Larry Harlow, a Jewish kid from Brooklyn, and one of the first artists to be signed to Fania, pitches an idea to film an ambitious live concert. His suggestion will dramatically change the course of the label and salsa. After Fania bankrolls the live concert at the legendary Cheetah Club, the film Our Latin Thing releases one year later, a film and evening often referred to as the night salsa was born and a new Latino consciousness starts taking shape in the media.

Listen to the Music Behind Our Thing: The Birth of Salsa in Nueva York playlist here.

Archival courtesy of The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library, Craft Recordings, a Concord company, Mary Kent’s Salsa Talks interviews, Maria Hinojosa for Latino USA, Aurora Flores Hostos Interview, and Martin Cohen Congahead Archives. This episode also utilizes fair use clips from Oro Productions.

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