Venezuela Bids Adios to A Much Loved Folk Legend

 

Venezuela's most famous and best loved folk musician Simon Diaz, known affectionately by his fans as Tio Simon (Uncle Simon), has died aged 85. The news of his death sparked a huge outpouring of support for his life and work on the social networking site Twitter from Venezuelans, folk music fans, and his fellow musicians. 

His daughter Betsimar Díaz made the announcement on 19 February, tweeting. “Tearfully I announce to the country that my beloved father passed away this morning, in peace”..He had been suffering for some years from Alzheimer's Disease.

Over a long career he wrote over 200 songs, but his most famous composition is "Caballo Viejo", which became a huge international hit for the Franco-Spanish group the Gipsy Kings after they renamed it "Bamboleo". 

From the 1970s to the 1990s he hosted a number of children's TV shows that promoted Venezuelan folk traditions, humour and songs, something which won him a special place in the hearts of those Venezuelans who grew up with him.

Born on the 8 August 1928 in Barbacoas and baptized Simón Narciso Díaz Márquez, he is famous for his renditions of folk songs known collectively as joropo or música criolla from the area known as Los Llanos, a vast swathe of seasonally-flooded cattle country that stretches from Venezuela into Colombia.

Considered a national treasure, over a career spanning more than 60 years he almost single-handedly rescued for future generations the traditional working songs of Los Llanos. His great achievement was to take these simple songs called tonadas and reinterpret them with spare arrangements that highlight the sometimes haunting vocals, and bring to life the daily chores of the cattle ranch. 

He was also known for his wicked sense of humour and made more than one tongue-in-cheek song about life on the Llanos, like "El Peine".

So influential has Simon Diaz been on Venezuelan folk music that tonadas like "Tonada de Luna Llena", "La Vaca Mariposa", and "Luna de Margarita"  have been recorded by a host of singers across Latin America and Spain, including Mercedes Sosa, Caetano Veloso, Joan Manuel Serrat, Gilberto Santa Rosa and contemporary indie musicians like Devendra Banhart and Natalia Lafourcade. 

A 2007 album called simply "Simon: Remixes" brought together Venezuelan electronica groups like Babylon Motorhome, Masseratti 2 lts. Todosantos and Panasuyo interested in reinterpreting songs like "Mi Querencia", "La Tonada del Cabrestero" and "Arbolito Sabanero" for a new generation.

In 2008, Tio Simon was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Latin Grammys after a campaign by a group called "Venezuelans in Hollywood", supported by actors such as "The Mummy" actress Patricia Velasquez, and musicians such as Oscar D'Leon, Los Amigos Invisibles, Ricardo Montaner, Jose Luis Rodriguez ("El Puma") and the Gipsy Kings.

Click here for a video of "Caballo Viejo"
Click here for a video of "Angustia" by Simon Diaz remixed by Babylon Motorhome
Click here for a video of "La Tonada del Cabrestero"
Click here for a video of "Alma Llanera" 

Venezuela's Hottest Party Band to Play London 7 Feb

LAI playing 'Mentiras' live in Buenos Aires

London is bracing for a Venezuelan invasion as the hottest Latin-party band in the universe, Los Amigos Invisibles, prepares to rock the UK capital to its ultra-funk foundations with a single live show at the Garage on Friday 7 February.

Tickets priced £25 are on sale through Latino Life but don't hang about as they're selling faster than hot buttered arepas.

To get a taste of the full Amigos experience, here's a video of the track 'Mentiras' from an LAI gig in Argentina in 2010 where the boys blew the place apart with a trawl through their back catalogue.

Summer sounds don't come any fresher, funkier or funnier than the band's upbeat Latin grooves and music lovers can expect the Venezuelan party boys to shine a ray of South American sunshine over a grey, wet London in Islington on Friday.

It should be a very special gig as the UK is like a musical Mecca for Los Amigos Invisbles. Growing up in the Caribbean, in a country awash with merengue and salsa, the boys swam against the tide and immersed themselves in US rare grooves and music from the British acid-jazz scene.

Playing pool parties for their pals, they quickly learnt how to blend the sounds of early Santana, the Fania Allstars and 70s disco with 80s electronica and house music to create sexed-up songs with irresistible sing-along choruses.

