Willie Colón (born April 28, 1950) is a Nuyorican, a New York-born Puerto Rican, salsa and belero, musician, composer, record producer and social activist, hailing from the South Bronx, New York, U.S.
Colón’s earliest musical excursions began playing the trumpet aged 12, however he soon switched to the trombone having been inspired by the sounds of Mon Rivera and Barry Rogers. After signing to Fania Records in 1967, Colón made his recording debut with “El Malo”, which sold over 300,000 copies. The salsa musician alongside Hector Lavoe earned hits with the singles “Jazzy” and “I Wish I Had a Watermelon”, which became noted for being some of the earliest Latin music to feature the “New York Sound”.
Colón’s and Lavoe’s fruitful relationship lasted until 1975, when Willie was the director of the Latin Jazz All Stars and studying music theory, composition and orchestration. It was around this time Colón first worked with Rubén Blades on the album “The Good, the Bad, the Ugly” and invited the singer to become a full-member of his band. Around the same time Colón worked with singer Celia Cruz, producing the albums “Only They Could Have Done This Album” in 1977 and the duet album “Celia & Willie” in 1981.
The late ‘70s and ‘80s were marked by winning a series of respected awards and accolades including being voted Musician, Producer and Trombone Player of the Year by Latin New York in 1978, winning Musician of the Year and Album of the Year for “Fantasmas” in 1981 also by Latin New York, and earning a Grammy Award for his album “Canciones del Solar de los Aburridos” in 1982. The latter of which marked the last album Colón and Blades amiably worked on and spawned the hit singles “Tiburon”, “Ligia Elena” and “Te Estan Buscando”.
Towards the tail-end of the ‘80s Colón formed the band Legal Alien, later releasing the albums “Color Americano” in 1990 and “Honra y Cultura” in 1991. In 1993 the revered musician recorded “Hecho en Puerto” with an all-star line-up including Yomo Toro, David Byrne and Bobby Valentin. Colón has since released the albums “Experiencia” in 2004, “The Player” in 2007, and “El Malo, Vol. 2: Prisoneros del Mambo” in 2008. In response to his extensive output, Colón has earned 11 Grammy nominations, a CHUBB fellowship from Yale University –the Ivy League’s most prestigious award.
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