Willie Colon – The Hustler

In 1964, a young musician from the Dominican Republic by the name of Johnny Pacheco teamed up with ambitious Italian-American lawyer Jerry Masucci for the creation of a record label in New York. Named Fania, the brand-new company captured the sheer excitement of Afro-Caribbean music as it was just beginning to incorporate elements of soul, R&B and jazz into a vibrant sonic stew known as salsa. Fania grew in sales and scope at a rapid pace, documenting the New York Salsa Explosion of the ’70s and establishing itself as the Latin equivalent of Motown. Its catalogue of masterpieces from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s remains one of the most prodigious bodies of work in all of Latin music. In October 2019, Craft Recordings unveils the first batch of vinyl reissues to be released since the Fania catalogue was acquired by Concord in 2018.

During the late ’60s, Fania thrived on contrasts. On the one hand, it championed the albums recorded by the prolific Johnny Pacheco, honoring the Cuban roots of tropical music with elegant charanga instrumentations and a certain innocence of spirit. At the same time, it was also the label of choice for young musicians of Nuyorican and Puerto Rican origin who wanted to disrupt the cultural status quo with the rebellious energy of fresh sounds.

Trombonist, singer/songwriter and producer Willie Colón was one such artist, and his 1968 LP The Hustler still breathes with unpredictability, raw arrangements and the kind of visceral approach to Afro-Cuban beats that would come to define the essence of ’70s salsa. In retrospect, The Hustler sounds remarkably self-assured for a sophomore effort, particularly thanks to the timeless vocalizing of Héctor Lavoe, the closest to a rock star that salsa has ever known. On tracks such as “Que Lío” and “Eso Se Baila Así,” Lavoe’s soulful singing brims with humor and personality, while the piano licks by the late Markolino Dimond are, just by themselves, worth the price of admission.

Cut from the original analog masters by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, this reissue is pressed on 180-gram vinyl LP with the original artwork faithfully replicated on a classic tip-on record jacket.

Features:
• 180-gram vinyl LP reissue from Craft Recordings
• Cut from the original analog masters by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio
• Original artwork replicated and printed on a classic tip-on jacket