Supposedly the end of Willie Colon's early "crime" career – as the title and cover imply that he's finally been brought to trial! Don't worry about Willie being beaten down, though, because the music on the album is every bit as fierce and powerful as ever – and features a number of long tracks that really stretch out in a highly percussive groove! The group's great – with Jose Mangual on bongos, Joe Torres on piano, and Milton Cardona on conga – as well as Hector Lavoe still in the lead on vocals. Titles include "Aguanile", "Pan y Agua", "Seguire Sin Ti", "Timbalero", "Pirana", "Ah Ah O No", "Si La Ves", and "Sonando Despierto". LP, Vinyl record album

Killer early work by the Fania All Stars – caught live at the legendary Cheetah club, which was the heart of the New York salsa scene at the start of the 70s! The album is easily one of the best by the group – and features long tracks that really capture the jamming intensity that occurred on stage when this many great artists were brought together in one space – kind of the "next step" for the older descarga mode put fort at the start of the 60s, pushed forward into the prouder, more unified Latin scene of the 70s! All Stars on this date include Ray Barretto, Larry Harlow, Bobby Valentin, Willie Colon, Johnny Pacheco, and others – and titles on this second volume include "Ponte Duro", "Estrellas De Fania", and "Ahora Vengo Yo". LP, Vinyl record album

A really cool record, and one that uses the Cuban tres in a style that's nicely different than more traditional modes – often blending it with some of the hipper small combo Latin elements that had popped up on the New York scene in the mid 60s, which gives the instrument a very different energy overall! Mita handles the tres wonderfully here – electrified on most cuts, which almost creates the same sort of feel as those cool boogaloo records that Arsenio Rodriguez recorded in the 60s – not faithfully traditional at all, which is really the appeal! As with so many Mag Records productions from the period, there's all sorts of wonderfully offbeat elements going on – yet they never get in the way of the burning Latin grooves of the set, as you'll hear on cuts that include "Mango Mangue", "Arecibo", "Compay Chifuco", "Mita Descarga", "No Aguanto Mas", "Descarga En Botella Y Huiro", and "El Yo Yo". LP, Vinyl record album

Classic work from Willie Colon – the "payoff" of his youthful hoodlum routine, and a hard-hitting batch of salsa tunes pulled from earlier records – all in a package that defines his groove of the 70s! Hector LaVoe's on vocals with Willie's group – and he's also standing with Willie on the cover, a nice image that has the two of them dressed as big-time gangsters, standing next to a Rolls Royce! (Wonder what it cost them to rent that for the cover shoot?) But more important than Willie's perpetuation of himself as the bad boy of Latin music, is the overall sound of the record – fierce salsa, with a really strong approach that's as bold and proud as the image which supports it. Solid all the way through, and tracks include "El Malo", "Jazzy", "El Titan", and "Che Che Cole", a nice groover. LP, Vinyl record album