''El Cantante'' (English: ''The Singer'') is the soundtrack album to the film of the same name, the seventh Spanish-language and the ninth studio album by American singer

Marc Anthony Marco Antonio Muñiz Rivera (born September 16, 1968), known professionally as Marc Anthony, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is the top selling tropical salsa artist of all time. A three-time Grammy Award and six-time Latin Gra ...

Background

Marc Anthony plays the role of

Héctor Lavoe Héctor Juan Pérez Martínez (30 September 1946 – 29 June 1993), better known as Héctor Lavoe, was a Puerto Rican salsa singer. Lavoe is considered to be possibly the best and most important singer and interpreter in the history of salsa ...

in ''

El Cantante ''El Cantante'' is a 2006 biographical film which stars singers Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. The film is based on the life of the late salsa music, salsa singer Héctor Lavoe, who is portrayed by Anthony. The film is told from the viewpoint o ...

'', a film he had been wanting and waiting to make for many years. Lavoe was known, and is still considered a hero to salsa fans, famed for the artistry of his vocals and the intensity of his rhythm, as well as his involvement with famous salsa musician

Willie Colón William Anthony Colón Román (born April 28, 1950) is an American salsa musician and social activist. He began his career as a trombonist and also sings, writes, produces and acts. He is also involved in the politics of New York City. Colón ...

during the early '70s were high points for salsa, and they paved the way for many vocalists to come (including one Marc Anthony). The album is not only a soundtrack, but a tribute album to the famous salsa singer. Anthony's cover versions of "Aguanile", "Che Che Colé", " Mi Gente" and "El Cantante", have become chart topping hits on the United States Latin ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''. Anthony also worked with

Rubén Blades Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna (born July 16, 1948), known professionally as Rubén Blades (, but in Panama and within the family), is a Panamanian musician, singer, composer, actor, activist, and politician, performing musically most often in th ...

during the production of the film, as well as the soundtrack. The tenth track finds

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

, Anthony's wife in the film, performing a pop ballad titled "Toma de Mí," composed by Canadian singer-songwriter

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado (; ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Furtado has sold over 40 million records worldwide making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. She first gained fame with her trip hop-inspired deb ...

. The album was awarded ''Best Salsa Album'' at the

Latin Grammy Awards of 2008 The 9th Annual Latin Grammy Awards took place on Thursday, November 13, 2008, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas and were aired on Univision. The Brazilian Field awards were presented on the same day at the Ibirapuera Auditorium in São Paulo ...

and ''Tropical Album of the Year'' at the

2008 Latin Billboard Music Awards The 2008 ''Billboard'' Latin Music Awards, produced and broadcast live on Telemundo, was held on Thursday, April 10, 2008. The award show aired on Telemundo at 7pm EST. The following list is the 2008 ''Billboard'' Latin Music Award Nominees and ...

Commercial performance

The soundtrack debuted at number 1 on the ''

Top Latin Albums Top Latin Albums is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine and is labeled as the most important music chart for Spanish language, full-length albums in the American music market. Like all ''Billboard'' album charts, the chart is based ...

chart and number 31 on the ''Billboard'' 200. In its second week it still peaked at number 1 on the Top Latin Albums but felt back 2 places to end at number 33 on the Billboard 200. It still peaked the Top Latin Albums in the third, fourth and fifth week and went on number 32, number 44 and number 55 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Marc Anthony Discography ''Billboard''. Accessed January 24, 2009

Track listing

# "

" (

) – 6:47 # " Mi Gente" (

Johnny Pacheco Juan Pablo Knipping Pacheco (25 March 1935 – 15 February 2021), known as Johnny Pacheco, was a Dominican musician, arranger, composer, bandleader, and record producer who in the 1970s became one of the leading exponents of salsa as well in t ...

) – 3:52 # "Escándalo" (Rafael Cárdenas Crespo; Rubén Fuentes) – 3:58 # " Aguanilé" (

;

) – 5:15 # "Che Che Colé" (Willie Colón) – 3:26 # "El Día de Mi Suerte" (Willie Colón; Héctor Lavoe) – 5:19 # "Qué Lío" (Willie Colón; Joe Cuba; Héctor Lavoe) – 4:24 # "Quítate Tú" (Johnny Pacheco;

Bobby Valentín Roberto "Bobby" Valentín (born June 9, 1941), is a musician and salsa bandleader. He is known as "El Rey del Bajo" (King of the Bass). Early years Valentín was born in Orocovis, Puerto Rico. He was taught by his father to play the guitar at ...

