Being one of Pablo Escobar’s favorite musicians came with big perks, but even bigger perils.
The Colombian drug baron (depicted in the Netflix drama “Narcos,” which releases its entire second season Friday) was a huge music fan, and occasionally flew musicians in to play at his hacienda near Medellín, Colombia.
On one occasion, Puerto Rican salsa singer Héctor Lavoe was repeatedly asked by Escobar and his goons to sing the song “El Cantante” over and over. Eventually, Lavoe refused and was locked up in a basement. He and his band broke a window to escape and managed to flag down a car. But the driver didn’t believe he was Lavoe and insisted he prove himself by singing, you guessed it, “El Cantante.”
Re-creating Escobar’s tastes (and the music of Colombia during his life) is something that has become the job of blues royalty Jamar Chess. The New Yorker is the grandson of Leonard Chess, who co-founded legendary Chess Records — home to Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry, to name just two.
“It’s kind of comical that I’ve ended up doing this,” Jamar tells The Post. “At first, I didn’t have a lot of interest in Latin music — I grew up as a hip-hop kid. But over time, I grew to learn about the various styles and subgenres of Latin music. What really started it was learning about dembow — the urban scene in the Dominican Republic.”
Chess, who lives in Manhattan, built his company Sunflower Entertainment on licensing Latin music, particularly the back catalog of the Discos Fuentes and the Codiscos labels. “They’re kind of like Colombian equivalents to Motown,” he says. Once “Narcos” was given a green light by Netflix in 2014, music supervisor Liza Richardson sought out Chess’ expertise. “It was a match made in heaven,” he says.
This year, Chess’ Sunflower combined with another publisher, Spirit Music, to form Spirit Music Latino. Now, the Chess family’s reach will go beyond TV and film, and into sports. After learning that New York Mets pitcher Jeurys Familia’s favorite artist was bachata singer and fellow Dominican Zacarías Ferreira, Chess suggested Ferreira record a personal walkout song for the baller.
“Zacarías wanted to write the song to remind [Familia] of growing up, when baseball was more about having fun, to help put him at ease,” says Chess. “He’s been using it since the start of the season and the Mets are doing well, so it must be working!”