Rafael Escalona and Carlos Vives: How they popularized Vallenato, Part 1
Posted on 26. May, 2009 by Hector Aviles in Blog
Two inter-connected lives
Rafael Escalona and Carlos Vives have been two of the main forces which popularized the Colombian latin music genre of “Vallenato” in the last few years. Their careers and lives are interrelated in more than one way. Rafael Escalona helped popularize Vallenato through his songs, “parrandas” (parties featuring group of people signing), and social and political connections. These connections helped Escalona launch a popular Vallenato festival at the heart of “Vallenato country” in the small city of Valledupar, in the northern part of Colombia. Carlos Vives propelled his otherwise languished career by popularizing Escalona’s songs and modernizing Vallenato, taking it from the rural parts of Colombia, to the country’s big city night clubs, and eventually to the whole world.
Rafael Escalona’s legacy: popularized Vallenato with his songs and social influence
With the recent death of Rafael Calixto Escalona Martinez , 81, Vallenato looses one of its pillar composers and advocates. “El Maestro”, as Escalona was referred to, liked to sing at private gatherings with friends and women, being a well known “parrandero” who liked to partly until the late hours drinking whiskey and rum. Rafael Escalona was not a professional signer, and made a living mostly as a Cotton Farmer, something alluded to in the song “El Villanuevero”, contained in Carlos Vives’ “Escalona: Un Canto a la Vida”. In the below video, Rafael Escalona explains why he doesn’t sing in public or for money.
Escalona (standing) with G.G. Marquez
Escalona became such a popular Vallenato composer and “parrandero” that he made friends with some of Colombia’s high profile personalities. For many years he was a good friend of Colombian Nobel Prize winning novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez. But his most fruitful connection was with the governor of the state “Department of Cesar”, Alfonso Lopez Michelsen, a former President of Colombia. In the 1960′s, Rafael Escalona used to sing in “Vallenato Parrandas” in the Governor’s mansion, and was able to influence him to start and sponsor an annual “Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata” (Vallenato Legends Festival) in the city of Valledupar. The “Vallenato Legends Festival” helped popularized “Vallenato” beyond “La Guajira” and across Colombia. For further reading on Escalona news, check The New York Times blog by Douglas Martin “Rafael Escalona, Colombian Folk Balladeer, Dies at 81” or El Espctador.com’s “Colombia le rinde homenaje a Rafael Escalona“, which as various interesting videos.
Carlos Vives’ legacy: modernized and popularized Vallenato
In the earlier parts of his career, Carlos Vives, who was born in Santa Marta and moved to Bogota when he was 12, was a little known ballads signer and “novelas” (soap opera) actor. His big break came when he was chosen to play the lead role in a Colombian TV series about the life of Rafael Escalona. Carlos Vives’ performance of Escalona’s songs in the TV series got him great reviews, and the success of the TV series created an opportunity which Vives quickly recognized. Carlos Vives decided to change the direction of his musical career, and adopted “Vallenato”, adding some elements of his early musical passion for rock, as well as some elements of other Caribbean rhythms. This resulted in a series of successful recordings (not liked by Vallenato “purists”), with a couple of them dedicated exclusively to the songs of Rafael Escalona. Carlos Vives songs began to get played in Bogota’s night clubs, soon spreading to the rest of the country and later to the rest of the world.
Carlos Vives’ “Escalona – Un Canto a La Vida”
Escalona: Un Canto a la Vida
Carlos Vives 1st recording in the “Vallenato” latin music genre was “Escalona; Un Canto a la Vida”. Vives selected the best Escalona songs he had popularized in the TV Series and captured them in his 1st Vallenato effort. This album made a few changes to the Vallenato latin music, using trombones and other elements of Caribbean rhythms. The album was a success and he immediately followed it with “Escalona – Volumen 2″.
“Un Canto a la Vida” brings the essence of Rafael Escalona songs. These are mostly tales of events in Escalona’s life, or of people he knew. One song, “Jaime Molina”, is about his longtime friend who was a good painter, a profession Escalona wanted to follow when he was young, only to find his friend had more talent at drawing than he did, but that led him to discover he was a good poem writer, which eventually evolved to writing songs for the girls he liked. “La Patillalera” is about a woman in the town Escalona was born, Patillal, Colombia. Carlos Vives performs flawlessly in the album, reflecting his passion for the music and bringing forward Vallenato’s happiness and folk. If you are new to Vallenato music, this is a great album to kill two birds with one stone. You get a great Carlos Vives performance, and a new style of Vallenato which maintains its fun/happy essence but with a pop sound.
Modern or Traditional Vallenato?
Besides Carlos Vives, there are other great Vallenato artists worth considering. Fonseca is a great Colombian talent that plays with a Vallenato newer style, while Peter Manjarres (“Solo Clásicos”) brings a more traditional and strong sound. Vallenato is a fun music, rich in story telling lyrics and fun for dancing. See the videos “Orígenes del Vallenato” and “Homenaje al Maestro Escalona” in the Video section of LatinoWebCafe.com.
Who is your favorite Vallenato artist? Do you prefer the more modern style of Vallenato or do you prefer the more traditional sound? Besides the ones I mentioned, there are many others good ones. Share with us which ones you like, and if you prefer the more modern or the more traditional style of Vallenato. Which Vallenato recording would you recommend? Use the “Comments” section below to share your thoughts.
No related posts.
