Ismael Quintana (June 3, 1937 – April 16, 2016) was a singer and composer of salsa music. Quintana was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. His family moved to The Bronx sector of New York when he was only two weeks old; there he went to school and while he was still in high school he formed a band with his neighborhood friends. In 1961, bandleader Eddie Palmieri heard Quintana sing for an audition and invited him to join his newly organized conjunto (small band) "La Perfecta".