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Our celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month continues with a throwback to the era of Fania Records, the independent label founded in 1964 by Gerald Masucci and Johnny Pacheco. Though the roots of Salsa go back to the 1940s and '50s, the music industry didn't have a name for it until the 1960s – and Fania Records was largely responsible for that. Borrowing elements of Cuban, Puerto Rican, and other musical styles from the Caribbean and Latin America – along with Jazz, Rock, Funk and R&B – Salsa became a symbol of the emerging cultural identity of New York City's diasporic Puerto Rican, or "Nuyorican", community and, more generally, Latinos in the United States. From the mid-1960s through the 1970s, Fania was the home of Salsa's most enduring legends – including band leaders Ray Barretto, Roberto Roena, Willie Colón, and Larry Harlow; bassist/arranger Bobby Valentín; and lead vocalists Adalberto Santiago, Héctor Lavoe, Ismael Miranda, Cheo Feliciano, and Pete "El Conde" Rodríguez, among others.

"Music for the Masses" invites you on an excursion of sound and rhythm. Discover the music of established and emerging artists, both signed and unsigned, on the international music scene. For the avid globe-hopper and armchair traveler alike. You might want to pack a map and a sandwich. Catskill resident "DJ Neva" is an ethnomusicologist, producer, and long-time cultural activist, specializing in music from the entire African continent, as well as the Caribbean and Latin America, the Maghreb and Middle East, and the Roma (Gypsy) diaspora. Formerly the producer of "Continental Drift" on WBAI-FM and New York International on Haitian community station Radio Soleil in NYC. The show is broadcast live from Catskill, NY.

Playlists and more information here.

Selection of original DJ mixes here.