Musicology

Malo - Dos 1972

Malo's second album was cut with a lineup that had been reorganized following their debut. It's a little slicker than their first LP and the material isn't as strong. It's nonetheless a strong and invigorating rock/Latin jazz fusion, boasting some really hot playing, both in the ensemble work and improvisation. The six cuts, save one, all run more than five minutes, the closing "Latin Boogaloo" approaching ten minutes in length. Often this is closer to rockified salsa music than it is to the salsified rock music of lead guitarist Jorge Santana's brother, Carlos Santana. Occasional dives into sentimentality, as on the opening part of "I'm for Real," with its floating violin and percussive tinkles, are more than compensated for by some smoking Santana leads, particularly on the hyperactive "Held." "I'm for Real" was the cut most likely to follow up on the success of their "Suavecito" single, both because it was sung in English and because it had traces of the same kind of smoochy soul. Again, it wasn't too typical of the album as a whole, which combined several tributaries of pop with imagination and high levels of musicianship. Sometimes this was stretched out with jamming much more intelligent and fully thought-out than most lengthy, instrumental-oriented rock cuts, particularly on "Latin Boogaloo." The album has been reissued on CD as one of the discs in Rhino Handmade's Celebracion box set, with the addition of three bonus tracks, though those are merely edited single versions of songs on the LP. AllMusic.

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