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Malo (band)

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Malo (English: "Bad") is an American musical group known for its blend of Latino, rock, jazz and blues. The San Francisco-based ensemble was led by Arcelio Garcia, and Jorge Santana, the brother of Latin-rock guitarist Carlos Santana.

Three of Malo's original members (Arcelio Garcia, Pablo Tellez, and Jorge Santana) had previously played in the band The Malibus.

The other three members (Abel Zarate, Roy Murray, and Richard Spremich) had played together in the group Naked Lunch.^[1] (Zarate also played in a band called the Righteous Ones together. Abel Zarate and Roy Murray also played in another band founded by Zarate called Banda De Jesus (Named after Zarate's father "Jesus") along with longtime and current Bonnie Raitt bassist James "Hutch" Hutchinson and which was also produced by David Rubinson and Fred Catero though the tracks were never formally released.

The band featured full horn and percussion sections in the style of contemporary bands Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago. Some of the best musicians in the Bay Area were featured in Malo, including Luis Gasca, Forrest Buchtel, Jr., Ron Smith, and Tom Poole in the trumpet section. Malo's music was popular in Central and South America, especially the songs "Chevere", "Nena", "Pana", "Cafe", and "Oye Mama".^[2]

After the release of their first album, many of Malo's original band members left the group in a rift widely publicized in the media. Buchtel went on to play with Blood, Sweat & Tears, Jaco Pastorius and Woody Herman. Abel Zarate went on to play with Willie Bobo and continues to play Latin/Brazilian Global jazz in San Francisco with his group Zarate Pollace Project. Richard Bean formed the group Sapo. Arcelio Garcia remained the co founder and leader of Malo until his passing in 2020.

Malo's January 1972 hit single, "Suavecito" (meaning "soft" or "smooth" in Spanish), was the group's only song that charted on Billboard's Top 20, at #18 for 10 weeks. Lyrics were written by guitarist Abel Zarate and Pablo Tellez and sung by Richard Bean. Abel Zarate wrote and co-wrote many of the album's other songs.

A vocal section of "Suavecito" was included in the refrain of Sugar Ray's 1999 hit song, "Every Morning", which was one of Sugar Ray's most successful singles, climbing to number one on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart, becoming the latter country's second-highest-selling single of 1999. The chorus of the song references "Suavecito". Mark McGrath, Sugar Ray's frontman, says, "We referenced 'Suavecito' because growing up in California, you know, that was just like the low rider anthem. Any car show or swap meet you'd ever go by, you'd always hear that [song] and that just stuck in your mind." He added, "We actually came up with that part, and it was very similar to Malo's part. We were sort of imitating it, and then we said, 'Let's just leave it, we're gonna change it later.' It really makes the song – we think – so we just left it."

From 1994 to 1996, Malo was joined by new singer Martin Cantu. In 1995, Malo released SeñoritaonGNP Crescendo Records. The title track of the CD was co-written by Damon Bartlett and Martin Cantu, who, like previous band members, also grew up in the San Francisco Mission District. Martin went on to write the first single, "Take My Breath Away", along with co-writer Damon Bartlett and two other songs, "More Than Friends" and "Malo Ya Llego", co-written with Arcelio Garcia. Martin Cantu also has several songs featured on the 1998 album, Rocks The Rockies, a live Malo concert recording, recorded in Pueblo, Colorado.

• Malo's official website
• MaloatAllMusic
• Malo discography at Discogs