Willie Colón - MC2 (Theme Realidades)

Latin Funk Supreme!

The Devil's Music quietly slipped passed 1 million hits over the labor Day Weekend and i was to busy out & about to really do any "blog" celebrating, but I did pick up this wicked Latin funk 45 for a mere 50 cents over the weekend. So here goes, in honor of my one millionth hit.... MC2 by Willie Colon from 1975 on the Fania label.

As for Mr. Colon, here is his Wiki:

William Anthony Colón (born 28 April 1950) is a Nuyorican salsa musician. Primarily a trombonist, Colón also sings, writes, produces and acts. He is also involved in municipal politics in New York City.

Willie Colón was born in the South Bronx, New York, to Puerto Rican parents. He picked up the trumpet from a young age, and later switched to trombone, inspired by the all-trombone sound of Mon Rivera and Barry Rogers. He spent some summers at his maternal grandmother’s sister’s (La finca de Celín y Ramón) farm in in the outskirts of Manatí, Puerto Rico on the road to neighboring Ciales, Puerto Rico.[1]
He was signed to Fania Records at 15 and recorded his first album at age 17, which ultimately sold more than 300,000 copies. Due to fortuitous events, the main record producer at Fania at the time, Johnny Pacheco, recommended Héctor Lavoe to him.[2]
Mr. Colón has been a civil rights, community and political activist since the age of 16. He has served as a member of the Latino Commission on AIDS and the United Nations Immigrant Foundation, President of the Arthur Schomburg Coalition for a Better New York, member of the Board of Directors of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.[3] In 1995, Mr. Colón became the first minority to serve on the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) national board and is now a member of the ASCAP FOUNDATION.[4][5]

Musical career

Beyond the trombone, he has also worked as a composer, arranger, and singer, and eventually as a producer and director. Combining elements of jazz, rock, and salsa, his work incorporates the rhythms of traditional music from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and "that 'other' ancestral homeland, Africa", representing the mostly one-way flow from Puerto Rico to the New York-based diaspora.[6] "His life and music commute back and forth between his home turf in the Bronx and his ancestral Puerto Rico, with more than casual stop-offs in other musical zones of the Caribbean."[6] Colón "makes the relation between diaspora and Caribbean homeland the central theme of his work," particularly in his 1971 Christmas album, Asalto navideño.[6] The lyrics and music of the songs on this album "enact the diaspora addressing the island culture in a complex, loving but at the same time mildly challenging way."[6][7]
He went on to have many successful collaborations with salsa musicians and singers such as Ismael Miranda, Celia Cruz and Soledad Bravo, and singer-songwriter Rubén Blades.[8] On his website, Colón claims to hold the "all time record for sales in the Salsa genre, [having] created 40 productions that have sold more than thirty million records worldwide."[9]
One significant overarching theme in Colón's music, which draws from many cultures and several different styles, is an exploration of the competing associations that Puerto Ricans have with their home and with the United States. Colón uses his songs to depict and investigate the problems of living in the U.S. as a Puerto Rican,[10] and also to imply the cultural contributions that Puerto Ricans have to offer.[6]


Willie Colon - MC2 (Theme Realidades)