florian schneider from New York / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
American Trombonist, Singer, Producer, and Activist • Born 1950 • Salsa Music
Fast Facts
- Born in the South Bronx, New York City
- Parents were from Puerto Rico
- Began playing trumpet at a young age then switched to TROMBONE
- Colón has been a civil rights, community and political activist since the age of 16
- Mr. Colón’s work incorporates the rhythms of traditional music from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and “that ‘other’ ancestral homeland, Africa”
- Best known for playing SALSA
- In 1999, Colón was a member of the Jubilee 2000 Delegation to the Vatican along with Randolph Robinson of Trans Africa, Harvard economist Jeffrey Sachs, Bono from U2 and Quincy Jones. This work helped to forgive third world debt.
- In September 2004, Colón received the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award from the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
Musician of the Month Project 