Family, friends and fans gathered at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Monday to remember Willie Colón, a New Yorker and Grammy-nominated architect of urban salsa music who died last month at age 75.
It was a sendoff fit for a king — a king of Salsa music.
“I thought I was in the Puerto Rican Day parade, how about that,” fan Mitchell Tolentino said.
The rhythms of Willie Colón echoed down Fifth Avenue Monday morning. His sons gave his eulogy and said it was their father’s dream to have his funeral here.
“Everyone knows Willie ‘El Malo,’ Willie El Salsero, Willie the composer, even Willie the sheriff, but to us he was Papa,” his son Diego Colón said.
Colón was of Puerto Rican heritage, and he grew up in the South Bronx. He learned to play the trumpet at 12 years old, switching to a trombone two years later.
He was a trombonist, composer, arranger and singer, and was revered as a pioneer of Latin music.
One family traveled all the way from Canada to attend his funeral.
“Well, we come from Montreal and we went to see Willie in October,” Yani Re said. “So then, when we heard the news, we wanted to be physically here also.”
A band, including musicians who had played alongside him, serenaded his casket, and hundreds of devoted fans gathered to pay their respects.
Ozzie Melendez played with Colón for more than 35 years and was part of the sendoff.
“It was an incredible learning experience. It was humbling as a trombonist the way he played, as well as producing and singing. He was one of my mentors, so it’s a very sad day,” Melendez said.
Colón produced 40 albums and sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, and even collaborated with artists like Celia Cruz.
He was also a community leader who fought for civil rights and served as a special assistant to two New York City mayors. His album, “El Malo,” featured a quintessential New York sound that drew renewed interest in Latin music during the 1970s.
“He was a pioneer. He was a trailblazer. He was an architect of that music. He defined the sound for trombonists all over the world,” trombonist Frank Cohen said.
Colón is survived by his wife of 49 years, Julia Colón Craig, four sons, his sister and six grandchildren.
The cause of his death was not publicly announced, but his family said on social media that he passed away peacefully, surrounded by relatives at a hospital in Westchester County.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source ny1.com ’
