William Anthony Colon Roman, a trombone player, composer and bandleader was born April 28, 1950 in New York. He is considered one of the founders of Latin American music. Although initially criticized, Colon’s album El Malo is now known for being the first to include the “New York Sound”, which sparked renewed interest in Latin music in the 1970s. Colon was instrumental in the rise of Latin musicians such as Ruben Blades (who first sang in Colon’s band in 755) and Celia Cruz (for whom Colon produced albums such as Only They Could have Done This Album (1977) and the highly-acclaimed duet album Celia (2012).
