"Born William Anthony Colón Román on April 28, 1950, to Puerto Rican parents in New York City, Colón first picked up the trumpet in school. It seemed like a natural choice for the former bugle-playing Boy Scout, who attended the youth program at the suggestion of his grandmother. "So I could learn how to be a good boy," said Colón in a 1988 interview with Associated Press."
"The thrilling 1960s Latin music scene in New York consumed Colón, who was deeply inspired by Latin jazz pioneer and bandleader Eddie Palmieri, once part of a main act at the Palladium Ballroom who went on to form La Perfecta, a Cuban conjunto that revolutionized the New York Latin music scene with its inclusion of two trombones, played by Barry Rogers and Jose Rodriguez, instead of the costly four-set trumpets."
Willie Colón died at age 75, with his longtime manager Pietro Carlos confirming the death via Facebook. Colón had been reported ill and was admitted to NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester hospital in Bronxville, N.Y., with respiratory problems. Born William Anthony Colón Román in New York City to Puerto Rican parents on April 28, 1950, he began playing brass as a youth and led a band by age 13. Early experiences in New York nightclubs and influences from Eddie Palmieri and Mon Rivera drove his switch to trombone. Colón signed to Fania Records as a teenager and rose to prominence in salsa and Latin jazz.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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