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Genre:
Latin
Release Date: 07/17/2007
No one made
salsa great more than
Willie Colón, but a large part of what made
Colón great was
Héctor Lavoe. "
El Cantante" was the greatest vocalist in
salsa history, a man whose gift for vocal
improvisation and rhythm was in similar company with
James Brown and
Ray Charles -- and precious few others. He sang his lines with the same melodic dexterity as the greatest
jazz singers (with more resemblance to an instrument than a voice). Also, he played off
Colón's sprightly arrangements and punchy trombone lines to perfection. In fact, it's difficult to tell who inspired the other more. Still, it's clear they did most of their best work together -- at least five of their albums belong in the canon of great
salsa:
La Gran Fuga,
Cosa Nuestra,
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly,
Lo Mato, and
El Juicio.
La Voz, the two-disc compilation of
Fania recordings, spends most of its first half reprising
Lavoe and
Colón's greatest sides, then focuses on
Lavoe's excellent "solo" career (including
La Voz,
De Ti Depende, and
El Sabio) plus a trio of his greatest appearances as part of
the Fania All-Stars. It's the greatest
Lavoe compilation ever assembled, with remastered sound and excellent liner notes from
Little Louie Vega, the
Masters at Work producer who knows his
Héctor Lavoe better than anyone (he's
Lavoe's nephew).
~John Bush, All Music Guide
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