Few other bands have the ability to tease Latin-lover dance moves from an audience, and even the stiffest British wallflower will find it hard to stay still when the music starts.

It's been seven years since LAI played a gig in the UK but luckily for us their latest album "Repeat After Me", has been a big hit, prompting a massive tour to bring what the Invisible Friends call la gozadera (the party fun) to their full panas (best mates) in Europe.

The boys have certainly been busy of late, picking up a Latin Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album for the CD "Comercial" and releasing a movie called "La Casa del Ritmo" to celebrate their 20 years of making great music.

Starting out as an indie-underground group playing acid-jazz-inspired funk and boogaloo for a Caracas in-crowd, the six members of Amigos Invisibles were catapulted to international stardom when ex-Talking Head Davis Byrne signed them to his Luaka Bop label in 1996 for the album "The New Sound of the Venezuelan Gozadera".

Since then they have recorded tracks with Masters at Work and Dimitri from Paris, played in over 60 countries, produced seven quality albums, and gained a reputation as one of the best Latin music acts performing live today.

To keep up with all the latest from Los Amigos Invisibles follow them on Twitter: @AmgsInvisibles

Venue: The Garage, 20-22 Highbury Corner, London, N5 1RD
Time: Doors open at 22:30
Nearest Tube: Highbury & Islington
Tickets: On sale via Ticketmaster

Venezuela Guide on Instagram - FITVen2013

INSTAGRAMEANDO ANDO YO...

In October 2013 I was invited to travel around Venezuela on a Press Trip organized by the Tourism Ministry (MinTur) in the run up to the FITVen2013 International Tourism Fair.

As I lost my laptop and camera en route to Venezuela I was forced to improvise. Armed only with an HTC One S mobile phone with an 8 megapixel camera, I decided to document my trip on Instagram.

Through trial and error, I learnt how to get the most out of a single shot and train my eye to find images that would work in a square. The filters I just responded to depending on my mood that day. The feedback on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter has been really encouraging.

I am pleased with the results.

The restrictions of Instagram forced me to be more creative and think carefully before taking each shot, which helped me to see Venezuela in a different way.

I came home with some great new images of Caracas, the islands of Margarita, Coche and Cubagua, rafting in Barinas, paragliding in Mérida and the folk festivals of the Pueblos del Sur, remote villages in the Andean mountains south of Merida.

To see more of my Instagram images follow me at @Venezuelaguide - http://instagram.com/p/gJ0qZdNZZG/



Street Theatre: In the area around Plaza el Venezolano and Plaza Bolivar in the centre of Caracas, actors recreate key scenes from Venezuela's history by bringing to life famous characters from the past who tell the story of their time. Here, the dictator Juan Vicente Gomez takes a stroll with Independence hero Francisco de Miranda.  



Whitewater Rafting: On the Rio Acequias in Barinas, adventure tour company Arassari Trek took us on a bumpy, adrenaline-pumping ride down a Grade 3 stretch of foaming rapids. It helps if everybody rows together.

For more details of rafting in Barinas contact Arassari Trek

Remote Andean Villages: Just outside San Jose de Acequias, one of the so-called Pueblos del Sur, we came across this tiny chapel dedicated to San Isidro Labrador, the patron sain of farmers. 

Vibrant Folk Festivals: The Locainas de Santa Rita are gentlemen who dress like ladies for a day during the festivities in honor of San Isidro, as Santa Rita in popular lore is the wife of the saint. As their name suggests, these ladies can get quite "loco" during the festivities held on 21-22 May, and after dancing with their sticks they try to liven up the festive mood by flirting with the men in the crowd.





Paragliding in Merida: Close to the city of Merida is one of the best paragliding spots in Venezuela, a place called Tierra Negra. Jose Albarran of Fanny Tours is one of the pioneers of paragliding in Venezuela and a great pilot for a tandem flight. Known to his friends as "Piojo" (Flea), due to his uncanny ability to scale sheer rock faces, Jose is one of the founders of the paragliding school in the nearby village of Las Gonzales, close to the landing site, where youngsters are being trained to become the paragliding champions of the future. Watch a video of me paragliding with Piojo here

For more details of paragliding in Merida contact Jose at Fanny Tours

Venezuelan bands on Starbucks CD - Cafe con Musica

By Russell Maddicks
If you like a little Latin flava with your mocha coconut frapuccino then look no further than coffee chain Starbucks who have just released "Cafe con Musica" - their first compilation of contemporary Latino sounds in collaboration with LA-based indie label Nacional Records.

