Malo cover

Malo

Released

Did you know Carlos Santana had a younger brother, Jorge, who was also a guitarist? It’s true! His best-known performance was at the Fania All-Stars’ 1973 concert at Yankee Stadium, where he tore it up behind vocalist Cheo Feliciano on the bluesy bolero “El Ratón,” but his band Malo made four albums for Warner Bros. in the early ’70s, of which their self-titled debut is easily the best. Their music combined powerful Latin-tinged hard rock, not unlike the work of Santana, with the Chicano street soul of East L.A. Indeed, tracks like “Pana” and “Café,” with fierce horn charts and rattling timbales, were at times harder and more energetic than Santana’s work, which was drifting toward jazz fusion at the time. And Jorge was a pretty fierce shredder. But they were also capable of gentle ballads; the lilting “Suavecito” was a major hit and can still be heard today wherever lowriders gather.

Phil Freeman

Suggestions
A Bad Donato cover

A Bad Donato

João Donato
Café Tacuba cover

Café Tacuba

Café Tacuba
Os Afro-Sambas cover

Os Afro-Sambas

Baden Powell, Vinicius De Moraes
Apollo Sound 6 cover

Apollo Sound 6

Roberto Roena y Su Apollo Sound
Electric Harlow cover

Electric Harlow

Larry Harlow, Ismael Miranda
Superimposition cover

Superimposition

Eddie Palmieri
Caribe cover

Caribe

Soledad Bravo
Tiempos cover

Tiempos

Rubén Blades
La Voz cover

La Voz

Héctor Lavoe