Trombone player, composer, and bandleader Willie Colón is one of the pioneers of Latin American music. Despite initial criticism, Colón's album
El Malo has become known as one of the first albums to feature the "New York Sound" that sparked a renewed interest in Latin music during the 1970s. Colón has been instrumental in the careers of such Latin musicians as
Rubén Blades, who first sang with Colón's band in 1975, and
Celia Cruz, for whom Colón has produced such albums as
Only They Could Have Done This Album in 1977 and the highly successful duet album
Celia & Willie in 1981. Colón has also produced albums for
Ismael Miranda,
Sophy,
Soledad Bravo, and the late
Hector Lavoe, who sang with his band in the early '70s. Inspired by the music of various cultures, Colón has recorded with such musicians as Puerto Rican cuatro player
Yomo Toro and
David Byrne. Colón's composition "Che Che Cole," adapted from a Ghanaian children's song, was used by
Ntozake Shange in the musical play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf. In addition to 11 Grammy nominations and one Grammy award, Colón has received a CHUBB fellowship from Yale University, the most prestigious award given by the Ivy League school. Colón ran for the United States Congress, representing New York's 17th Congressional District, in 1992.
Starting to play the trumpet at the age of 12, Colón switched to the trombone two years later. Making his recording debut in 1967, for
Al Santiago's Futura label, Colón became a victim of misfortune when the label folded. Colón was much more successful when he signed with
Johnny Pacheco's Fania label. When his vocalist failed to make Colón's first session for the label,
Pacheco suggested
Hector Lavoe as a replacement. The collaboration proved fruitful when two singles from Colón's first two albums (
El Malo,
Guisando) -- "Jazzy" and "I Wish I Had a Watermelon" -- became hits.
Lavoe remained a vital member of Colón's band until the mid-'70s when an increased drug addiction caused him to miss or show up late for several gigs. Although their partnership formally ended in 1975, Colón and
Lavoe continued to work together.
Lavoe's last album,
Strikes Back, released in 1987, was produced by Colón.
In 1975, Colón balanced his schedule as director of
the Latin Jazz All Stars with studies in music theory, composition, and orchestration. His increased knowledge paid off quickly. In 1978, Colón was named Musician, Producer, and Trombone Player of the Year in a readers poll conducted by Latin New York. Three years later, he received an award as Musician of the Year and his album
Fantasmas was named Album of the Year. Colón continued to garner acclaim when his album
Canciones del Solar de los Aburridos received a Grammy award in 1982.
Although they met backstage before a concert in Panama in 1969, Colón and
Blades didn't begin collaborating until five years later. While working on the album
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, Colón asked
Blades to sing on the
Blades-penned tune "El Cazanguero," which reflected on
Blades' experiences as a law student working in a Panamanian prison. The session was so satisfying that
Blades became a full-time member of Colón's band following the departure of
Lavoe. Their 1978 album
Siembra became the top-selling album in Fania's catalog. Despite their success,
Blades severely quarreled with label president Jerry Mascucci over money. Although Colón recorded two solo albums --
El Baquine de Angelitos Negros in 1977 and
Solo in 1979 -- and
Blades recorded a solo album,
Maestra Vida, in 1980, their solo work failed to match the commercial success of their joint efforts.
In 1981, the two musicians resumed their partnership, with
Blades playing coro on Colón's solo album
Fantasmas. The following year, they collaborated on the Grammy-winning album
Canciones del Solar de los Aburridos, which yielded the hits singles "Tiburon," "Ligia Elena," and "Te Estan Buscando." Their partnership again proved short-lived as Colón and
Blades split up after working on the film
The Last Fight. The split was far from amiable and the two musicians continued to feud until reuniting for a concert at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan in March 1992. Despite collaborating on the album
Tras la Tormenta in 1995, Colón and
Blades recorded their parts separately. Following a reunion concert at the Hollywood Bowl in 1997, Colón and
Blades performed a series of concerts together.
In the late '80s, Colón formed a new band,
Legal Alien, with younger musicians. Signing with Sony, Colón and the band recorded
Color Americano in 1990 and
Honra y Cultura in 1991. Two years later, Colón recorded
Hecho en Puerto Rico with an all-star band featuring ex-members of
the Fania All-Stars,
Papo Lucca and
Bobby Valentin. Since leaving Sony over a lack of promotional support, Colón continued to remain active, filling stadiums and concerts halls throughout Latin America and releasing new material including
Experiencia in 2004, followed by
The Player three years later and
El Malo, Vol. 2: Prisioneros del Mambo in 2008.
Colon/Blades - 1978 - Siembra
This version of the Zawinul Syndicate could swing harder than any Zawinul-led unit since the heyday of Weather Report, as this two-CD set -- taken from three concerts in Berlin and Trier, Germany -- triumphantly illustrates. Small wonder, for the lineup of the Syndicate looks almost like a Weather Report alumni gathering, with Zawinul, the brilliant percussionist Manolo Badrena from the 1977 Heavy Weather band, and bassist Victor Bailey, from the great '80s global-funk edition forming a quorum, with Paco Sery on drums and Gary Poulson on guitar filling out the ranks. Zawinul remains a marvel at 65, always in touch with the idea and feel of the groove, weaving spare, enigmatic electronic comments and spangled layers of synthesizers into the mix, creating a touching dialogue in "Zansa II" with Sery's kalimba. Some of the material stems from the early years of the Syndicate, and "Indiscretions" and "Two Lines" date all the way back to Weather Report. Among the greatest groovathons -- at last presented in full glorious concert length on CD -- are "Indiscretions," which gets the voodoo going in an insinuating manner, and "N'awlins," which manages to evoke the Crescent City R&B feeling in a swingingly original way. The set's two anomalies are "When There Was Royalty," a curious intermezzo consisting of Zawinul's polystylistic solo piano musings poorly recorded in his home studio on a Walkman, and "Success," a spoken poem by Erich Fried set against the stunning blend of Berlin church bells and electronics. For a souvenir of the state of Zawinul's art in the 1990s, this is the album to get.