Two of the 16 tracks are by Venezuelan groups: "Mentiras" by the funky boogaloo pop-rocksters known as Los Amigos Invisibles - one of the best Latin dance party bands working in the USA today - and "Arenita Playita" by the hip hop group Cuarto Poder. 

The blurb from Starbucks highlights how mainstream contemporary Latin music is nowadays and how important Nacional Records has become in the promotion of so many talented artists from Latin America, Spain and the USA: "This is a snapshot of the current Latin alternative scene featuring an international array of artists exploring a range of genres, from rock to electronica and beyond. Working with Nacional Records, the foremost source of exciting new sounds from Latin musicians, we offer an introduction to elite talent from a thriving musical movement."

The participating artists cover a wide range of styles from the loungetastic cha-cha-cha reworking of "Sweet Dreams Are Made of This" by Señor Coconut, to the lyrical poetry of Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux on "1977" and the electro-tuba beats of Mexican DJ/electronica collective Nortec.

It's a shame they didn't include tracks by other Nacional Records' artists like Manu Chao and Plastilina Mosh, but there's still plenty of great artists to explore on this compilation.

So, what are you waiting for ese? With a Starbucks on nearly every corner of every major city in the States you should find no trouble picking up a copy. And with so many dance beats to shake your booty to on this album, it's a healthier option than the double fudge mini-donuts. 

The CD will be on sale at participating Starbucks outlets in the USA until 16 July.

Track List:

Diego Garcia - You Were Never There
Andrea Echeverri - A Eme O
Señor Coconut - Sweet Dreams

Sara Valenzuela - Para Continuar
The Pinker Tones - The Whistling Song
Polock - Fireworks
Pacha Massive - All Good Things
No Te Va Gustar - Chau
Nortec Collective Presents: Bostich + Fussible - I Count the Ways
Los Amigos Invisibles - Mentiras
Ana Tijoux - 1977
Monareta - Llama
DJ Bitman - Shine
Mexican Institute of Sound - Mirando a las Muchachas
Aterciopelados - Rio
Cuarto Poder - Arenita Playita

To listen to sample clips and buy individual tracks click here:

SXSW music fest moves to Patafunk's Venezuelan groove

Venezuelan DJ, producer, singer and musician Patafunk has returned to the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin, Texas, with a banging new dance track with Slimmy Neutron called "I Want To See You Again, Yo Quiero Verte Otra Vez" featuring SkipRage.

In 2010 Patafunk rocked the SXSW with a laid-back Summery groove "Bailando".

Yellow Pants, Grapes and Triqui Traquis - Venezuelan New Year

Venezuelans have been stocking up on yellow underwear, sparkling wine and grapes in the last few days, in the traditional build up to the celebration of New Year's Eve, or Fin de Año.

The locals love to welcome in the New Year with a massive bang so sales of fireworks or "triqui-traquis" have also been brisk - especially the annoying little firecrackers called "fosforitos", the bigger "empanaditas" and the fearsome rockets with names like "Matasuegra" ("Mother-in-Law Killer") and "Tumba Rancho" ("Shanty Destroyer").

As in many other places in the Spanish-speaking world, New Year traditions in Venezuela involve various ways of saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new one in a way that will bring good luck, good health, love and prosperity.

Yellow pants are worn to bring luck and money (they are the colour of gold after all), and red pants are believed to improve your chances at finding love and romance.

Make sure to wear the pants under your clothes, as you would normally.

At my first Venezuelan New Year's Eve party, I made the mistake of pulling over my jeans a pair of canary-yellow bikini briefs I'd been given for the occassion by a well-meaning friend.

While it was funny for about two minutes to strut about like a skinny superhero, it did look a bit wrong on the dancefloor, and if it hadn't been for the gallons of Black Label whiskey and Polar Ice beer we'd been drinking all evening I would have felt a bit self conscious when we went house to house to share a drink with the neighbours.

