After spending his early 20s touring and recording with multi-platinum boy band Xtreme and Lenny and Max Santos of Aventura, Jacob Plasse was at a crossroads. "While I enjoyed playing bachata, I was burnt out from touring, and wanted to get back to the music I loved."
A native New Yorker, Jacob got a gig in a basement restaurant at the edge of Chinatown, called up his favorite salsa musicians, and Los Hacheros was born. After some of their equipment went "missing" on a set break the band began looking for new performance opportunities, hastily recording a demo in a kitchen in Greenpoint on a 388 Tascam tape machine. This "demo" became the underground salsa sensation Pilon. Its success propelled the band to international tours, a feature on NPR's tiny desk , and the foundation of Jacob's label, Chulo Records. Chulo has subsequently released albums by artists such as Melaza, Maria Raquel, and Okuté, in collaboration with Daptone Records.
In 2017 Jacob produced Flor de Toloache's Las Caras Lindas on Chulo Records, which won a Latin grammy for Best Mariachi Album . The following year he co-founded Orquesta Akokán with pianist Michael Eckroth, whom he met playing in the musical Celia. Recorded at Havana's renowned Areito Studios with a lineup of legendary Cuban musicians, Orquesta Akokán's debut album was released on Daptone Records to widespread acclaim, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Tropical Album. Their latest album, Caracoles, was released this summer.
Beyond his contributions to Latin music, Jacob is a prolific composer for media, garnering numerous awards for his compositions ranging from retro soul for Cardi B and a Melissa McCarthy musical to a documentary about George Floyd’s sister and a old-fashioned horror flick for Run the Jewels. Currently, Jacob is in the studio working on Los Hacheros' third album as well as producing the debut album of Carolina Oliveros, the lead singer of the alt-Latin band Combo Chimbita.
