harvard educated lawyer. Politician who unsuccessfully ran for Panama's presidency in 1994 and currently its Minister of Tourism. Blades is also an accomplished actor.

I like just about anything this guy does. The song Pedro Navaja is a classic.

Oscar D'Leon - Born in 1943 in Venezuela. He is a salsa hall of famer. His song Llorarás is one of my favorites to dance salsa to.

Hector Lavoe - Born in 1946 in Puerto Rico and died in 1993. Lavoe is a salsa pioneer and one of the greatest Latin voices of all-time. In fact, his nickname was "el voz" and also "el Cantante." The later was actually a song that Ruben Blades wrote that was later performed by Lavoe. Recently a movie was made about Lavoe's life entitled El Cantante and starring Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. Lavoe was a drug addict and his life had many ups and downs. He died from HIV complications.

Lavoe also has early albums performing with the Willie Colón Orchestra. I first came to know his music due to the film. I highly recommend the soundtrack, although it is Marc Anthony singing, not Lavoe (their voices are remarkably similar). I also recommend sampling his earlier work. Songs like El Periodico de Ayer are classics.

El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico - This is the salsa band of bands and some of this genre's most memorable tunes come from this group. Since many of the genre's legendary singers have been members of the orchestra, the band has been given the moniker La Universidad de la Salsa (The University of Salsa)

The song Me Libere is one of my favorite dance songs.

Celia Cruz - Born in 1925 and died in 2003. Cruz is the undisputed "Queen of Salsa." She is the most beloved Cuban performer of all time. Her career spans the better part of five decades.

Elvis Crespo - Born in 1971 in New York, but of Puerto Rican heritage. Crespo got his start in the early 1990's with the group known as Grupo Mania. His style is merengue and some of my favorite merengue dance tunes are performed by Crespo.

I definitely recommend his earlier work with Grupo Mania, especially Suavemente, which is an anthem of the merengue genre.

Gilberto Santa Rosa - Born in 1962 in Puerto Rico. Santa Rosa is one of the smoothest singers of "romantic salsa."