Some kids in the street even thought it was hilarious to shoot little bottle rockets at me while shouting "mira, aqui viene el supermancito" ("look, here comes the little Superman"), lighting the rockets while holding the sticks in their hands and then firing them straight down the street at my distinctive New Year attire.

Luckily, nobody got burnt, but I did feel a bit confused when I woke up the next day on the sofa with a sore head and these strange pants strangling my nether regions. Even if they'd been bright scarlet I cannot see how they could have brought me any luck in the romance department.

Another popular New Year's custom is to wear new clothes for the first time - known as "estrenos" (just as a new film has its "estreno", its premiere) - again to bring good luck and prosperity.

Generally, New Year's Eve parties follow the same pattern as Christmas Eve, with festive music such as gaitas - classics like "Viejo Año" by Maracaibo 15 or Nestor Zavarce's New Year tearjerker "Faltan Cinco Pa' Las Doce" - and the usual salsa vieja and reggaeton party favourites followed by a meal of yuletide foods such as pan de jamon, hallacas, ensalada de gallina, pernil and drinks like ponche crema.

As the countdown begins to the magic midnight hour guests quickly grab their 12 grapes and a glass of sparkling wine or champagne and try to gobble down a grape for each of the 12 chimes, known as the "12 campanas".

As each grape represents a good month in the year to come you can imagine the rush to get them down.

Any remaining grapes are usually washed down with champagne as the last chime of midnight ends, which is the cue for "los cañonazos" - the deafening fireworks displays that mark the start of the New Year.

This is also time for New Year hugs and kisses, generally to the sound of a traditional New Year song like "Año Nuevo, Vida Nueva" ("New Year, New Life") by Billo's Caracas Boys.

Few traditions are as dramatic as the annual burning of the "Old Year" in the Andean states of Merida, and Tachira, where papier mache figures representing the problems of the old year are paraded through the streets before being burnt at midnight to the sound of gaita music and the deafening explosions of thousands of triqui-traquis.

So now you know what to do to have an authentic Venezuelan New Year's Eve party. Grab some grapes, slip into your best yellow pants and have a fantastic New Year.

Paz, amor y prosperidad and a Feliz Año Nuevo pa' to' mi gente!

Venezolanía - Official song and video for FitVen 2011

Venezolanía, performed by Merida singer-songwriting sisters Ariana and Manuela Moreno, is the official song for Venezuela's annual tourism fair, FitVen 2011, which takes place on the tourist island of Margarita at the Venetur Hotel in Porlamar from 22-25 October.

Ariana and Manuela's group is called Surconciente.

This is the IV edition of Venezuela's annual FitVen tourism fair, which aims to promote local attractions such as Los Llanos, a birdwatching mecca, the Andean mountains and valleys of Merida, Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world, Roraima, a Lost World tabletop mountain, and Margarita, which has a growing reputation as a world class windsurfing destination.

This year, Venezuela's neighbour Colombia is being honoured with a special stand.

For the official FitVen2011 website click here.

Venezuelan ska band Desorden Publico star in BBC documentary

Veteran BBC presenter Jonathan Dimbleby joins Desorden Publico - a ska band that has been at the top of the charts in Venezuela for over a quarter of a century - as part of his documentary series "South American Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby", which airs on BBC 2 at 8 p.m. on 25 September.

Playing to audiences of up to 150,000 people, Desorden Publico are not mere entertainers but have a profound political purpose invariably challenging the status quo.

As Jonathan stomps his feet to their energetic beat, Horacio Blanco, the lead singer is worried. He tells Jonathan that Chavez's 21st century Socialist revolution has polarised the country.

A video of Desorden Publico in London playing the song Monkey Ska

The veteran BBC presenter also visited Hato Masaguaral, a ranch in the plains of Los LLanos Venezuela, that breeds an endangered species of crocodile commonly know as the Caiman del Orinoco. Video here.

The full documentary of Jonathon Dimbleby's documentary on Colombia and Venezuela is being shown on BBC 2 at 8 p.m. on 25 September and will be available on the iPlayer for a week after broadcast.

Venezuelan Birthday Song - Ay Que Noche Tan Preciosa

UPDATE: Sadly, Luis Cruz, the creator of Venezuela's unique Happy Birthday song "Ay Que Noche Tan Preciosa" died in Cabudare, Lara State, on 21 April 2012 aged 82. As long as Venezuelans continue to celebrate birthdays he will never be forgotten.

