The last of the classic
Willie Colon
LPs featuring
Hector Lavoe
, at least, before
Ruben Blades
entered the picture,
Lo Mato
followed some heavy hitters in the
Colon
canon (
Cosa Nuestra
,
The Big Break-La Gran Fuga
El Juicio
) but proved without a doubt that salsa's new king for the '70s had nearly endless reserves of compositional fortitude -- and the powerhouse band to match. Right in the typical
bag were
"Todo Tiene Su Final"
and
"Calle Luna Calle Sol"
(both soon to become salsa classics), but
and his group mixed it up elsewhere, refreshingly dabbling with samba rhythms on
"La Maria"
(featuring great comping by the Professor,
Joe Torres
, on piano) and never failing to keep the energy up, even when
Lavoe
was sidelined on the instrumental
"Junio 73"
(which found plenty of solo space for a wild-armed
Louis Romero
on timbales). ~ John Bush