Willie Colón's Loving Memory
Ay, tú eres mi bombón, (ah-ah) Mi bombón de chocolate, (o-no) Cuando te miro a los ojos, (ah-ah) El corazón me late, (o-no). Ah-Ah / O-No Willie Colón and Héctor Lavoe
TL;DR
- Willie Colón was a key figure in La Fania, an innovator of the trombone in salsa music, and an architect of musical alliances.
- His music marked the affective and musical lives of many Venezuelans and Latin Americans from the 1970s to the early 1980s.
- Colón's work encompassed various rhythms including plena, bomba, merengue, son, chachachá, guaracha, samba, bossa nova, and jazz.
- He incorporated the trombone as a prominent solo instrument in salsa, challenging the dominance of trumpets.
- His legacy is tied to collaborations with artists like Héctor Lavoe and Rubén Blades, and iconic songs such as 'La Murga de Panamá,' 'Ausencia,' 'Oh, qué será?', and 'Pedro Navaja.'
- The article draws a parallel between Colón's diverse artistic evolution and that of filmmaker Stanley Kubrick.
- Colón's music played a significant role in forging a collective Hispanic-American identity, analogous to the Latin American literary boom.
- His death has caused widespread emotion, reflecting his deep integration into the personal and collective memory of his listeners.