Venezuelans love socializing and there's no better excuse for hearty partying than a birthday celebration.

Birthdays are celebrated in the office with workmates, at a bar or restaurant, on the beach under a palm tree, or with friends and family at home, but always with a cake and a special birthday song that is unique to the country.

This song is generally known simply as "Cumpleaños Feliz" ("Happy Birthday to You") or by its first line "Ay Que Noche Tan Preciosa" ("Oh What a Beautiful Night").

It dates back to 1953 when a Venezuelan composer called Luis Cruz from Los Chorros in Caracas wanted to impress a girlfriend called Rebeca and penned the words of the song for her birthday.

Cruz continued to play the song as a cha-cha-cha with his trio Los Latinos, and it was even recorded by a few artists, although without great success.

All that changed in 1964 when Venezuelan singer Emilio Arvelo, originally from El Recreo, included it on an album of boleros and the song became a massive hit across Latin America.

Now living in Mamporal in Miranda State and 76 years old, Arvelo recalled in an interview a few years ago how the song made him internationally famous.

"Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Panama and Puerto Rico. Everywhere it reached, people came in crowds to receive us with affection."

Even today, in his small town everybody remembers him: "People greet me, they are fond of me... They say: 'There goes happy birthday!'... That motivates me and makes my life happy. I have never received any [official] recognition despite a professional career of more than 50 years."

A few readers have requested the words of the song so they can join in at the next Venezuelan party, so here you go:

Cumpleaños Feliz (estilo Venezolano)
Ay que noche tan preciosa
es la noche de tu día
todos llenos de alegría
en esta fecha natal (natal, natal, natal)

Tus más íntimos amigos
esta noche te acompañan
te saludan y desean,
un mundo de felicidad (felicidad, felicidad)

Yo por mi parte deseo
lleno de luz este día
todos llenos de alegría
en esta fecha natal (natal, natal, natal)

Y que esta luna plateada
brinde su luz para ti (paraaaaa tiiiiiiii)
y ruego a Dios porque
pases un cumpleaños feliz

Cumpleaños feliz,
Te deseamos a ti,
Cumpleaños... [name of the birthday person],
Cumpleaños feliz!

Now you can "sopla las velas y pica la torta" (blow out the candles and cut the cake), turn up the tunes, pour out some Cuba Libres and get the party started.

Simon Diaz - Tonada del Cabrestero

UPDATE - 19/02/2014: Venezuela Bids Adios to a Much Loved Folk Legend

Venezuela's most famous folk singer and composer, Simon Diaz, celebrated his 83rd birthday on 8 August with a huge outpouring of support for his life and work on the social networking site Twitter from Venezuelans all over the world.

A national treasure, Simon Narciso Diaz Marquez was born in Barbacoas, Guarico, in 1928 and over a career spanning more than 60 years has singlehandedly rescued for future generations the traditional working songs of the vast seasonally-flooded cattle country known as Los Llanos.

Tio Simon (Uncle Simon), as he is known to his fans, took these simple songs called tonadas  and reinterpreted them with spare arrangements that highlighted the vocal, bringing to life the daily chores of the cattle ranch.

So influential has Simon Diaz been on Venezuelan folk music that his tonadas have been recorded by a host of singers across Latin America and Spain, including Mercedes Sosa, Caetano Veloso, Joan Manuel Serrat, and Gilberto Santa Rosa.

Tonada del Cabrestero
Camino del llano viene, Puntero en la soledad (repeat)
El cabestrero cantando, ay Su copla en la madrugá (repeat)

Ahó... a... a...
El toro pita la vaca
Y el novillo se retira
Como el novillo era toro
La vaca siempre lo mira
Mariposa, nube de agua

La luna busca la sombra, y no la puede encontrar(repeat)
Porque la sombra se esconde, Aaaa Detrás de la madrugá(repeat)

Ahó... a... a...
No llores más nube de agua
Silencia tanta amargura
Que toda leche da queso
Y toda pena se cura
Lucerito nube de agua

Ya viene la mañanita
Cayendo sobre el palmar
Y el cabestrero prosigue
Con su doliente cantar

Ahó... a... a...
Mañana cuando me vaya
Quien se acordará de mi
Solamente la tinaja
Por el agua que bebí
Lucerito nube de agua

Video of an early song by Simon Diaz from 1965 - El Peine

Video of a modern reworking by Babylon Motorhome of a Simon Diaz classic - Angustia

Venezuela Viva! dance extravaganza comes to UK

UPDATE: Tickets now on sale half price if you book direct from the Red Cross on 020 7877 7115

Incorporating a vibrant fusion of folk music, dance and history, "Venezuela Viva" is one of the most ambitious musical extravaganzas ever produced in Venezuela.

