Music like Willie Bobo

William Correa (February 28, 1934 – September 15, 1983), better known by his stage name Willie Bobo, a Latin and jazz percussionist of Puerto Rican ancestry.

William Correa grew up in Spanish Harlem, New York City.

Correa became a noted timbales performer in Latin Jazz, specifically Afro-Cuban jazz, in the 1960s and 1970s. He met Mongo Santamaría shortly after his arrival in New York and studied with him while acting as his translator, and later at the age of 19 joined Tito Puente for four years.

The nickname Bobo is said to have been originated by the jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams in the early 1950s.

Correa joined George Shearing's band on the album The Shearing Spell. After leaving Shearing, Cal Tjader asked Bobo and Santamaría to become part of the Cal Tjader Modern Mambo Quintet, who released several albums as the mambo craze reached fever pitch in the late 1950s. Reuniting with his mentor Santamaría in 1960, the pair released the album Sabroso! for the Fantasy label. Bobo later formed his own group, releasing Do That Thing/Guajira with Tico and Bobo's Beat and Let's Go Bobo for Roulette, without achieving huge penetration.