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" 

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

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". 

Legend of the LLanos - El Carrao de Palmarito

Venezuelan folk music lost one of its greatest legends on 10 December 2002 with the passing of Juan de los Santos Contreras, a composer, singer and arranger of traditional Joropo music, better known to his fans as El Carrao de Palmarito.

He was 74.

El Carrao left behind 17 children, more than 40 albums of music, a movie he made in the 60s with Mexican singer Javier Solis, an award-winning documentary about his life and hundreds of trophies won in singing contests in Venezuela and Colombia.

He was a true "hijo de la llanura", a son of the Llanos, the great flood plains of the Orinoco basin that extend into Colombia.

He was born in 1928 in the small village of Palmarito in Apure State to a mestizo mother from the Andes and a Yaruro Indian father from the banks of the Orinoco.

He would always say that his nickname was given to him by a presenter at Radio Barinas called Luis Eduardo Camejo who thought the piercing cry that he starts his songs with sounded like the mating call of the Carrao, the local name of the jacana (jacana jacana), a small wading bird endemic to the Llanos.

Like many young boys in the countryside of Apure in those days, by the age of seven he was working on a cattle ranch and supporting himself.

He experienced poverty and loneliness and lived the authentic lifestyle of the barefoot cowboys of the Llanos, living hard and playing hard.

As he grew up he soaked up the local Joropo music and would sing along with the Conjuntos Llaneros, the traditional combo of harp, cuatro (small four-stringed guitar) and maracas.

There are many forms of joropo but El Carrao's speciality was telling stories of Llanos life to the accompaniment of a hard driving golpe beat

He could also invent verses on the spot and was a master of contrapunteo, the rap-style competitions between two singers who use their verbal skills and mental agility to try and outdo each other.

His greatest hits include the driving golpe "Furia" ("Fury") and "Florentino y el Diablo" ("Florentino and the Devil") about a cowboy who meets and defeats the devil in a singing contest by inventing the most verses.

The song was based on a poem by the Barinas poet Alberto Arvelo Torrealba and featured Jose Romero Bello as Florentino and El Carrao as the Devil.

Joropo singers are generally divided into two camps: romantico , such as Simon Diaz and the harpist Juan Vicente Torrealba, and recio , such as Luiz Lozado "El Cubiro".

El Carrao de Palmarito was definitely recio, with an extraordinary powerful voice that he never lost even in old age.

He even went across the border to take on the Colombian Llaneros in open singing contests and twice he defeated the best of the best.

In 1998 he received the National Prize for Popular Culture, Venezuela's highest award.

Simon Diaz said of him: "This man was one of the most important singers that the Venezuelan Llanos has ever seen. For a regular singer like myself it was an immense honour to share the stage with him in the concerts that we did together."

"Venezuela cried a lot when the news came out of his death, especially the people of the Llanos," said Diaz. "He was the same age as me, we were both born in 1928. He has gone ahead of me but I'm sure that when my time comes he'll be up there singing with God to welcome me."

By Russell Maddicks

Click here to see John Petrizzelli's 1998 documentary about the life of El Carrao de Palmarito

CD Review: The Rough Guide to Venezuelan Music

A Rough and Ready Primer of some Classic Venezuelan Tracks
At last a compilation of that is broad enough to give some sense of the incredible diversity of Venezuelan music.

Obviously there are omissions, not least the current crop of bands such as Los Amigos Invisibles, Desorden Publico, Tres Duenos, Babylon Motorhome and all the new young bands making great music now. But with useful sleevenotes and mini-biographies of the artists, this is a good primer.

Given the constraints of a 19-track CD, compiler Dan Rosenberg has done a commendable job of stitching together music from many different Venezuelan genres, most of which are unknown outside the country.

The old-school salsa sound of Oscar D'Leon's first band Dimension Latina will sound familiar to anybody who's heard any of the Fania Allstar artists, such as Willie Colon or Hector Lavoe, although Venezuelan salseros were always closer to the original sounds of Cuba, adding a New York twist to the traditional son montuno with upfront trombones in the style of Eddie Palmieri.

Oscar D'Leon also appears on two tracks as a soloist, unusually, with two tracks by the Dominican band leader Luis Maria "Billo" Frometa, who became a dance hall legend in Venezuela with his Billos Caracas Boys in the 1950s and 1960s.

But for those who are new to Venezuela, the folk music will be the biggest revelation. The African drums of Tambor Urbano and Raices de Chuspa give a flavour of the frenetic Afro-Venezuelan music of the coast, known as tambores, with its call and response vocals and syncopated beats.