Luckily for us, it will be coming to the London Palladium on October 10th 2011 for a one-off charity event on behalf of the International Fundraising Committee of the British Red Cross.

Created by Carolina Lizarraga and featuring master harpist Carlos Orozco, the show electrified audiences in Edinburgh in 2005 when it played at the Scottish capital's famous annual arts festival.

"The show masquerades as a history lesson, tracing the birth of a nation from Spanish conquest to independence and beyond... but don’t be fooled; it’s one big party!", wrote an excited reviewer in the Guardian.

Anna Millar of The Scotsman newspaper was also bowled over by the show... "this large-scale spectacular celebrates Venezuelan life with gorgeous dancing girls, sensational Caribbean salsa and South American rhythms as 12 dancers and 12 musicians create a dazzling fantasy of flamenco passion and tropical energy."

Hugely ambitious in scope, "Venezuela Viva!" traces the evolution of Venezuelan folk music from its roots in four continents: the Arab culture of the Moors, who ruled most of Spain for nearly 800 years; the rhythms and vocal stylings of the fandanguillo de Malaga, flamenco and cante jondo brought to Venezuela by the Spanish conquistadors; the indigenous music of the native inhabitants of the New World played on flutes and maracas in sacred ceremonies overseen by shamans; and the hip-shaking drum dances of Africa, kept alive on sugar and cocoa plantations by the descendants of slaves.

Now bigger and even more spectacular than the Edinburgh shows, it features 25 dancers from Carolina Lizarraga's dance troupe supported by 10 musicians on stage playing everything from flamenco to modern salsa.

"From 1492 to the present day, the pictures, with voiceover, spin through 19 short scenes, journeying across continents and centuries, charting a history of wars, conquests and discoveries," wrote Lynne Walker in the Independent. "Each stage is portrayed in vivid choreography, danced with equal measures of grace and exuberance... As the show ends, you just want to jump on the next plane to Venezuela."

A UK tour organized by Theatre Productions Limited will follow the London Palladium show, although the dates and venues have yet to be released.

Tickets are on sale from £27.50 for Upper Circle seats, £65 for the Royal Circle and Stalls and £105 for the top priced Royal Circle and Stalls seats.

VIP tickets are also on sale from the Red Cross at £250, including top-price seats, an interval reception and post-show party in the presence of the artists

UPDATE: Tickets now on sale half price if you book direct from the Red Cross on 020 7877 7115

Venue: London Palladium
Date: 10 October 2011
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: www.seetickets.com or call the British Red Cross 0207-877-7115

Musica llanera: Reynaldo Armas - El Cardenalito

Reynaldo Armas, from the small Llanos town of Guatacaros in Guarico State, is a highly-acclaimed singer and composer of Venezuela's national folk music joropo .

Here we see him at his best singing his theme song El Cardenalito in a concert from 2008 in Bogota.

Popular throughout the country, joropo is also known as musica llanera because of its strong cultural ties to Los Llanos, the seasonally-flooded cattle plains that stretch west from the Orinoco river to Colombia.

Joropo is traditionally played on harp, maracas and cuatro, a small four-stringed guitar, and sung in a rough nasal style by cowboy types in stetsons and pointed boots.

Reynaldo Armas is perhaps Venezuela's best-loved Llanero singer after Simon Diaz and has an incredible line-up of talent in his band, including the extraordinary harpist Leonard Jacome.

Joropo, which developed in the Americas from the zarzuelas and cante jondo brought over by the Spanish, is also a dance, a sort of waltz with jerky cucaracha-stomping steps by the man, known as zapateo, and dizzy twirls by his female partner.

