Tony Conga, promoter of Fania All Stars, dies

The internationally renowned Salinas promoter, Luis Antonio Rodríguez Morales, known in the entertainment world as “Tony Conga”, died at the age of 74, in the morning due to kidney complications, at the Hospital Auxili Mutu de Pedres River, according to his brother José Luis Rodríguez.

Tony Conga is survived by his four daughters, Marián, Noemí, Jelissa and Karla Rodríguez.

His vigil will take place tomorrow Tuesday from 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm, at the Sant Blai de Salines Funeral Home. Burial will be Wednesday at 10:00 a.m., at Wico Lopez Municipal Cemetery in said town.

In 1972, Tony Conga began as a promoter of the record company Tico-Alegre, with the task of promoting the productions of Tito Puente, “Pa ‘els Rumberos” Celia Cruz and Tito Puente “Something special” and “This it was what Ismael Rivera’s “boat carrying.”

He was promoter and producer of several artists and orchestras including the Fania All Stars, Celia Cruz, Pete Comte Rodríguez, Eddie Palmieri, Saints Columbus, Johnny Pacheco, Ismael Quintana, Willie Colón, Rubén Blades and Louie García.

He was currently the producer and promoter of the renowned musical group Limit 21.

“We’re talking about a person who started in Salines in the late 1960s, promoting by loudspeaker, from his vehicle, the T ‘Dance with large orchestras of the moment, in the village dance centers; an exclusive lane in the record industry in Puerto Rico and internationally “.

“Without a doubt, Tony Conga was one of the biggest promoters of the playground and the most important figure on the Fania All Stars record label from the mid-1970s to the 1980s. He was active until recent days before of his death “, declared the historian salinense, Jossie Alvarado.