Edmundo Dante Arias Valencia was a

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

n musician, songwriter, and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...

. Arias composed more than 300 songs, and recorded for various Colombian record labels including Discos Fuentes, Zeida, Ondina, and Sonolux. He is considered one of the "big three" composers of Colombian

tropical music Tropical music () is a term in the Latin music industry that refers to music genres deriving from or influenced by the Spanish-speaking areas of the Caribbean. It includes the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the Caribbean ...

of the 1950s and 60s, alongside

Lucho Bermúdez Luis Eduardo Bermúdez Acosta (January 25, 1912 – April 23, 1994) better known as Lucho Bermúdez, was a Colombian musician, composer, Arrangement, arranger, director and Performing arts, performer. He is considered to be one of the most importan ...

and Pacho Galán.

Biography

Edmundo Arias was born on 5 December 1925 in

Tuluá Tuluá (), is a city located in the heart of Valle del Cauca, Colombia. A major industrial and commercial center, it is the region's fourth-largest city after Cali—the department capital— Palmira and Buenaventura. Founded around 1741 by Juan ...

, Colombia. His mother was Amelia Valencia Arizabaleta, and his father was Joaquín Arias Cardoza, a composer from

Antioquia Antioquia is the Spanish form of Antioch. Antioquia may also refer to: * Antioquia Department Antioquia () is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders th ...

; altogether the couple had 9 children. As a child Arias learned to play various instruments at home, and together with his father and younger brother Ricaurte formed the Arias Trio, which performed in Valle del Cauca and Risaralda, and appeared on the radio in Pereira. Following the death of his father in 1948, Arias took over leadership of some of his bands. In 1951 Arias moved to

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

. In Medellín he recorded for various record labels, including Discos Fuentes, Zeida, Ondina, and . Unlike other bandleaders in Colombia at the time, Arias did not have a permanent orchestra; instead he would bring musicians together only when he had new material to record. The groups that he formed in this way include Edmundo Arias y Su Orquesta, the Sonora Cabecenido, the Sonora Antillana, Conjunto de Edmundo Arias, and the Orquesta Estudiantina Sonolux. Arias was well known for his shyness. He was nicknamed , which was used for the name of the band Sonora Cabecenido. Arias died of

uremia Uremia is the condition of having high levels of urea in the blood. Urea is one of the primary components of urine. It can be defined as an excess in the blood of amino acid and protein metabolism end products, such as urea and creatinine, which ...

on 28 January 1993 in Medellín.

Musical style and notable compositions

Arias wrote his first song "Las Diez Velas" at the age of 25, and in total composed more than 300. Many of his compositions were also recorded by other artists, including Los Corraleros de Majagual, Los Melódicos, and

Celia Cruz Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950s as a singer of , earning the nickna ...

. Arias composed and recorded in a wide range of styles. His notable compositions include: *

Cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and Africans during colonial times. Cumbia is said to have com ...

porro The porro is a musical style and dance from the Caribbean region of Colombia. It is a Colombian cumbia rhythm that developed into its own subgenre. It was originally a folkloric expression from the Sinú River area that evolved into a ballr ...

s and : "Ligia", "Diciembre Azul", "Cumbia Candelosa", "Güepa... Je", "Ave 'Pa 'Ve", "Cumbia del Caribe", "Juanita Bonita", "La Luna y el Pescador", "El Mecánico", "El Merecumbé de las Flores", "Algo Se Me Va", "Tu Juramento". *

Bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It h ...

s: "Me Da Lo Mismo", "Si Hoy Fuera Ayer" (famously recorded by Alci Acosta), "Evocación", "El Chontaduro". * Pasillos: "Rosalba".

Discography

Albums

*''Alma Colombiana'' (Zeida, 1959) *''Alfonso López y Amalia'', with Conjunto Edmundo Arias (Zeida)

Compilations

*''El Mecánico: Lo Mejor de Edmundo Arias'' (1978, Sónico) *''Guepa Je!'' (2024, Radio Martiko)

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arias, Edmundo 1925 births 1993 deaths Deaths from uremia Colombian musicians Colombian songwriters People from Valle del Cauca Department Cumbia musicians