Guaco and Maracaibo 15, meanwhile, give two good examples of gaitas, a musical style that originally came from state of Zulia and the city of Maracaibo but has over time become the official sound of Christmas in Venezuela.

Also well served is the joropo, played on harp, a small four-stringed guitar known as a cuatro and maracas.

It is known generically as musica llanera because it comes from the vast open prairies of the Orinoco flood plain, or Llanos region.

Simon Diaz's oft-recorded "Caballo Viejo" ("Old Horse") is a classic of the genre, while tracks by Cheo Hurtado and Anselmo Lopez display the full range of the cuatro and the bandola, similar to the lute.

Creating a CD that covers the whole musical tradition of a country as rich in music as Venezuela is clearly an impossible task, but if you want a flavour of what's on offer, this is not a bad place to start.

Track Listing:
1. Caracas, Caracas - Un Solo Pueblo
2. Madrugada Llanera - Mario Suarez con La Rondalla Venezolana
3. Deshonestidad - Guaco
4. Gavilan - Dimension Latina
5. Ariel - Oscar D'Leon
6. La Paloma - Quinto Criollo
7. Mosaico Tradicional - Tambor Urbano
8. Las Tres Damas - Anselmo Lopez and Saul Vera
9. Malembe - Raices de Chuspa
10. Moliendo Cafe - Hugo Blanco
11. Caballo Viejo - Simon Diaz
12. Viva Venezuela - Un Solo Pueblo
13. Palo Palo - Maracaibo 15
14. Cadetes - Oscar D'Leon
15. Calipso de El Callao - Alberto Naranjo
16. Meneito - Grupo Barlovento
17. Julio Moreno/Linda Mañana - Vasallos del Sol
18. Pajarillo Revuelto - Cheo Hurtado y Bandolas de Venezuela
19. Pajarillo Verde - Soledad Bravo

To find out more about the CD "The Rough Guide to Venezuelan Music" click here:

Simon Diaz - Alma Llanera

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

"Alma Llanera" is the country's second national anthem, a song that pays homage to the wide open plains of the Llanos and the importance of "musica llanera" to Venezuela's cultural identity.

Visit Venezuela and you're sure to hear this at the opening or closing of a popular fiesta, on TV or the radio. Countless versions of the song exist and smooth crooners like Julio Iglesias and operatic masters like Placido Domingo have all tapped into its popularity.

Venezuelan pop group Los Amigos Invisibles even tackled it for their last album "Superpop Venezuela".

This version is performed by folk singer and composer "Tio" Simon Diaz (born 8 August, 1928), a legend of traditional Venezuelan music who was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Latin Grammy's in November 2008.

The song has a long history. The music was composed in the form of a "joropo" by Pedro Elias Gutierrez, a band leader from La Guaira, for a "zarzuela" of the same name performed on 19 September, 1914, at the Teatro Caracas.

"Zarzuela" was the name for comic folk operas that became popular in 17th century Spain and are named after Philip IV's Zarzuela Palace.

The lyrics of the song, which were penned by the writer Rafael Bolivar Coronado, stay true to the "zarzuela" tradition by encapsulating the wild beauty of the rugged Llanos while the music draws on the folk style of "joropo", the music of the Llanos.

As you can see from the lyrics (below) Bolivar Coronado created an idealized vision of thundering rivers, white ibises, sunshine and roses and people who love, cry, sing and dream "with carnations of passion".

Not surprisingly, "Alma Llanera" became an instant hit and President Juan Vicente Gomez was so pleased with the tune that he paid for Bolivar Coronado to visit Spain on a scholarship from which he never returned.

So, let's all sing along:

Yo naci en esta ribera del Arauca vibrador
Soy hermano de la espuma
De las garzas de las rosas
Soy hermano de la espuma
De las garzas de las rosas
Y del sol (del sol) y del sol.

Me arrullo la viva diana de la brisa en el palmar
Y por eso tengo el alma
Como el alma primorosa
Y por eso tengo el alma
Como el alma primorosa
De cristal de cristal.

Amo, lloro, canto, sueño
Con claveles de pasion
Con claveles de pasion.
Para aunar las rubias crines
Para aunar las rubias crines
Del potro que monto yo.
Yo naci en esta ribera
Del Arauca vibrador
Soy hermano de la espuma
De las garzas de las rosas y del sol.



Report: Simon Diaz honoured at Latin Grammy Awards

Click here for a video of Simon Diaz singing "Caballo Viejo"

Click here for a video of "Angustia" by Simon Diaz remixed by Babylon Motorhome

Click here for a video of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra playing "Alma LLanera" at the BBC Proms in London's Albert Hall in 2007

Simon Diaz honoured at Latin Grammy Awards

Venezuela's best-loved folk singer Simon Diaz is finally being recognized by the Latin Grammy organizers for his contribution to Latin music.

