About
Jesús Colón combines melody and bass, showcasing the sing-like possibilities of the double bass in his playing. Being part of the local jazz music scene in Puerto Rico for the past 10 years, Colón has performed frequently with such artists as Humberto Ramirez, William Cepeda, Julito Alvarado, Richard Peña, Jonathan Suazo and Gabriel Vicens to name a few. Colón currently teaches bass performance at the University of Puerto Rico and is in the compositional works developing musical projects that combine puertorrican tradition with a jazz aesthetic and the bass as a leading instrument.
BIO
Born the 13th of June 1995, Colon comes from a particularly musical family. His father Jose Colon, a singer and guitar would often take him to gigs when he was a kid and would often demonstrate musical tendencies especially for rhythmic instruments. His mother Ivelisse Flores also sang quite often and demonstrated a lovely, sweet and mellow tone on her voice.
At a younger age Colón took music lessons for percussion, piano, and some guitar; however this didn't spark a big enough interest for him to fully study music. This all changed when Jesús discovered the now well known video game Guitar Hero where you would simulate the act of playing a guitar with notes on a screen.
"I tell people this story all the time actually. I really got into music through rock and Guitar Hero. I've always been a fan of video games, and this one in particular ignited the musician inside of me. I became fairly good at the game, and this would actually help my sense of time when I think about it in hindsight. Perhaps I would've never discovered the universe in music if it wasn't for this encounter, to me that's crazy."
In 2010 Colón picked up the electric bass at age 15 and started taking lessons shortly with maestro Sammy Morales at the Guaynabo School of Fine Arts located in the heart of Guaynabo Puerto Rico. Morales introduced the young student to jazz, and this would forever change the direction and affinity towards this music.
Colón would go on to study accounting in the University of Puerto Rico. At this time also being a part of the Jazz Ensemble from the Music Department at the UPR Rio Piedras under the direction of Sammy Morales. However, his passion for music was too great. He instead chose to drop out in his third year of college to study at the Puerto Rico Conservatory located in Miramar. There he completed his bachelors degree in Jazz and Afro-Caribbean Music Performance in 2021.
Colón is currently in the last steps to complete his masters in Music Education at the very same institution which he holds very dear to his heart, the CMPR.
Coming full circle, Colón now teaches at the University of Puerto Rico, and directs the very same ensemble he was a part of when he was a student.
Also, Colón has release several singles as well as two full albums to his name: Jazz Sessions - Live at The Cannon Club and Numbers. Currently Colón plays with a wide variety of musicians across the entire island, and is in the works for new upcoming and innovative projects.