El Cardenalito is a song about the rare bird of the same name (Carduelis cucullata), a Venezuelan finch known as the Red Siskin in English. This beautiful little red songbird is endemic to Falcon State. Sadly, the bright red plumes of the males and their high-pitched musical call make them highly sought after as caged birds and increasingly endangered in the wild.

Reynaldo Armas earned his nickname, El Cardenalito, for his sweet voice, which he alludes to in this autobiographical song that pays homage to his humble Llanero roots. 

Here are the words, so you can sing along with Reynaldo:

Aquí está el cardenalito
el cardenal de los llanos guariqueño
el de la laguna vieja
el propio serenatero
el mismo de quince años
y el cuarto de los recuerdos.
nací en el cincuenta y tres
cuatro de agosto en una noche de invierno
el campo los guatacaros
suelo santamarieño
me recibió una mañana con relámpagos y truenos
camino siempre de frente
jamás he sido embustero
soy bastante religioso
para mi chucho es primero
el que me conoce sabe
si soy malo, si soy bueno
Modesta Enguaima y Nicasio
Nicasio Armas los que al mundo me trajeron
mi madre nos es necesario
decirle cuanto la quiero
mi viejo se me murió
que dios lo tenga en el cielo.

Maestro arpista usted que puede
yo se que puede jáleme duro el bordón
que esta noche estoy dispuesto
a regalarle mi amor
a la mujer mas bonita
que se encuentre en la reunión
y después que me enamore
amigo mío que salga o se meta el sol
me pasare todo el tiempo
derrochando inspiración
como lo hace un guariqueño
cuando entrega el corazón
saque pareja quien quiera
que en mi joropo no hay discriminación
que lo bailen zapateao
repicando ese tacón
que al arpa cuatro y maracas
vamos a rendirle honor
que lo goce y lo disfrute
el sifrinito con la hija del ricachón
la negrita Dorotea
con el zambo Juan Ramón
y hasta la viejita Bety
lo baile con tío Simón.

Esta es la primera vez que yo canto un merecure
que yo canto un merecure
como se canta en Apure
Casorla y Corozo pando
yo voy el llano cruzando
con mi verso y mi corrio
bendito este suelo mío
de belleza singular
bendito el palmarital
el arrendajo y la paraulata cantora
bendita la flor de bora
la flor de bora
que adormece en el estero
bendito sea el toro
de puntiaguda semblanza
bendita la garza blanca
con su vuelo cadencioso
bendito el caballo brioso
pacitrotero y veloz
dame talento mi dios
para cantarle a mi llano
y sentirme soberano
hay soberano
con la hidalguía del valiente
y bendito sea por siempre
por siempre siempre
mi pueblo venezolano

Gochilandia Park- Viva Los Andes!

The street scenes from the Andean city of San Cristobal in Tachira bring to life this catchy anthem, launched to promote the annual Feria Internacional de San Sebastian, a popular local fiesta that takes place in the second half of January to honour Saint Sebastian, the patron saint of the city.

Festival events include bullfights, a beauty contest, concerts and street parades.

The video was directed by 100% Poindexther.

Gochilandia refers to the name Venezuelans use to refer to people from the Andes, "Gochos", just as people from the East End of London are called Cockneys.

Simon Diaz & Hugo Blanco - El Peine

"El Peine" ("The Comb") is a tongue-in-cheek song by Venezuelan folk singer Simón Díaz from the early days of his career in 1965, just after he'd got his big break singing with harpist and composer Hugo Blanco.

The video shows a young Díaz sitting with a furruco, the special drum used in gaita music from Maracaibo, which is played by rubbing the hands down the stick attached to the drum head.

From the beginning Díaz stood out as a comedian and "El Peine" is no exception, playing on the similarity in sound between the Spanish word for comb and the word for a delicate part of the male anatomy.

Accompanied by a jaunty harp, a four-stringed guitar known as a cuatro and maracas, the verse goes "lend me your comb to play some music and start the party with a barrel of guarapita", referring to the heady cocktail of raw cane alcohol and passion fruit juice called guarapita which is popular along Venezuela's Caribbean coast.

Tio Simón (Uncle Simon), as he is known to his fans, is considered a national treasure in Venezuela and for many years presented a children's show that promoted folk traditions, humour and songs.