The composer of "Caballo Viejo" - a massive international hit for the Gipsy Kings as "Bamboleo" - will pick up a Lifetime Achievement Award at a special ceremony on 12 November, the day before the Ninth Latin Grammy show at the Hobby Centre in Houston, Texas.

The award represents a major milestone in the long and illustrious career of Diaz, who celebrated his 80th birthday on 8 August this year.

The announcement on 30 September came after a campaign to "bring Simon Diaz to the 2009 Grammy" 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 Gypsy Kings.

A Facebook group supporting the campaign currently has 51,000 members.

Also collecting awards will be New York salsa legend Larry Harlow, from the Fania Allstars, and the Cuban composer and guitarist Juanito Marquez.

Click here for a video of "Caballo Viejo"

Click here for a video of "Angustia" by Simon Diaz remixed by Babylon Motorhome

Reggaeton: Caballo Viejo

The Gipsy Kings might have sold more records with Bamboleo, their version of Caballo Viejo - Simon Diaz' classic of musica llanera - but the first person to have a worldwide hit with the track was Cuban sonero Roberto Torres. Now Torres is back with Venezuelan rapper Andres Eduardo Perez Fernandez, A.K.A Andre MC, with a reggaeton version.
The track comes from Andre's new album Lyrikal, which was released at the end of 2007.
For a boy born in Valencia - before he moved to Miami - you would have thought Andres could have squeezed in a harp and some maracas. Instead he's gone with Torres' Vallenato-inspired version.

Musica Llanera - Caballo Viejo

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

Probably one of Simon Diaz' most famous songs, Caballo Viejo (Old Horse), was allegedly written by the singer to a young beauty queen. He might be an old horse, goes the song, but he still fancies his chances. It has the typical Llanos accompaniment of maracas, harp and cuatro (small, four stringed guitar). The video couldn't be slushier, but if you're into soft-focus and longing looks across a plate of steaming arepas, this one is for you. The Gipsy Kings called this song "Bamboleo" and had a huge hit with it. But Simon Diaz wrote it.

Caballo Viejo
Translated by Russell Maddicks

When love arrives like this, in this way
you don't even realise
The genipap tree comes to life again
The guamacho tree flowers
and the rope snaps

The horse is put out to pasture
because he is old and tired
but they don't realize
that a heart that is tied
when the reins are released
becomes a runaway horse

And if the old horse meets
a chestnut filly
his heart is pulverized
He ignores the bridle
and he ignores the bit
and false reins don't stop him

When love arrives like this, in this way
you are not to blame
love has no schedule
or a date on the calendar
when desires are joined

The horse is put out to pasture
and his days are numbered
he crosses the plains
with a hurried step
to meet his filly
who has poisoned him

The colt has time for time
but because he's too old
the old horse cannot
lose the flower he's given
because when this life is over
there are no more chances

Report: Simon Diaz to be honoured at Latin Grammy Awards

Click here for a video of "Angustia" by Simon Diaz remixed by Babylon Motorhome

Babylon Motorhome and Simon Diaz: Angustia

Simon Diaz is best known for his popular interpretations of musica llanera, the folk music of the Llanos, especially his romantic versions of working songs known as tonadas. Here, one of his lilting ballads gets a radical ska makeover by the Caracas-based band Babylon Motorhome. The track appears on the album "Simon Diaz Remixes".

Track Listing:
1. Garcita - Simón Díaz vs Rombo
2. Clavelito Colorado - Simón Díaz vs Trujillo
3. Angustia - Simón Díaz vs BMH
4. Tonada de una llena - Simón Díaz vs KP 9000
5. Sabana - Simón Díaz vs Dr Muu
6. Arbolito Sabanero - Simón Díaz vs Masseratti 2lts
7. Mi Querencia - Simón Díaz vs Panasuyo
8. Tonada del Cabrestero - Simón Díaz vs Spyro
9. Sabana - Simón Díaz vs Garnica
10. Arbolito Sabanero - Simón Díaz vs GM120 + KP9000
11. Pasaje Garcita - Simón Díaz vs Todosantos
12. Tonada del Cabrestero - Simón Díaz vs Velazco
13. Tonada de luna llena - Simón Díaz vs Trilobites
14. Mi Querencia - Simon Diaz vs Cardopusher
15. Tonada de luna llena - Simón Díaz vs La Original

Report: Simon Diaz to be honoured at Latin Grammy Awards

Click here for a video of Simon Diaz singing "Caballo Viejo"

Click here for a video of Babylon Motorhome performing "ComoCumbia"