There Goes the Neighborhood

At the height of his popularity in 1975, trombonist Willie Colón gathered an all-star band to collaborate with and pay tribute to one of his biggest influences, singer and bandleader Mon Rivera, who had pioneered the use of multiple trombones in salsa. (Eddie Palmieri had a similar idea around the same time.) With Héctor Lavoe and Rubén Blades in the chorus, Papo Lucca on piano, Eddie Rivera on bass, Kako, Jose Mangual and Milton Cardona on percussion, and four trombones in the front line, this is a high-energy, celebratory album that showcases Rivera’s high-pitched, slightly nasal and extremely fast, almost scatting vocals (his nickname was “El Rey de Trabalengua,” the King of Tongue Twisters). It’s a blast.