Johnny Pacheco (born March 25,1928 in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic) is an Afro Dominican producer, musician, bandleader, and one of the most influential figures in salsa music. Pacheco inherited his passion for music from his father, Rafael Azarias Pacheco, who was the bandleader and clarinetist of the “Santa Cecilia Orchestra”. In the late 1940s, when Pacheco was 11, his family moved to New York City from his native Dominican Republic. He continued polishing his musical skills, learning to play accordion, violin, saxophone and clarinet.

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