Simón Narciso Díaz Márquez (August 8, 1928 – February 19, 2014) was a Venezuelan singer and

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

-winning composer of

Venezuelan music Several styles of the traditional music of Venezuela, such as salsa and merengue, are common to its Caribbean neighbors. Perhaps the most typical Venezuelan music is joropo, a rural form which originated in the llanos, or plains. Genres Jorop ...

Career

Díaz endeavored to recover the folklore and musical traditions of the '' llanos'', the Venezuelan plains. This style of music has since been performed by artists such as Argentina's Mercedes Sosa, Brazil's

Caetano Veloso Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, which encomp ...

, Spain's

Joan Manuel Serrat Joan Manuel Serrat i Teresa (; born 27 December 1943) is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. He is considered one of the most important figures of modern, popular music in both the Spanish and Catalan languages. Serrat's lyrical style ...

, Peru's

Susana Baca Susana may refer to: * Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA), a network of organizations active in the field of sustainable sanitation * Susana (given name), a feminine given name (including a list of people with the name) * ''Susana'' (magazine) ...

, Puerto Rico's

Danny Rivera Danny Rivera (born 27 February 1945) is a singer and songwriter born in San Juan whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is well known in Puerto Rico for his political activism. In 2008, Rivera acquired Dominican Republic citizenship. After 12 ye ...

, and Venezuelans

Franco De Vita Franco Atilio De Vita De Vito (born January 23, 1954, in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan Latin Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter. His first album as a solo artist garnered three Spanish-language hits in Venezuela. He signed with the ...

Soledad Bravo Soledad Bravo (born January 1, 1943) is a Venezuelan singer. Born in Logroño, La Rioja, Spain, her father was a Spanish republican, moving to Venezuela with his family when his daughter was still at an early age. At 24, Soledad began studying ...

, Juan Carlos Salazar, Carlos Baute and José Luis Rodríguez, among others. Many of Diaz's works have been adapted by symphonies and choral ensembles throughout Venezuela, as well as being incorporated into the orchestral and choral arrangements of conductors and composers of academic music. Artists from various other disciplines have utilized Díaz's work. For example, German choreographer

Pina Bausch Philippine "Pina" Bausch (27 July 1940 – 30 June 2009) was a German dancer and choreographer who was a significant contributor to a neo-expressionist dance tradition now known as . Bausch's approach was noted for a stylized blend of dance m ...

included some of Díaz's songs in her work ''Nur Du''. Also, the film director

Pedro Almodóvar Pedro Almodóvar Caballero (; (often known simply as Almodóvar) born 25 September 1949) is a Spanish filmmaker. His films are marked by melodrama, irreverent humour, bold colour, glossy décor, quotations from popular culture, and complex narra ...

included Díaz's song "Tonada de Luna Llena" as part of the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

for his film ''

The Flower of My Secret ''The Flower of My Secret'' ( es, La flor de mi secreto, links=no) is a 1995 drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. It was selected as the Spanish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 68th Academy Awards, but it ...

'', sung by the Brazilian artist Caetano Veloso. Díaz has also performed in theater, motion pictures and television. In the 1960s he became a comedian in Venezuela. He had the leading role in three plays, and in films like ''El Reportero'' and ''Isla de sal''; has produced and hosted 12 different TV shows, all of them devised to promote Venezuelan music. One of these shows, ''Contesta por Tío Simón'', was devoted to teaching

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

to children. This children's show was on the air for 10 years, during which time Díaz's viewers began calling him "Uncle Simón". Diaz had a daily radio show for twenty-five years which focused on folklore and Venezuelan music. He has recorded over 70 records and CDs and has made innumerable performances throughout his career. Díaz is the musical author of " Caballo viejo", lyric of Angel Eduardo Acevedo, which was recorded by the

Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings are a group of flamenco, salsa, and pop musicians from Arles and Montpellier in southern France, who perform mostly in Catalan but also mix in Spanish with southern French dialects. Although the group members were born in France, th ...

as the

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

song "

Bamboléo "Bamboléo" is a 1987 Spanish language song by Romani people in Spain, Gitano-French band Gipsy Kings, from their Gipsy Kings (album), eponymous album. The song was written by band members Tonino Baliardo, Chico Bouchikhi (J. Bouchikhi) and Nicol ...

