Willie Colón is an American salsa trombonist, bandleader, and producer of Puerto Rican descent, born in the Bronx, New York in 1950 and central to the Fania Records era. This collection covers his bandleader and solo work — start with El Malo (1967) or Cosa Nuestra (1969), brassy Nuyorican salsa at its boldest. Browse Willie Colón vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Willie Colón was born in the Bronx, New York in 1950 to a Puerto Rican family. He became one of the most important figures of the Fania Records era and the New York salsa movement, first gaining fame as a young trombonist and bandleader. Over a long career he has been a prolific bandleader, composer, producer, and occasional vocalist. This collection focuses on his bandleader and solo output; his landmark collaborations with Héctor Lavoe and Rubén Blades are catalogued separately.
Colón is known for a bold, brassy, trombone-forward salsa sound and for continually expanding the genre by incorporating Puerto Rican, Panamanian, Brazilian, and other Latin and international influences. As a bandleader and producer, he played a central role in defining and evolving the Nuyorican salsa sound from the late 1960s onward.
Colón's extensive Fania catalog, including his early bandleader albums, is widely collected, with original pressings and reissues of strong interest to salsa and Latin music collectors. His vast discography makes for a deep collecting field.
Listeners new to Willie Colón as a bandleader often start with El Malo (1967) or Cosa Nuestra (1969). For his collaborations, see and.
