Two legends of Puerto Rican music, Willie Colón and Héctor Lavoe collaborated many times in the 15+ years before they recorded Vigilante. The trombonist Colón was recording albums in New York as early as 1967, when Lavoe first joined him as a vocalist at the recommendation of Johnny Pacheco, leader of the influential Fania Records label.

Though their collaborations were successful, Colón and Lavoe did not record together in the mid-to-late 70s and Vigilante was a sort of reunion, as well as their last album together. Recording began in 1982 as a soundtrack for the Robert Forster film Vigilante, which Colón also played a minor acting role in. Though the music was not used as the film soundtrack, it was completed and stands as a remarkable album.

Covering roughly 38 minutes in just 4 tracks, Vigilante is an example of musicians successfully stretching out and jamming, something Lavoe had previously done on albums like Comedia (1978), with its 10-and-a-half minute opener “El Cantante”. “Vigilante”, the second track here, is even more ambitious at over 12 minutes, with orchestral ambience, electric guitar solos, and Colón on vocals. While it sort of abandons the salsa format, “Vigilante” is the kind of stirring, high-concept track befitting an action movie, as was intended.

On the second side, the tale of one “Juanito Alimaña” unfolds to a hip-shaking beat. Lavoe belts as a chorus repeats,

En su mundo mujeres, fumada, y caña
Atracando vive Juanito Alimaña

The closer “Pasé la noche fumando” (“Spent the Night Smoking”) is my favorite track, with beautiful lyrics. No matter how much he smokes or drinks, Lavoe can’t forget his lost love. As he sings it,

Y a voy a fumar de nuevo
Y a pedir bebida
Al saber que luego
Por mas que trate, sin ti no sirve mi vida

This is accompanied by a horn-filled instrumental that just oozes romance and pain. There is some choice guitar picking about 6-minutes into this incredible track.

This album is a bright spot in the otherwise tragic final decade of Hector Lavoe’s life. Lavoe suffered the loss of a family members, a suicide attempt, and complications from AIDS, passing away at age 46 in 1993. Willie Colón has recorded since and performed live as recently as 2023.

Listen to Vigilante here.