Trombone player, composer and bandleader Willie Colón is one of the pioneers of modern salsa and Latin jazz.
Colón holds fifteen gold and five platinum records, and has collaborated with celebrated artists such as Fania All-Stars, Hector LaVoe, Rubén Blades, David Byrne, Celia Cruz, and Yomo Toro among others. His music, which powerfully influenced modern Latin jazz, reflects both rhythmic and traditional lyrics.
His achievements in all his activities are widely recognized. He has created 40 productions, and as musician, composer, arranger, singer, and trombonist, as well as producer and director, Colón still holds the all time record for worldwide sales.
Born William Anthony Colón on April 28, 1950 in the Bronx, New York, and raised by his grandmother, her strong beliefs and personality, powerfully influenced his devotion to his cultural roots. Colón started playing trumpet at the age of 12, and switched to trombone two years later.
Willie Colón and Rubén Blades, the pioneers of what became known as “conscious salsa,” first encountered each other when Colón performed with his band in Blades’ native Panama in the late 1960s. Blades resumed contact with Colón when he visited New York, courtesy of a cheap flight obtained from his brother who worked for an airline. During his stay there, he recorded De Panama a Nuevo York (1970, Alegre Records) with the Pete “Boogaloo” Rodríguez band.
It was not until after Blades had relocated to New York at the end of 1974 (via Miami, where his family was exiled in 1973) to initially work in the Fania Records mailroom that an opportunity arose to sing and compose a track on Colón’s album The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (1975, Fania Records). The award-winning song ‘El Cazangero’ was an indictment of repression in Latin America. The collaborations continued with the 1977 hit Metiendo Mano! on Fania. The album spawned the hit ‘Pablo Pueblo,’ regarded by Blades as “the first (salsa) song that dealt with political and social overtones.”
One of Willie Colón and Ruben Blades’ most successful collaborations was Siembra (1978). The album featured hits such as “Pedro Navaja” (a reworking of the song ‘Mack the Knife’) and “Plástico,” a call for Hispanic unity.
The controversial two-disc concept album Maestra Vida (1980) about the lives of ordinary Latin Americans mixed songs and theatrical elements. “Willie brought in his producing talent, his insight into what people like to hear and how, and his arrangement ideas,” commented Blades about their marriage of talents. “I brought in the lyrics, the stories, the understanding of the Latin American from our position, not from the North, but from our perspectives. The combination proved successful and explosive.”
Their penultimate collaboration for Fania, Canciones del Solar de los Aburridos (Songs From The Tenements Of The Bored; 1981), did not receive much airplay in New York at the time of its release. This was primarily due to deejays shying away from the opening cut ‘Tiburón’ (shark); figuratively meaning “Imperialism”, arguably the duo’s most contentious recording commenting on U.S./Latin American policy. Composed by Blades, the song led to accusations that he was a communist sympathizer and effectively alienated him from the Cuban community in Miami.
Their final collaboration released on Fania, 1982’s The Last Fight, was released in tandem with a motion picture of the same name, in which Colón and Blades starred. Ominously titled, the movie was Fania Records Jerry Masucci’s attempt to break into the film industry, and it flopped badly.
Colón and Blades later had a major falling out, and in fact, did not share a studio for their Grammy-nominated reunion project Tras La Tormenta (1995, Sony Tropical). They reunited in 2003 for the critically acclaimed Siembra 25th Anniversary Concert, packing Puerto Rico’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium with 27,000 fans.
Reflecting on his early days of performing “conscious salsa” with Blades, Colón said in 1991: “that type of composition caused us a lot of trouble, so much so that at one point when we were doing Pedro Navaja and Tiburón with Blades, we had to perform in bulletproof vests.”
Colón’s album “El Malo” has become known as one of the first albums to feature the “New York Sound”, blending in jazz harmonies and jazz style soloing, Colón along with pianist and bandleader Eddie Palmieri, largely defined the sound of salsa”.
As a community leader, he has won both local affection and national recognition. In 1991 he was awarded the Yale University’s CHUBB fellowship, a political recognition he shares with the late John F. Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, Moshe Dyane, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush to mention a few.
In November of 1999 he became Dr. William A. Colón through a doctorate he received from Hartford, Connecticut’s Trinity College for The Art of Courage, a recognition given to artists who have used their art to make political change.
Through his work and positive message he has developed into a national and internationally respected sociopolitical voice and artist.
Discography
* Guisando (Fania, 1969)
* Asalto Navideño (Fania SLPF399, 1972)
* The Big Break (Fania SLP394, 1976)
* Siembra (Fania, 1978)
* Solo (Fania, 1980)
* Canciones del Solar de los Aburridos (Fania, 1983)
* Top Secrets (Fania, 1989)
* Illegal Aliens (Fania, 1990)
* Color Americano (CBS, 1990)
* Honra y Cultura (CBS, 1991)
* El Malo (Fania, 1991)
* 49 Minutes (Fania JM00525, 1992)
* Altos Secretos (Fania, 1992)
* Corazón Guerrero (Fania, 1992)
* Deja Vu (Fania, 1992)
* El Baquine de Angelitos Negros (Fania JMCD00506, 1992)
* Last Fight (Fania, 1992)
* The Best (Sony, 1992)
* Grandes Éxitos (Fania, 1992)
* Super Éxitos (Fania, 1992)
* Hecho en Puerto Rico (Fania, 1993)
* Willie & Tito (Vaya, 1993)
* Best, Vol. 2 (Sony, 1994)
* Lo Mato (Fania, 1994)
* El Juicio (Fania LPCD00424, 1994)
* Trans la Tornenta (Sony, 1995)
* Brillantes (Sony, 1996)
* Fania All-Stars (Sony, 1997)
* Mi Gran Amor (Madacy, 1999)
* Idilio (Sony Tropical 83999, 2000)
* Best (Fania 689, 2000)
* Demasiado Corazón (Líderes Entertainment Group 950 036, 2000)
* Criollo (BMG Latin 93611, 2002)
* La Experiencia (2004)
* Colección de Oro (2005)
* OG: Original Gangster (2006)
* The Player (2007)
* La Historia: The Hit List (2007)
* El Malo Vol II: Prisioneros del Mambo (2008)
* Asalto Navideño Live/En Vivo (2008)
* La Esencia de la Fania (2008)
* Historia de la Salsa (2010)
* Selecciones Fania (2011)
* Serie Premium: Sólo Éxitos (2013)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.