Javier Colon

Colon was born in Stratford, Connecticut,[1] the son of a Dominican father and Puerto Rican mother,.[2] His father worked in a radio station.[3] He went to Frank Scott Bunnell High School in Stratford, Connecticut, where he started writing songs. Then he pursued a degree in music education from the University of Hartford's Hartt School. While studying, Javier also performed as vocalist and percussionist in EmcQ, a soul/funk band led by lead guitarist Ian McHugh and mainly dedicated to the legacy of Stevie Wonder.

When EmcQ opened a show for the soul-jazz trio Soulive, the group's guitarist, Eric Krasno, was impressed by Javier's vocals and recommended him to his friend Derek Trucks, who he knew was looking for a lead vocalist for The Derek Trucks Band.[2] Following his college graduation[2] and a successful audition in July 2000, Javier joined the band in August 2000.[4]

After touring with the band for nearly two years, Javier, then 24 years old, left the band in April 2002 to pursue a solo career,[4] having been signed by Capitol Records. He went on to release two albums with Capitol Records, the first the self-titled Javier in 2003, and the second entitled Left of Center in 2006.[2]

Since parting ways with Capitol Records, Javier has performed with such diverse acts as Joss Stone, Darius Rucker, the Indigo Girls, Stevie Nicks, Adam Levine, and Anthony Hamilton,[5] and recorded an EP on his own label, Javier Colon Music.[6] On stage, Javier's primary instruments are steel and nylon stringed acoustic guitars by Larrivée (guitar company) and Taylor Guitars. In 2009, he was featured as singer and songwriter for song, "October Sky", on Vanessa Williams's vocal album, The Real Thing.

Javier[7] (2003)

On August 5, 2003 – Javier released his debut, self-titled album on Capitol Records. His first single, entitled "Crazy", debuted at No. 95 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 42 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[8] The second single, "Beautiful U R", did not have the same commercial success as his first release. The album reached No. 91 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and No. 18 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Javier consisted of mainly R&B songs, with a mixture of other genres such as jazz and funk, as well as a little influence of Javier's Latin roots. After the release, Javier's music style drew comparisons with the likes of Kenny Lattimore,[9] Brian McKnight, and Babyface. Pianist Mulgrew Miller and trumpeter Roy Hargrove performed on the final track, "October Sky", the only featured artists to appear on the album.[9]

Left of Center[10] (2006)

On March 7, 2006 – Three years after his self-titled debut, Javier released his second album Left of Center.[11] The album title was used to demonstrate that Javier was not like the rest of the present Contemporary R&B artists. Javier did keep to his main R&B/Neo-soul genre, but again mixed in other styles and genres. Three singles from album were released: "Indecent Proposal", "Dance for Me", and "The Answer is Yes". None of them had any major success, and the album only reached #37 on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Like Javier, Left of Center had minimal artist features, namely just fellow R&B artist Anthony Hamilton who appeared on the song "Count On Me". Although the album was not successful commercially, multiple reviews praised Javier for his unique style and willingness to do his own thing.

The Truth-Acoustic – EP[12] (2010)

On August 3, 2010 – This six-song EP entitled "The Truth"[13] was released on Javier's own label. In the Album Notes for the EP at CD Baby, Javier is quoted as saying, "The Truth-Acoustic EP is part 1 of a larger project that I've been working on for over 3 years. I've taken a few songs that will be on my upcoming album Ok... Here's The Truth[14] and recorded them acoustically for this EP."

Colon with his guitar during a December 2014 performance

Javier Colon released his third album Come Through For You on Universal Republic Records on November 21, 2011. The debut single from the album is "As Long As We Got Love" and features Natasha Bedingfield. The album also includes "Stand Up", a song that features his mentor during The Voice, Adam Levine, and a song "Raise Your Hand",[27] co-written by Season 8 American Idol Winner, Kris Allen.

A year after winning The Voice and being signed by Universal, Colon announced his departure from the record label through BuddyTV on June 7, 2012, stating the lack of support for his latest album Come Through for You, and his first after win, as the reason. In his statement he says: "I went into it with high hopes, as I believe everyone did. But when you pour your heart and soul into a new album that you think is really great, and your label who is supposed to support, market and promote your music does neither, it's really hard not to be upset. The truth is, we are all better off going our separate ways." Colon continues singing and looking for "a more mutually beneficial relationship".

In 2013, he launched the series Inside Voice, full title Inside Voice with Javier Colon, a weekly show broadcast on Back9Network that he co-hosts with Jenn Bosworth.[28] In the show, they discuss the season 5 of The Voice.

In 2014, Concord Music Group announced the addition of Javier Colon to their list of artists.[29] The label released his fourth album, Gravity in 2016.

Supporting

• The Voice Live on Tour (2011)

Opening

• 2011 Summer Tour (2011) (with Maroon 5 and Train)
• Overexposed Tour (2012) (with Maroon 5)

• Javier Colón official website
• Javier Biography at SoulTracks
• Javier Colon page on official NBC The Voice website

• Javier Colon at IMDb

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