Known affectionately as "El Titán de la Salsa," Grammy-winning trombonist, vocalist, composer, and arranger Alberto Barros established his own prize-collecting orchestra, Los Titanes, after earlier stints playing trombone and supplying arrangements for Colombia's foremost salsa outfits such as Fruko y Sus Tesos, Joe Arroyo, Pacho Galán, and Adolfo Echeverría. For 14 years he also held the posts of music director and principal arranger with Grupo Niche. While building that résumé, Barros partnered with leading figures across the genre and sustained a parallel solo trajectory marked by multiple releases both alone and with Los Titanes.
Born in Barranquilla, Colombia, into a musical household, he received early encouragement from his father, the celebrated Colombian composer José Benito Barros. At 14 Barros entered formal training at the Conservatory of the Universidad del Atlántico and subsequently studied harmony and orchestration at university in Medellin.
He launched Los Titanes in 1982 and captured the Golden Congo at the Barranquilla Carnival Orchestra Festival with the group's first recorded success, "La Palomita." Additional early group hits included "Sobredosis de Amor," "Por Retenerte," and "En Trance." Demand for his services as musical director soon extended beyond his own ensemble; international salsa and Latin jazz performers such as Celia Cruz, Óscar de León, Héctor Lavoe, Andy Montañez, and Pete "El Conde" Rodríguez enlisted him to lead their bands. During the 1990s Los Titanes ranked among Colombia's premier salsa acts, issuing the run of successful albums Amor y Salsa (1990), Tentacion (1991), Basto una Mirada (1994), Sexta Avenida (1995), Rompiendo Esquemas (1996), Salsa al Máximo Voltage (1998), and Tributo a Héctor Lavoe "La Voz" (1999). The following decade brought Salsa Magic (2001) and Salsa Super Power (2003).
Barros made his solo album debut in 1995 with the live Sony set El Titan de la Salsa. His first Latin Grammy nomination came in 2001 for his contributions to Grupo Niche's Propuesta. He also released a series of well-regarded independent albums: Alberto Barros y Su Titanez de la Salsa (2003), Alberto Barros y Su Titanez de la Salsa en Vivo (2004), Titan de la Salsa (2006), and Mano a Mano (2008). In 2005 he secured his first Latin Grammy victory for producing Marc Anthony's Valio la Pena; across categories he has earned seven nominations and three wins. His initial concert CD/DVD, Tributo a la Salsa Colombiana (2007), appeared on the Universal imprint Machete Music and served as the model for six further installments, one of which yielded the tropical airplay hit "La Palomita."
Alongside his work with Los Titanes and under his own name, Barros has supplied trombone and arrangements for albums by Latin superstars including Ricky Martin, Carlos Vives, Ricardo Arjona, Gloria Trevi, Issac Delgado, Tito Nieves, Ismael Miranda, India, Olga Tañón, Andy Montañez, and many others. In 2017 Tributo a la Salsa Colombiana, Vol. 7 earned the Latin Grammy for Best Salsa Album.