Born in 1948 in Barbacoas and baptized Simón Narciso Díaz Márquez, he is famous for his renditions of folk songs known collectively as joropo or música criolla from the area known as Los Llanos, a vast swathe of seasonally-flooded cattle country that stretches from Venezuela into Colombia.

His most famous composition is "Caballo Viejo" - which became a huge international hit for the Franco-Spanish group the Gipsy Kings after they renamed the song "Bamboleo".

He also recorded a very popular version of the country's unofficial anthem "Alma Llanera".

Some of his most famous songs were remixed a few years ago by young electronica artists such as Baylon Motorhome,  who added a lilting ska beat to the song "Angustia". 

How to dance Venezuelan salsa

A short video showing yours truly trying to dance salsa in a Venezuelan style. The majority of people who go to salsa dance classes in Europe and the USA learn to dance forwards and backwards using a basic Mambo step, but this won't help you in Venezuela where the dancing is on all four beats and the focus is on getting up close to your partner and doing turns in a very small space.

For the ladies this isn't such a problem, as they just follow the lead of the man they're dancing with, but guys will have to ditch the Mambo steps for something looser, going from four steps side to side, into the open step and initiating turns from there.

Salsa music is still massive in Venezuela, with a strong presence of salsa dura or salsa vieja, the classic 1970s tunes produced under the Fania label in New York by artists such as Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe, Ruben Blades and the Fania All Stars.

Homegrown Venezuelan salsa stars include Oscar D'Leon and Federico Betancourt and his Combo Latino.

The video was shot "camera secreta" style by Jorge Franca, a Venezuelan expat and pana mio.

Cuarto Poder - Fuerza Pal Latino

Venezuelan hip hop group Cuarto Poder drop their debut US album "In Tha House" on 19 October, featuring the hit tracks "Playita Arenita" and “El Que Llevo, Llevo” with Julio Briceño, lead singer of the Grammy-award winning Venezuelan band Los Amigos Invisibles.

When I get a video of a track from the new album I'll put it up. In the meantime here's "Fuerza Pal Latino" from their second album "Tamos Bien".

To download MP3 tracks from the album "In Tha House" click here:

Los Amigos Invisibles - Nada Que Decir

This is a blast from the past for all those fans of Venezuela's Los Amigos Invisibles who can still remember the excitement and joy they created 15 years ago when they first burst onto the music scene with their dancey Latin party tunes.

Just check out the groovy video... aciiiid!

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Mentiras

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles cover of Los Fabulosos Cadillac's "Mal Bicho"

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Diablo

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Cuchi Cuchi

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Playa Azul

Video: Max and Jason have lunch with Los Amigos Invisibles

To buy the new CD 'Commercial' click here:
MP3 tracks from Los Amigos Invisibles:

Lo Que No Sabes Tu - Choroni beach stars in video

One of the best beaches in Venezuela, Choroni's Playa Grande, plays a starring role in the latest video by Potro Alvarez "Lo Que No Sabes Tu".

It seems like a fitting way to mark international beach day.

To read a travel article with photos about Choroni, Puerto Colombia and the palm-fringed paradise of Playa Grande click here:

Devilled Ham and Joropo - Diablitos Underwood

Diablitos Underwood is a culinary institution in Venezuela, a brand of salty devilled ham that comes in little tins and tastes great spread thickly over buttered arepas or on crackers.

Every year Underwood hold a music event and for this year's Diablos Fest they've created some cute videos with cartoon bands covering different styles of Venezuelan music from the Llanero folk songs of Augusto Narciso Sisejaya Detodo, shown above, to reggaeton, hip hop, rock, electronica, ska, metal, and even a Manu Chao-style diablito, Chuchito Peraza, in the world music category.

All the tunes can be downloaded and you can vote for your favourites. Checkalo!

Los Amigos Invisibles - Como Sabes Tu

'Como Sabes Tu' is the latest video from the band's new Latin Grammy winning album 'Comercial'.

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Mentiras

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles cover of Los Fabulosos Cadillac's "Mal Bicho"

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Diablo

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Cuchi Cuchi

Video: Los Amigos Invisibles - Playa Azul

Video: Max and Jason have lunch with Los Amigos Invisibles

To buy the new CD 'Commercial' click here:

MP3 tracks from Los Amigos Invisibles: