Willie Colón (1950) is a ‘Nuyorican’, someone with Puerto Rican roots but born in New York, in this case in the South Bronx. Colón started his career as a (salsa) trombonist but soon started to sing and compose, too. He also became politically active. He was attracted to the trumpet as a boy, but soon switched to the trombone, because of the sound of his idol Mon Rivera. At age 17 he released his first successful album with Fania Records. Colón also learned how to compose, arrange, produce, and conduct. He has always combined jazz, rock and salsa in his music, with the trusted rhythms of the Caribbean providing the foundation. He has worked with salsa legends like Ismael Miranda, Celia Cruz, and Rubén Blades. His recordings, often relating the troubles of his people in the U.S., are some of the best sold in the salsa genre.
