Willie Rosario

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Willie Rosario

Willie Rosario (born May 6, 1930 in Coamo, Puerto Rico ), actually Fernando Luis Rosario Marin, also called "Mr. Afinque", is a Puerto Rican salsa musician .

Career

Willie Rosario was born in 1930 to a poor family in Coamo, Puerto Rico. His parents encouraged his musical talent through guitar and saxophone lessons . In 1946 he founded his own band Coamex and a year later his family moved to Spanish Harlem in Manhattan / New York . Willie Rosario was playing congas in various orchestras at the time . After graduating from high school, he studied journalism and public relations. A live performance by Tito Puente in the Palladium Ball Room fascinated him for the instrument timbales and prompted him to take lessons from percussionist Henry Adler. In 1959 Rosario had his own band again and played in the New York club Caborrojeño. He also worked as a disc jockey for the Hispanic American radio station WADO. In 1962 he signed a recording deal with Alegre Records and toured with his band through Venezuela , Panama , Colombia , Mexico , Curaçao , the Virgin Islands and within the USA . Together with Bobby Valentín he opened the Tropicana Club in Puerto Rico in 1980. His greatest hits include songs like "De Barrio Obrero a la Quince", "El Timbal de Carlitos", "Mi Amigo el Payaso", "El Revendon", "Lluvia" and "Cuando No Hay Cariño". He also composed jazz songs like "Flip, flop", "Stop and go" and "My Favorite Thing". With the participation of Gilberto Santa Rosa , Tony Vega , Papo Lucca and Bobby Valentín, he produced Latin Jazz Go-Go-Go, "El Bravo soy Yo", "Too Too Much" and "Willie Rosario y su Ritmo" - his last production was "La Banda Que Deleita" in 2006. In October 2006 he performed at the Isla Verde Mall in Carolina / Puerto Rico and at a gala of Puerto Rican doctors in El Paso / Texas in December 2007.

Discography

  • El Bravo Soy Yo (1963)
  • Fabuloso y Fantastico (1966)
  • Latin Jazz a Go-Go (1967)
  • Two Too Much (1968, with Alfredo Rodríguez )
  • Haida Huo (1968)
  • Boogaloo & Guaguanco (1968)
  • El Bravo de Siempre (1969)
  • De Donde Nace El Ritmo (1970)
  • Más Ritmo (1972)
  • Infinito (1972)
  • Otra Vez (1975)
  • Gracias Mundo (1977)
  • From The Depth Of My Brain (1978)
  • El De 20 De Wilie (1980)
  • El Rey del Ritmo (1981)
  • The Portrait of a Salsa Man (1981)
  • Atízame El Fogón (1983)
  • The Salsa Machine (1983)
  • Nuevos Horizontes (1984)
  • Afincando (1985)
  • Nueva Cosecha (1986)
  • A Man Of Music (1987)
  • The Salsa Legend (1988)
  • Unique (1989)
  • Viva Rosario (1990)
  • The Roaring Fifties (1991)
  • Tradición Clasica (1993)
  • Sorpresas (1995)
  • Back To The Future (1999)
  • La Banda Que Deleita (2006)

Prizes and awards

  • Grammy Award for "Nueva Cosecha" (1987)
  • various gold and platinum records
  • Golden Agueybana Award, ACE, Diplo and Paoli Award
  • Award from Senate of Puerto Rico (2000)
  • International Latin Music Hall of Fame (2002)

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ http://salsaclasica.com/willierosario/discography.asp

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Rosario, Willie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rosario Marin, Fernando Luis (real name); Mr. Afinque (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Puerto Rican salsa musician
DATE OF BIRTH May 6, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Coamo, Puerto Rico