Customer Reviews

El Malo

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A perfect example of what was to come. Willie's sound was raw and oviously not developed. But a fun record in all accounts. It has boogaloos, latin jazz and other styles that don't make it a drag to listen to.
Original artwork and better, cleaner sound make this reissue money well spent.
Hector Lavoe on vocals and Nicky Marrero on timbales

Buy it!

This is one of the first albums put out by Willie Colon's orchestra. Because this album and salsa music were being created around the same time, this is a delicious timepiece that takes us exactly to when and where this was all happening. An album with this much flavor makes me wish to have been in New York during theg early days of salsa. Enough nostalgia, about the album:

It starts off with jazzy, an improvisational track that follows Willie's trombone, and man, that kid can play!

Track 2 sets off the album's hidden gem, The old boogaloo and shingaling tracks of the late 1960's/early 1970's. A mix of rock, latin and soul, shingaling and boogaloo tracks Willie Baby, Willie Whopper and Skinny Papa all have that groovy feel to them that will swing your hips.

If that doesn't move you, track 3 is a hard to find guaguanco all about Puerto Rico. It's solid and filled with Hector Lavoe's sad but powerful voice.

The album's namesake track, El Malo, is a boastful track filled with "fighting words" often expressed in song back in this era. The chorus "hechate pa' ya, que tu no estas en NA" means "back off chump, you ain't got nuthin". I often wondered who Willie wrote these songs too...

Chonqui is a tribute to the old songs that told a story. Great piano, a haunting chorus and Hector's voice slowly tempting you with this tale make this song a winner.

But what puts it all together is the end. Quimbombo is the kind of song your salsa dancing friends have been fiending. This is the track that will make your speakers whine with passion and will make the needle on your cd player quiver. Quimbombo starts with a simple piano intro, a slow introduction to draw the listener in. It then hits with a wall of horns that blare at the speed of sound. Hector sings over the chaotic choruses with an in studio improvised soneo over this wild and wonderous track. For fans of Hector Lavoe, those who love the way he could take you to the island with his voice, the way he sing el quimbombo will make you say "ese negro si que tiene guarara"


If you love salsa, you will love this album. If you love jazz improvisation at it's purest form, if you love good shingaling and boogaloo and want to wow the friends, if you don't yet keep a shrine to Hector Lavoe in the corner of your house, buy this album. I love all of the albums done together between Willie Colon and Hector Lavor, but to me this one is the most unique and the most fun of them all. If you want their best, check out el juicio, lo mato or cosa nuestra. But for the one that makes you feel as if you are in the studio with these locos while they were making history, this is your album!

I really enjoyed this CD. Lately, the genre of salsa has been disappointing. The music has a commercial sound to it, most of it seems to be aimed to attract a certain age group. In that sense, this CD was refreshing. It is combined elements of cuban music i.e. mambo,guaguanco, son...add jazz elements to this mix and you get a unique and pleasing sound. I would recommend this CD to anyone.