In October 1958, Pacheco met pianist Charlie Palmieri and he joined him to record the Latin jazz album Easy Does It, released by Gone Records. He later played percussion for several bands, including late-night shows, Lou Pérez's band The Mambaleros, and the popular orchestras of Tito Puente, Xavier Cugat and Dioris Valladares. They played at weddings and other social events. In the following year, he co-founded The Chuchulecos Boys with Eddie Palmieri on piano, Barry Rogers on trombone and other future figures of renown in the New York salsa scene: Al Santiago, Mike Collazo and Ray Santos. In 1953, Pacheco played percussion and sang with Gil Suárez's band. He studied percussion at the Juilliard School. He worked in this field for a time, but eventually quit due to low salary levels. He later attended Brooklyn Technical High School, majoring in electrical engineering. As a child, he learned to play several instruments, including accordion, violin, flute, saxophone and clarinet. Pacheco and his family left the Dominican Republic for New York City when he was eleven years old. His mother, Octavia Knipping Rochet, was the granddaughter of a French colonist, and the great-granddaughter of a German merchant who was married to a Dominican woman born to Spanish colonists. Rafael was the grandson of a Spanish soldier who arrived during the Spanish reannexation of Santo Domingo. One of the leading Dominican big bands of the 1930s, the Orquesta was the first to record Luis Alberti's merengue 'Compadre Pedro Juan'.

He inherited his passion for music from his father, Rafael Azarías Pacheco, who was the leader and clarinetist of the Orquesta Santa Cecilia. Juan Pablo Pacheco Knipping was born on 25 March 1935 in Santiago de los Caballeros, a city in the Dominican Republic.

Johnny Pacheco Discografia