With his exuberant amalgamation of Latin rhythms and jazz, Ángel Luis Canales (June 29, 1950) became one of the most celebrated salsa vocalists of the late 70s and early 80s. Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Canales’ musical education began with the likes of Rafael Cortijo and Ismael Rivera, and continued in New York, where he began performing inspired by up-and-coming salsa artists Willie Colón and Pete Rodríguez. After a brief stint as the percussionist for Luis Torres’ band, Canales leapt from behind the timbales and became the lead singer for the Ray Jay Orchestra. He then joined his longtime friends Antonio Tapia, Luis Rivera, and Johnny Torres on the group Sabor, led by pianist Mark “Markolino” Dimond. Brujería, their first LP, arrived in 1971 and marked the beginning of Canales’ recording career with the singles “Brujería,” “Yo No Tengo Pena,” and “El Barrio.” In 1975, with Dimond out of the picture, Canales became the group’s sole leader and went on to deliver some of the most critically-acclaimed and forward-thinking salsa albums of the 70s, including Sabor (1975), El San Juan (1976), and Más Sabor (1977), a re-release of their first full-length. Towards the end of the decade, and tired of negotiating with record labels, the singer launched his own imprint, Selanac Records, and made his debut as a solo artist with El Sentimiento del Latino en Nueva York (1979). Over the next decade, Canales’ output and popularity began to dwindle, as audiences began to favor a more romantic brand of salsa music. Following the release of the albums El Diferente (1981), Different Shades of Thought (1982), and Que Nadie Sepa Mi Sufrir (1985), he relocated to Miami and dropped a couple of live albums before disappearing from the music industry altogether, mainly due to health complications.
