WILLIE COLON

Willie Colón

Born April 28, 1950, Bronx, N.Y., U.S.

Original name in full William Anthony Colón Román,

American trombonist, composer, bandleader, and activist who helped to popularize salsa music in the United States in the 1970s.

Born into a Puerto Rican household and raised in a predominantly Puerto Rican neighbourhood of the Bronx, Colón was immersed in the arts and culture—and the hardships—of urban Hispanic America throughout his childhood and youth. This environment was a powerful force in shaping his career, both as a musician and as an advocate for various Hispanic causes. His formal music education began when his grandmother gave him a trumpet and paid for lessons when he was 12. He shifted his focus to trombone at age 14, and when he was 17, he made his recording debut with El malo (1967; “The Bad One”). The album was an early example of the New York sound, a trombone-driven movement in Latin music that fused Caribbean rhythms and arrangements with lyrical popular-music styles. Such stylistic blending would characterize Colón’s work throughout his career. El malo also featured Colón’s first collaboration with Puerto Rican vocalist Hector Lavoe, a partnership that would endure through the mid-1970s and yield numerous hit songs, including “I Wish I Had a Watermelon” (1969) and “La murga” (c. 1970).

With the 1975 song “El cazanguero,” Colón began a lengthy partnership with vocalist Rubén Blades. Their album Siembra (1978) became the top-selling title in the catalog of its record label, Fania, and it remained one of the most popular salsa recordings into the early 21st century. Colón and Blades parted ways in the early 1980s but reunited several times during the next two decades for well-attended concerts. Meanwhile, Colón maintained an active recording schedule with his band Legal Alien and with various collaborators, including Cuban salsa singer Celia Cruz, versatile Venezuelan vocalist Soledad Bravo, and rock musician David Byrne. In the late 1990s Colón took a break from recording, although he continued to concertize extensively. He returned to the recording scene in 2008 with the release of El malo vol. II: Prisioneros del mambo.

Throughout his career Colón was a champion of Hispanic political and social causes, such as those concerning immigration and the availability of affordable health care and insurance. He wove political messages into much of his music, and in 1993 he performed at Pres. Bill Clinton’s inauguration ceremonies. In addition, Colón held positions of leadership in numerous cultural and humanitarian organizations. In 2004 the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences awarded him a Grammy for lifetime achievement.