Uziel Colón

The story behind the sound

Uziel Colón is a Puerto Rican pianist, arranger and composer who has performed with Juan Luis Guerra, Ruben Blades, John Blackwell and Chaka Khan. Uziel was offered a scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music, where he earned a Bachelor of Music in Composition. While developing sharp classical abilities, Uziel became strongly influenced by the prevailing jazz scene, inspiring him to take jazz piano and composition lessons with the legendary Charlie Banacos. Later, Uziel began working with conga master Eguie Castrillo and his Big Band. After relocating to Los Angeles, California, Uziel pursued a Jazz Studies degree at CalArts, followed by a Masters in Commercial Music at CalState while writing and co-producing music Spanish-language television network, Telemundo. For the past five years, Uziel has been a Senior Project Manager for the Recording Academy (Grammys). This was preceded by a similar role at the Latin Record Academy (Latin Grammys). Meanwhile, as an educator, Uziel has been teaching music performance and theory since his late teenage years. Currently, he works as an Assistant Professor at California State University, Los Angeles, where he directs the Afro-Latin Music Program. Other career highlights include over 20 years include producing, arranging, composing, performing and leading bands in various music genres including Afro-Latin, jazz, gospel, pop and rock.