) – 4:24 # "Todo Tiene Su Final" (Willie Colón) – 4:56 # "Toma de Mí" (Performed by

) (

; Julio Reyes Copello) — 4:2

Personnel

Performers

Yomo Toro Víctor Guillermo "Yomo" Toro (26 July 1933 – 30 June 2012) was a Puerto Rican left-handed guitarist and cuatro player. Known internationally as "The King of the Cuatro," Toro recorded over 150 albums throughout a 60-year career and worked exte ...

–

Cuatro Cuatro is Spanish language, Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the 4 (number), number four. Cuatro may also refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), name for two distinct Latin American instruments, one from Puerto Rico (see cuatro (Puerto Rico), ...

*Milton Cardona – Vocals, coro *Tito Allen – Vocals, Coro *Bobby Allende –

Conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

*Renaldo Jorge –

Trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

*Myung Hi Kim – Violin *

Ozzie Melendez Osvaldo Melendez Jr, known professionally as Ozzie Melendez, has been a highly regarded studio musician and touring artist in various genres of the music industry since the mid- 1980’s. He has performed with some of the biggest names in the ind ...

– Trombone *Suzanne Ornstein – Violin *Ricardo Tiki Pasillas – Percussion *

Marc Quiñones Marc Quiñones is a percussionist, a longtime player in salsa music, a former member of the Southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band (1991–2014) and the Gregg Allman Band. He is of Puerto Rican ancestry. Born in The Bronx, New York, he b ...

–

Timbales Timbales () or pailas are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing. They are shallower than single-headed tom-toms and usually tuned much higher, especially for their size.Orovio, Helio 1981. ''Diccionario de la música cubana: biográfico ...

*Laura Seaton – Violin *Gene Moye – Cello *Sergio George – Piano *Ray Colon –

Bongos Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...

, bells *Raul Agraz – Trumpet *Luis Quintero – Percussion, timbales *William Castro – Arpa *William Duval – Vocals *Sarah Seiver – Cello *José Tabares – Bass *Peter Winograd – Violin *Ramon B. Sanchez – Conductor *Robert Rinehart –

Viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

*Daniel Panner – Viola *Elizabeth Dyson – Cello *Jenny Strenger – Violin *Wilson Cifuentes – Flute, gaita *Katherine Fong – Violin *Duoming Ba – Violin *Minyoung Chang – Violin *Sarah OBoyle – Violin *Wen Qian – Violin *Sein Ryu – Violin *Mario Guini – Electric guitar *Julio Reyes Copello – Piano * Jose Mangual – Vocals, Coro *Daniel Caro –

Bandola The bandola is one of many varieties of small pear-shape chordophones found in Venezuela and Colombia. They are related to the bandurria and mandolin. Traditional varieties Instruments known as ''bandola'' include: *Bandola llanera: tra ...

*Oriol Caro –

Tiple A tiple (, literally treble or soprano), is a plucked typically 12-string chordophone of the guitar family. A tiple player is called a ''tiplista''. The first mention of the tiple comes from musicologist Pablo Minguet e Irol in 1752. Although ma ...

*Angélica Gámez – Violin *Laura Ospina – Cello *Urian Sarmiento – Percussion

Technical

– Producer, executive producer *

Sergio George Sergio George (born May 23, 1961) is an American pianist, arranger, and record producer, known for working with many famous performers of salsa music, although he has worked in other genres of the music industry as well. He has worked with som ...

– Producer *Héctor Ivan Rosa – Engineer *Jim Caruana – Engineer *Luisito Quintero – Percussion overdubs *David Kutch – Mastering *Vlado Meller – Mastering *

Peter Wade Keusch Peter Wade Keusch, more commonly known as Peter Wade, is a record producer, recording engineer, mixer, songwriter and A&R. His artist development projects include MNDR, Party Nails and numerous songwriters and producers signed to his record label ...

– Engineer *Bigram Zayas – Producer *Alysia Oakley – Assistant music supervisor *Maria Paula Marulanda – Art direction *Matt Havron – Assistant Music supervisor *Julio Reyes Copello – Arranger, programming, producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Official ''El Cantante'' home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantante, El Biographical film soundtracks Marc Anthony soundtracks 2007 soundtrack albums Sony BMG Norte soundtracks Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album Albums produced by Sergio George Spanish-language soundtracks Tribute albums