Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
By LISSETTE CORSATrombonist/singer Willie Colon is bringing his fusion of Latin sounds from New York to Tampa.
Willie Colon made his name as a pioneer of what's now known as New York salsa, with tight grooves and tough lyrics about growing up Latino in the Bronx.
"Life was rough. We were spoken down to a lot for being Latino. I just kind of held on to it," he said of his heritage. "You needed to explore your roots more in order to feel more secure."
The trombone player and singer has been exploring his musical roots for the past four decades, experimenting with sounds from Brazil to Panama and exploring his Caribbean roots by mixing Puerto Rican plena with Cuban son.
Now, after 20 years in suburban Westchester County, Colon, 53, is back on his home turf.
"I love living in the Bronx," Colon said during a phone interview. "Nobody puts on airs. It gives me balance."
In recent years, Colon has been trying to turn his musical message into political action, twice running for public office in New York. Recently, New York City hired him to help stimulate tourism and the arts after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
But for the most part, Colon is concentrating on his music, planning to record a new album in the fall and embarking on a short international tour that takes him to Mexico, Ecuador and a few U.S. cities this summer. He performs in Tampa for the first time on Friday at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.
Since the beginning of his artistic career, Colon, who describes himself as a second-generation "Newyorican," has strived to achieve Latin unity through music. He says mixing different sounds came naturally.
"It was more of an organic process," he explained. "Some people want to credit me with masterminding something, but I think I was more a product than an actual creator."
But he did pioneer a new salsa sound by replacing trumpets with trombones. His music also includes jazz-style harmonies and solos.
In 1978, Colon hit it big when he teamed up with Ruben Blades to make Siembra, the most successful Latin album of its time. Through the years, he's collaborated with other salsa icons, such as the late Celia Cruz.
Although he made waves with the trombone, Colon actually got his start in music on a trumpet his grandmother gave him for his 11th birthday.
"I had this obsession with it," Colon recalled. "I would practice for eight hours a day. We were very, very poor, and the bright, shiny trumpet was like a treasure. It was the greatest gift."
But hearing a record by fellow Bronx-bred Latin trombonist Barry Rogers changed his path.
"He came out with this roaring elephant solo, and it impressed me so much that I went out and bought a trombone," he said.
By 15, Colon had a recording contract with Fania Records, famous for packaging Afro-Cuban music with an urban New York twist and largely Puerto Rican flair. Bandleaders Johnny Pacheco (who co-founded Fania in 1964) and Ray Barretto already had redefined the sound, replacing the violins and flutes typical of Cuban charanga arrangements with leaner, brass-driven lineups. Colon epitomized the tough new soundscape through songs that portrayed the soul of the barrio.
"It was a great era. It was like the wild, wild West in the Latin music industry," Colon said of the Fania years. "There were a lot of independent producers. Each group was like a baseball team competing against each other. It was an organic process in musicmaking. It wasn't a corporate decision to do this or that. Ideas, lyrics, concepts were coming out of different barrios.
"It was a great time. . . . It wasn't just about making a hit, but about shocking people with your musicality."
PREVIEW: Willie Colon, 8 p.m. Friday, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 1010 N MacInnes Place, Tampa. $18.50-$39.50. (813) 229-7827, (813) 287-8844 or (727) 898-2100.