By: Sergio A. Rendón Ángel
For: www.latinastereo.com
Medellín, Colombia, October 2025
Based on this, our Salsero of the Month for October is the outstanding singer and background vocalist William Manuel Ramón Torres Méndez, better known by his stage name Willie Torres. He was born in Upper Manhattan, in New York City’s Spanish Harlem — “El Barrio” — on October 30, 1929, and passed away at the age of 90 at South Lake Hospital in Clermont, Florida, on August 13, 2020.
In the mid-1940s, Willie Torres took his first steps in music singing with a group called Papy Ali y sus Rumberos, known as the Orquesta de la Juventud, which included Gilberto López on piano. Later, he joined a small group with his friends Nicolás “Nike” Jiménez and vibraphonist Tomás “Tommy” Berríos, who would later become his bandmates in Joe Cuba’s ensemble.
He began his professional career with the orchestra of percussionist Gilberto Miguel Calderón Cardona, widely known as Joe Cuba, debuting in 1958 on the album I Tried to Dance All Night, where he sang and provided backing vocals alongside Yayo El Indio, Tony Molina, and Willie Bobo. With the Nuyorican conguero, he recorded at least 18 albums between 1958 and 1998.
During his long collaboration with Joe Cuba, Willie Torres showcased his talent as a composer, co-writing with his lifelong friend Nick Jiménez the now legendary Latin soul hit “To Be With You”, recorded by the Joe Cuba Sextet on the 1972 album Steppin’ Out.
In his early musical years, Willie Torres also recorded with major artists and orchestras such as Randy Carlos, Pete Terrace, Machito, Charlie Palmieri, Orlando Marín, Eddie Palmieri, and Pacheco y su Charanga.
In 1962, he joined Conjunto Cachana, led by another great musician from San Juan, Puerto Rico — the singer and musical director José “Joe” Quijano. With him, Torres recorded about a dozen albums, debuting with The World’s Most Exciting Latin American Orchestra and Revue (1962), and concluding with Cositas Sueltas… Cositas Nuevas Vol. 1 (1980).
That same year, he began recording with the “King of the Hard Hands,” Ray Barretto, appearing on roughly eight albums. By 1963, his vocal talent led him to join the Big Band of maestro Tito Puente, the “King of the Timbales,” with whom he recorded fifteen LPs, some alongside two great female icons of Latin music — La Lupe and Celia Cruz.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Willie Torres’s marathon musical journey included recordings with Orlando Marín, Walfredo Reyes, Mon Rivera, Willie Rosario, Tito Rodríguez, The Alegre All Stars, Mario Ortíz, Louie Ramírez, The La Playa Sextet, Graciela with Machito, Willie Bobo, Cándido, Santos Colón, Johnny Zamot, Cal Tjader, Manny Burgos, Monguito Santamaría, Bobby Valentín, Willie Rodríguez, and Jimmy Sabater, among many others.
Let’s also remember that Willie Torres participated in the legendary recording projects Alegre All Stars and Cesta All Stars during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He collaborated with the Palmieri brothers on about a dozen albums, including The Sun of Latin Music and Unfinished Masterpiece, both Grammy Award winners.
During the 1970s, Willie Torres’s musical activity did not slow down — on the contrary, it increased. He participated in at least forty productions alongside artists such as Manolín González, Willie Rodríguez, Chivirico Dávila, Celia Cruz, Yayo El Indio, Héctor Rivera, Louie Colón, Al Santiago, Tito Allen, Guarare, Dioris Valladares, and Ismael Quintana with Ricardo Marrero.
Willie Torres took a break from music in the 1980s, but returned in the 1990s, contributing greatly during the final stage of his career. He participated in recordings with Edwin Colón Zayas, Eddie Montalvo, Junior González, Jimmy Bosch, Ricky González, and the famous “Gentleman of Salsa,” Gilberto Santa Rosa, appearing on albums such as Auténtico, Directo al corazón, Contraste, Irrepetible, and Gilberto Santa Rosa.
The monumental career of William Manuel Ramón Torres spanned at least six decades, leaving an indelible mark. His voice and backing vocals can be heard on over 160 productions, encompassing nearly 1,600 recorded tracks, not counting his work as a lead singer and his contributions in other musical roles.
Among the vast list of iconic recordings from the golden age of Latin music in New York — where his unmistakable voice stood out in boleros, mambos, pachangas, montunos, guaguancós, and chachachás — are classics such as:
“Swinging Mambo,” “La Vida es Sueño,” “La Pachanga se Baila Así,” “Ritmo Bembé,” “Estuve Pensando,” “To Be With You,” “Recuerdos de Arcaño,” “Ritmo Sabroso,” “Guajira y Tambo,” “Guantanamera,” “Joe Cuba’s Mambo,” “Don Maceo,” “Alegre Mambo,” “Delirio,” “Princesita,” “En el Barrio,” “Soy Hijo del Siboney,” “Óyeme María,” “Oye Como Va (Apriétalo),” “Mujer Divina,” “El Títere,” “El Tabacón,” “Qué Chévere,” “Guaguancó de los Barrios,” “Contigo en la Distancia,” “Se me Fue la Montuna,” “Que me Traigan Guaguancó,” “Los Gemelitos,” “Chin Chon Chow,” “Cocinando,” and “Así Soy,” among many others.
This extensive repertoire not only showcased Willie Torres’s versatility but also mirrored the evolution of Latin music in New York from the 1950s and 1960s, when Cuban, Puerto Rican, and jazz influences fused to create a new sound.
From our online platform, www.latinastereo.com, home of Latina Stereo 100.9 FM, celebrating 40 years on air in Medellín, Colombia, we proudly present this research piece highlighting the remarkable career of another giant of our music.
