Simón Narciso Díaz Márquez (August 8, 1928 – February 19, 2014) was a Venezuelan singer and Grammy Award-winning composer of Venezuelan music.

Career

Díaz endeavored to recover the folklore and musical traditions of the ''

llanos The Llanos (Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, sav ...

'', the Venezuelan plains. This style of music has since been performed by artists such as Argentina's

Mercedes Sosa Haydée Mercedes Sosa (; 9 July 1935
at BrainyHistory.com – 4 October 2009), sometimes known as ' ...

, Brazil's Caetano Veloso, Spain's Joan Manuel Serrat, Peru's Susana Baca, Puerto Rico's Danny Rivera, and Venezuelans Franco De Vita, Soledad Bravo,

Juan Carlos Salazar Juan Carlos Salazar may refer to: * Juan Carlos Salazar (musician), Venezuelan singer and cuatro player * Juan Carlos Salazar Gómez Juan Carlos Salazar Gómez is the Secretary-General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). S ...

Carlos Baute Carlos Roberto Baute Jiménez (born March 8, 1974, in Caracas, Venezuela), best known simply as Carlos Baute, is a Venezuelan singer-songwriter and television host. His music is mostly in the Latin pop genre, with some ballads and Bachata. ...

and

José Luis Rodríguez José Luis Rodríguez may refer to: * José Luis Rodríguez Vélez (1915–1984), Panamanian musician *José Luis Rodríguez (singer) (born 1943), ''El Puma'', Venezuelan singer and actor *José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (born 1960), former Prime Mi ...

, 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 Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

Pina Bausch included some of Díaz's songs in her work ''Nur Du''. Also, the film director Pedro Almodóvar included Díaz's song "Tonada de Luna Llena" as part of the soundtrack for his film '' The Flower of My Secret'', 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 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 "Caballo Viejo" ('Old Horse') is a Venezuelan folk song written and composed by Simón Díaz, which appears on the 1980 album ''Golpe Y Pasaje''. It has become one of the most important folk songs in Venezuela and is regarded as a classic. "Bam ...

", lyric of Angel Eduardo Acevedo, which was recorded by the Gipsy Kings as the hit song " Bamboléo". His compositions have been performed by artists such as Plácido Domingo,

Ray Conniff Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. Biography Conniff was born November 6, 1916 in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United St ...

Caballo Viejo "Caballo Viejo" ('Old Horse') is a Venezuelan folk song written and composed by Simón Díaz, which appears on the 1980 album ''Golpe Y Pasaje''. It has become one of the most important folk songs in Venezuela and is regarded as a classic. "Bam ...

recorded by Conniff in his album, ''Fantástico!'' 1983 Brazilian release CBS-138578 Julio Iglesias,

Celia Cruz Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a naturalized Cuban-American singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during t ...

, Rubén Blades, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Gipsy Kings, Ivan Lins, Joyce,'' Joyce. Ivan Lins, Cheo Feliciano Cheo Feliciano, '' Joyce, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Cheo Feliciano, Luis Enrique, Danny Rivera, Ivan Lins, Joan Manuel Serrat '' Juan Gabriel, María Dolores Pradera,Pradera performs ''El becerrito'', written by Simon Diaz Martirio,Libertad performs

on her album ''Amar Amando''

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, an ...

, Plácido Domingo,

and the Gipsy Kings 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 Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

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 Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a federation made up of twenty-three states ('' es, estados''), a Capital District (Venezuela), Capital District ('' es, Distrito Capital'') and the Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, Federal D ...

, "The Great Ribbon of the Liberator's Order". He was given honorary doctorate degrees by two major Venezuelan universities,

Simón Rodríguez University Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

and Zulia's Universidad Católica Cecilio Acosta. On September 30, 2008, the Latin Grammy Awards 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 singer Oscar D'León.

Career

Discography

Awards and recognition

References

External links