VIA PRESS RELEASE | Craft Latino’s historic celebration of Fania Records’ 60th anniversary continues with a reissue for Traigo de todo, the fifth solo album, released on Tico Records (a subsidiary of Fania Records), from the prolific Ismael Rivera.
This 1974 album features Rivera in his prime with such transformative tracks such as the shimmering, spirited “El Nazareno” and the seductive hip-shaker “Qué te pasa a ti.” Traigo de todo arrives October 4th, and is available for pre-order today. The reissue features 180-gram black vinyl, with lacquers cut from the original tapes (AAA) by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, and a classic tip-on jacket, replicating the original artwork. A 180-gram “Amarillo radiante (Radiant Yellow)” color vinyl variant (limited to 300 copies), with a bundle option that includes a Tico Records T-shirt, is available for pre-order today at Fania.com. Additionally, Traigo de todo will make its debut in 192/24 HD digital audio on October 4th.
Rivera’s smooth, smoky voice, contrasted with lively clave rhythms, lent his messages of empowerment—be it about anything from social justice to his love of life—a sense of immediacy. His impact on the salsa genre (which for Rivera would often bend towards jazz, thanks to his gift for improvisation) proved so influential that greats such as Celia Cruz would cover his songs, before he was ultimately inducted into the International Latin Hall of Fame.
Throughout the year, Craft Latino will continue to commemorate Fania’s illustrious legacy of shaping salsa and other Latin music, with reissues (like Traigo de todo), new releases, as well as exclusive content designed to entice collectors and fans alike. Visit fania.com/fania-60th for more details.
Born in 1931, Rivera was raised in a modest family that lived in Santurce, Puerto Rico. He left school at a young age to help his family by working as a shoeshiner and bricklayer. Inspired by the bomba and plena genres bubbling up in local barrios, he started playing music with Rafael Cortijo, his childhood friend.
Rivera (also known by his nickname, “Maelo”) would end up joining the latter’s band, Cortijo y su Combo, as a singer. Their exhilarating, rhythmic music became hugely popular with audiences from Puerto Rico to New York City, and they ultimately recorded 17 albums together.
This collaboration came to an end in 1962, after Rivera was arrested on drug possession charges and served four years at the notorious U.S. Narcotics Farm prison in Kentucky. Following his prison stint, Rivera moved to New York City, where he sang for Fania’s All Star live performances.
As a solo artist, the singer would go on to release 11 albums that showed off his natural knack for improvising, many with his band, Sus Cachimbos. “El Sonero Mayor,” writes AllMusic, “would go on to record some of his best work…showcasing his unequaled talent [that’s] better than ever.” Among that work: Bienvenido!, his energetic comeback, and the somewhat experimental, but no less effective, Controversia. This success culminated in him performing at a 1974 concert at the prestigious Carnegie Hall. That same year Rivera and Cortijo would reunite and release Juntos otra vez.
But it was Rivera’s own release in 1974, Traigo de todo, that changed his life. It coincided with his spiritual awakening, particularly his devotion to Cristo Negro (or Black Christ). His track “El Nazareno,” a bright, divine affirmation punctuated by deftly dropped lyrical cadences, celebrates the venerated Cristo Negro statue in Panama. The track is his invocation to humanity and loyalty, but also to his agency in choosing a path to redemption. “It’s one of his greatest lyrical narratives, delivered as no one else could,” Bandcamp writes.
In fact, much of Traigo de todo finds the liberated Rivera simply celebrating life. “Qué te pasa a ti” is a groove-driven, wistful musing about an irresistible romance. Meanwhile, the good-times title track, “Traigo de todo,” is an incantation beckoning the listener to dance.
His last performance came in 1978, opening for Bob Marley in Paris. By 1982, Rivera had fallen into a depression following Cortijo’s death due to pancreatic cancer, and his own health began to suffer. The singer passed away suddenly, from a heart attack, just two years later at age 55. He is said to have died in his mother’s arms. His was a prolific career cut far shorter than it should have, but lives long—eternally, even—in legacy.
