Ramón Orlando Valoy García (born July 29, 1959), is a Dominican musician, singer, arranger, composer, record producer and songwriter, besides being a gran maestro pianist in Caribbean rhythms. Ramón Orlando received seven Casandra awards in the 1992 ceremony, including the ''Soberano'', which is the most important category in the Dominican awards ceremony. In 2005, he was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award in the Best Merengue Album category.

Career

Ramón Orlando Valoy was born on July 29, 1959, in Manoguayabo,

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. He is the son of Cuco Valoy. Ramón Orlando started his music career at age 14, as a singer, piano player, arranger, composer and songwriter in his father's merengue band called ''La Tribu.'' He formed his own merengue music band in 1984 called "Los Virtuosos", later renamed “Cuco Valoy y Orquesta” with Peter Cruz y Henry García as lead singers. Years later, the Cuco Valoy group broke up and Ramón moved to Colombia to physically separate himself from the Dominican Republic due to his political differences with the Dominican president

Joaquín Balaguer Joaquín Antonio Balaguer Ricardo (1 September 1906 – 14 July 2002) was a Dominican politician, scholar, writer, and lawyer who was the 41st, 45th and 49th president of the Dominican Republic serving three non-consecutive terms from 1960 t ...

. Ramón Orlando then undertook a more ambitious musical project. He and then-famous merengue singers Peter Cruz and Henry García formed ''La Orquesta Internacional'' (The International Orchestra), in which Ramón Orlando intended to be the composer and musical director, while Cruz and García were intended to be the vocalists. However, of the first ten "single" songs to be recorded (and released individually), Ramón chose to sing four of them himself, which caused a split in the group. Peter Cruz and Henry García then each formed a short-lived group. Upon the two vocalists' departure, Ramón Orlando quickly hired some vocalists with voices sounding similar to those of Cruz and García in order to perform songs already gaining airplay. Ramón Orlando is also the composer of the theme ''El venao'', which found a large audience in several Latin American countries including Colombia, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. Ramón Orlando shares with

Juan Luis Guerra Juan Luis Guerra Seijas (born 7 June 1957) is a People of the Dominican Republic, Dominican musician, singer, composer, and record producer. Throughout his career, he has won numerous awards including 28 Latin Grammy Awards, three Grammy Awards, ...

the greatest Soberano Award in 1992. He was a nominee in the Latin Grammy Awards of 2005 for the Best Merengue Album (Generaciones) in the tropical category. Ramón Orlando serves as a pastor in a Protestant church.

Discography

Awards

Ramón Orlando received in 1992 the highest award given by Soberano Awards; that year he received 7 awards, for which Ramón Orlando holds the record of receiving the most Soberano Awards in a ceremony. In 2005, he was nominated to the 6th Annual Latin Grammy Awards as Best Merengue Album with ''Generaciones''.

Arrangements

Ramon Orlando is a prolific arranger of latin music including merengue,

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), 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: Arts and ent ...

bachata Bachata may refer to: * Bachata (music), a musical genre which originated in the Dominican Republic ** Traditional bachata, a subgenre of bachata music ** Bachata (dance), a dance form * Bachatón, a hybrid bachata/reggaeton music style * "Bach ...

and

ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

. During his ongoing career, he has completed more than 2,000 arrangements for his band, for Los Virtuosos, La Tribu, Los Cantantes, Cuco Valoy, and for other artists including

Alberto Beltrán Alberto Beltrán García (born March 22, 1923, Mexico City, d. April 19, 2002, Mexico City) was a Mexican graphic artist and painter known principally for his work with publications such as illustrations and political cartoons but he created a nu ...

, Fernando Villalona,

Alex Bueno Alex Bueno, originally born as Alejandro Wigberto Bueno López (born 6 September 1963), is a singer and guitarist from the Dominican Republic, specializing in Merengue music, merengue and Bachata (music), bachata music, but also having ties in Sa ...

Milly Quezada Milagros del Rosario Quezada Borbón (born May 21, 1955) is a Dominican-American singer specializing in Merengue. She is a four-time Latin Grammy Award winner and has been referred to as the "Queen of Merengue" because of her impact on the wo ...

, Rubby Pérez,

Wilfrido Vargas Wilfrido Radamés Vargas Martínez (; born April 24, 1949, in Altamira, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican trumpeter, vocalist, arranger, composer and producer. He was instrumental in making the merengue style a worldwide phenom ...

Luys Bien Luys Bien is a Dominican singer, musician and songwriter. He interprets poetical lyrics with a melodious voice in a variety of Latin music genres, including bachata, merengue, bolero and salsa. In 2022, Luys Bien released his first collaboration ...

Miriam Cruz Miriam Aracelis Cruz Ramírez, better known as Miriam Cruz (born August 17, 1968), is a Dominican merengue musician and actress. Described as a "world famous merengue artist", she is best known for being the lead vocalist of the successful femal ...

Manny Manuel Cruz Manuel Hernández Santiago (born December 1, 1972), known artistically as Manny Manuel, is a Puerto Rican musician and singer of merengue, bolero, and tropical music. He became famous first as a member of the group Los Sabrosos del Mereng ...

, among others. The following are some of well-known or recent arrangements by Ramón Orlando:

References

External links

All Music AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the datab ...