This soundtrack for a Mexican soap opera, finally released in the US in late 2000, is Colón's best record in ten years. Colón also acted in the show, and apparently it got him fired up again - he even wrote a few songs and played trombone. The self-penned "Low Rider" puts a killer syncopated piano line and snarling horns against 4/4 drums for one of his most powerful tracks since the early 70's. The title track, which Colón wrote with keyboardist Ennio Gatti, is a mournful social comment recalling the late 70's Colón/Blades glory days (and even uses the police sirens last heard in "Pedro Navaja"). However, his third composition, "Mi Cumbia Bomba," comes off like a calculated attempt to create a hit, with a stale synth groove and excessive nationality-dropping. After "Low Rider," the fifty-five-second "Intermission" may be the purest fun on the record, a playful instrumental with intertwining trombones. Even the less intriguing numbers ("Despertares" by frequent contributor Amilcar Boscan) are fast-paced and clever. When Colón's giving maximum effort he explores material from outside his coterie of writers, and here he piles trombones onto Joan Manuel Serrat's "Toca Madera," get romantic on Spanish heartthrob Eros Ramazzotti's "Yo Sin Tí," and revisits Veloso's "Miel" (more swinging than the sedate 1980 version) - there's also a remake of "Cayo Condón." (DBW)