". His compositions have been performed by artists such as

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French ...

, Ray Conniff, Caballo Viejo recorded by Conniff in his album, ''Fantástico!'' 1983 Brazilian release CBS-138578

Julio Iglesias Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top record ...

, Celia Cruz,

Rubén Blades Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna (born July 16, 1948), known professionally as Rubén Blades (, but in Panama and within the family), is a Panamanian musician, singer, composer, actor, activist, and politician, performing musically most often in th ...

Gilberto Santa Rosa Gilberto Santa Rosa Cortés, nicknamed "El Caballero de la Salsa" (The Gentleman of Salsa) (born August 21, 1962), is a Puerto Rican bandleader and singer of salsa and bolero. He is a six time Grammy Award winner and has sold over three million ...

, Gipsy Kings,

Ivan Lins Ivan Guimarães Lins (born June 16, 1945) is a Latin Grammy-winning Brazilian musician. He has been an active performer and songwriter of Brazilian popular music (MPB) and jazz for over thirty years. His first hit, "Madalena", was recorded by ...

, Joyce,'' Joyce.

Cheo Feliciano Cheo Feliciano (3 July 1935 – 17 April 2014) was a Puerto Rican singer and composer of salsa and bolero music. Feliciano was the owner of a recording company called "Coche Records". He was the first tropical singer to perform at the "Amira de ...

, '' Joyce,

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Juan Gabriel Alberto Aguilera Valadez (; January 7, 1950 – August 28, 2016), known professionally as Juan Gabriel (), was a Mexican singer, songwriter and actor. Colloquially nicknamed as Juanga () and El Divo de Juárez, Juan Gabriel was known for his f ...

María Dolores Pradera María Dolores Fernández Pradera OAXS, MMT (29 August 1924 – 28 May 2018) was a Spanish melodic singer and actress, and one of the most famous voices in Spain and Latin America. She started her career as an actress and during the 1950s she ...

,Pradera performs ''El becerrito'', written by Simon Diaz

Martirio Maribel Quiñones or ''María Isabel Quiñones Gutiérrez'' in full, known under her stage name as Martirio (a Spanish given name meaning ''Martyrdom'' or ''Torment'', in English) is a Spanish singer born in 1954 in Huelva, Spain. She borrows he ...

,Libertad performs Caballo Viejo on her album ''Amar Amando'' Ry Cooder Celia Cruz,

, Ry Cooder and the

and Devendra Banhart The Latin American TV channel A&E MUNDO produced a documentary dedicated to Díaz under its “Biography” program that honors Diaz's many contributions to Venezuelan culture, the program began airing in September 2004.''"His most celebrated songs include "Caballo Viejo", which became a smash hit in a crossover genre known as charanga vallenata, and "Bamboleo", recorded by the Gipsy Kings and Celia Cruz. His works have been performed and recorded by a who's whom of international music, from Plácido Domingo to Ivan Lins. Well into his 70s, Diaz maintains an active artistic life, and continues his performing and touring career with appearances throughout Latin America and the United States, including a slated performance in 2006 at Carnegie Hall."'' After battling Alzheimer's disease for many years, he died on 19 February 2014.

Discography

Awards and recognition

Simón Díaz was awarded the highest recognition conferred by the Venezuelan state, "The Great Ribbon of the Liberator's Order". He was given honorary doctorate degrees by two major Venezuelan universities, Simón Rodríguez University and Zulia's Universidad Católica Cecilio Acosta. On September 30, 2008, the

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been ...

s announced that it would honor Díaz with a Lifetime Achievement Award, (El Premio del Consejo Directivo). Diaz was awarded the 2008 Latin Recording Academy Trustees Award, presented by Venezuelan

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: ...

singer

Oscar D'León Oscar Emilio León Somoza (born July 11, 1943), known as Oscar D'León, and affectionately called ''The Pharaoh of Salsa'', ''The Lion of Salsa'', and the ''World's Sonero'', is a Venezuelan musician best known for his work with salsa music. He ...

Career

Discography

Awards and recognition

References

External links