Wilfredo
Colon Navas was born on July 20, 1956 in San Juan, Puerto Rico and became a professional musician at 21. As a child, he learned different instruments such as: piano, percussion, saxophone, vibraphone, conga and timbales, which is a paired of high-pitched drums.

Navas played percussion in his high school band for three years and was admired by students and faculty for his playing style. After graduation, he joined the U.S. Military Band and toured the world. He was able to help shape music styles by experimenting on blending different styles of music from a multitude of different ethnic groups.

While in San
Francisco, the young percussionist got the chance to see some of his idols, most notably Tito Puente perform live. He was also
introduced to a variety of new musical influences including jazz and international
folk music, and witnessed the growing of the original blend of Latin-infused
rock, jazz, blues, salsa and African rhythms movement that was centered in San Francisco
in the ’80s.

After his tour with the military band, Navas decided join the Tito Puente band where he toured with the band as a percussion player for five
years.

“In the years
that I was with Tito Puente he taught me a lot about what music has to offer
you in life and to always give back with your music no matter what,” said
Navas.

While Navas was in San Francisco, Calif., he went back to
school and attended the University of Norte Dame Music of San Francisco to polish up his music
skills to obtain a degree in music. This is where he met Carlos Santana and
Mark Anthony in concert at the University and went own to play with other
latin music legends.

While Navas was in Fullerton, Calif. visting a friend he
noticed that fullerton had a junior college that was number one in the field of
music study.

“I heard so much about the music program at Fulleton
College that I had to let my friend Freddie know about,” said Carlos
Beltran, Fullerton residence.

So Navas enrolled in Fullerton College Commercial Music Degree program where he became well-known for his music skills. Two years
ago, the FC Music Deptartment had Navas as a student, a music prodigy is what some referred him as.

On the Quad last semester Navas and his friends were heard playing in the FC WorldFest festival.

“Navas knows how to find good musicians; he has an eye for
good talent,” said FC Professor Bruce Bobad. “He would ask students in the class if they wanted to play with him in his
band.”

Navas is currently working on a live-recording album here at FC with the Perfect Driven Orchesta, a group
of musicians that Navas has founded here at school.

“The last time we played here at Fullerton, it was a
good experience for the students and me, so now I want to take it to a different level,” said Navas. “I always remembered what Tito said to me, ‘give back to your community with your music.’ So now I am giving back.”

The recording is set for March 2014.

Freddie Navas Press Kit can be found at www.reverbnation.com/freddienavas