Willie Rosario

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Born Fernando Luis Rosario-Marin on May 6th, in Coamo, Puerto Rico. Willie started playing the saxophone and guitar at the age of 12 in his hometown. At sixteen, he formed the Conjunto Coamex. While still in his teens, Willie moved to New York City, where a revolutionary transition was re-occurring in Latin Music. The big bands of Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez and Machito were creating a new musical direction for Latin music. Their arrangements and instrumentation were broadening the texture, timbre and color of Afro Cuban music. On his return from the Army, at age 22, Willie went to the Palladium Ballroom in New York to see Tito Puente perform. That particular evening, Tito played regular trap drum set with his orchestra, which just knocked Willie out. Shortly after that experience, Willie began studying the trap drum with Henry Adler and veteran New York radio musician, Willie Rodriguez.



After playing with prominent bands like Johnny Segui, Joe Quijano and others, in 1958 Willie started his own orchestra. One night he visited the Little Neck, Long Island home of vocalist-Bandleader Tito Rodriguez, which taught him to administrate and direct a disciplined organization of musicians. He learned to develop his own style of relaxed, but fiery, swing from Rodriguez. In the spirit of "Helping one of your own", fellow Puerto Ricans Tito Rodriguez and Tito Puente helped the Rosario band to get started with charts from their own books.



Al Santiago, the owner of Alegre Recordings, hired Charlie Palmieri to organize a series of Jazz tinged "Descargas" for recording purposes. Willie Rosario was selected drummer. In 1962, he signed Rosario to record for his newly created Alegre Records.



During the "Charanga" craze of the early 60s, Al Santiago kept the Rosario band working with club dates. After Alegre folded and Godfather Santiago was powerless, Rosario learned about the reality of New York Latin music world. He soon learned that the booking of dance bands for club dates was like the Barnum and Bailey Circus. The same show traveled from club to club and other acts, which had no agents and were not permitted to earn a livelihood. Popular Latin Music D.J Dick "Ricardo" Sugar got Rosario an Atlantic recording date and on the back liner notes of the Acro label LP Boogaloo y Guaguanco. Sugar wrote "Success unfortunately is usually measured in monetary terms, if it were in terms of ability, then one of Latin music’s most successful artist would be Willie Rosario." He also wrote "He has one of those rare and refined cultured personalities that rather forces you to seek him out, instead of his pushing himself to your attention."



In order to support his family, Willie took off jobs, one of them as percussion teacher. He also sold grocery store items for a food distributor during the daytime and at night was a mailroom supervisor. In 1967 he hosted a Latin Jazz radio program WADO. The program, which was in Spanish, was about the history of Latin music, origins of rhythms and anecdotes. The format included guest like Tito Rodriguez, Pianist-Bandleader Pete Rodriguez, Larry Harlow, and Joe Quijano etc. Rosario had all of Latin New York listening to him.



Rosario just couldn’t stay away from music. He organized a band and looked for work. He was told that without a current recording, it would be almost impossible to get gigs. Pete Bonet, at the time Louie Ramirez’s vocalist, who also booked bands at the Corso Ballroom, gave Rosario 12 dates. In 1970, a new Corso administration ended Rosario’s contract.



The following year his attention improved after his Inca label recording of "El Barrio Obrero A La Quince" rose to the number one slot in Puerto Rico. "El Barrio Obrero is my biggest hit," said Rosario. He moved to Puerto Rico and a new world opened up for him. After six months, his band was working steadily.



The Rosario Orchestra is a college of music. Quite a few current Salsa and Latin Jazz stars graduated from Rosario’s University and will tell you there is not a group on any bandstand in the world that out swings the Willie Rosario Orchestra.



Willie Rosario has his own musical production company in Puerto Rico named "WilRo Productions". Since its inception, Willie’s orchestra has always been considered to be one of the tightest and swingiest orchestras on the Latin scene. To this date, Rosario has recorded 37 albums, quite a few good enough to be Grammy Nominees. His latest being "Back to the Future."