Willie Colón Performs at Lehman Center

By Lennin Reyes

For the first time in 14 years, the salsero from Mott Haven known as El Malo del Bronx (the bad boy of the Bronx) returned to his old stomping grounds.

Thousands of salsa fans gathered at Lehman Center to see their native son, Willie Colón, perform his hits. “Salsa is in my veins,” Laura Maria Vega, 43, said. “I listened to this stuff since the days when my father had his own orchestra.”

Political commentator Gerson Borrero, who introduced the salsa veteran, discussed Colón’s legacy. “Thanks to the advice of his grandmother (whom a young Colón stayed with in the Puerto Rican town of Manati for several summers) and fellow musicians, Colón respected the Puertorriqueñidad (Puerto Rican identity),” Borrero said. “He helped make salsa part of that identity and culture.”

After Borrero introduced Colón, he began playing some of his most famous hits, ranging from love songs like Idilio (love affair), to the childhood-reminiscing Tiempo Pa’ Matár (time to kill), which talks about the many characters a young Colón grew up around in the 1960s South Bronx.

However, Colón is best known for songs that carry a social message. He discussed the impact of one of them, El Gran Varon (the grand man), which talks about a son named Simon, who disappoints his father, Andres, by becoming a transvestite and eventually, dying of AIDS. “When I recorded this, everyone [from the record label] got on me,” Colón said. “Little did I know that it would not only be the hit single [from the 1989 album Top Secrets/Altos Secretos], but it earned me a humanitarian award in Washington, D.C. two years later.”

Willie Colón with the late Hector Lavoe in the 1960s.

In addition to his extensive soloist catalog, Colón also performed hits from the days he played with the late Hector Lavoe, such as Te Conozco (I know you), Calle Luna, Calle Sol (moon street, sun street) and Lavoe’s signature song, El Cantante (the singer).

Hearing those songs made Colón and his fans reminisce about those years. “When I think of Willie Colon, I think of Hector Lavoe,” Francisco Castellanos, 54, said. “The ironic thing was that not only did we perform in opposite bands [prior to the two being in the same group], we performed at the same building, on 162nd Street and Prospect Avenue,” Colón said.

During the concert, Colón talked about the difference between playing in the Bronx and beyond. “I played in front of 110,000 people in Madrid, but they’re not as tough as playing in front of 1,000 people here,” Colón said. “You give a bad performance here, cuidado (be careful).”