Luis María Frómeta Pereyra most known as Billo Frómeta (15 November 1915,

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

– 5 May 1988,

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

) was a Dominican orchestra conductor, arranger and composer Billo's compositions achieve international fame, and those dedicated to Caracas, where he married several times and raised a family, made him the most beloved of composers. He always included Dominican Merengue and mangulinas in his recordings. Billo Frómeta with his group, Billo’s Caracas Boys. He was a great entertainer for Dominican musicians who visited Caracas such as

Johnny Ventura Juan de Dios Ventura Soriano (8 March 1940 – 28 July 2021), better known as Johnny Ventura nicknamed , was a Dominican singer and band leader of merengue and salsa. The merengue legend was a legislator of the Lower House between 1982 and 198 ...

and

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

. Besides the merengue, the joropo was his great passion. Likewise, he was considered the most animated interpreter of Colombian

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, enslaved Africans during colonial times, and Europeans. Examples include: ...

, for which he was honored.

Early career

Luis María Frómeta Pereira was born in Pimentel,

Duarte Province Duarte () is a northeastern province which comprises one of the 32 provinces of the Dominican Republic. It is divided into 7 municipalities and its capital city is San Francisco de Macorís. It is bordered by the provinces of María Trinidad Sánc ...

, on November 15, 1915. He would move with his family to

San Francisco de Macorís San Francisco de Macorís is a city in the Dominican Republic located in the northeast portion of the island, in the Cibao region. It is the capital of the Duarte Province, and the sixth most populated city in the country. The name ''San Franci ...

some years later. The school he attended there had compulsory music lessons, so he learned much of his musical training there. In 1930, at the age of 15, he founded and was the resident conductor of the ''Banda del Cuerpo de Bomberos de Ciudad Trujillo'' (

Ciudad Trujillo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

Fire Brigade A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

's Band). He also founded the ''Orquesta Sinfónica de Santo Domingo'' during this time. In 1933, he moved back to Santo Domingo. During these years, he would meet and work with some of his closest friends and associates: Freddy Coronado, Ernesto Chapuseaux and Simó Damirón, whom he already knew from school . The Conjunto Tropical and the Santo Domingo Jazz Band were formed then, as well. Frómeta then began studying Pre-Medicine in the ''Universidad de Santo Domingo'' and had to abandon all musical activity during this time. However, he eventually dropped out on his third year to dedicate himself fully to music. Duet photo

Career in Venezuela

Frómeta arrived in Venezuela in December 1937 with his orchestra to play regularly at the Roof Garden, a dance club in Caracas. As the Santo Domingo Jazz Band, they did well but the club owners did not like the name, so they convinced Frómeta to change it to something more marketable. Frómeta agreed but he was barred from ever returning to his native Dominican Republic as Trujillo considered the change to Billo's Caracas Boys an insult. ''Billo, Grandes Éxitos'', a compilation album of the most famous songs of the Billo's Caracas Boys, was released in 1996. Frómeta continued to play in Venezuela until the fall of

Marcos Pérez Jiménez Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez (25 April 1914 – 20 September 2001) was a Venezuelan military and general officer of the Army of Venezuela and the dictator of Venezuela from 1950 to 1958, ruling as member of the military junta from 195 ...

in 1958. Accused of being a supporter of the regime, he was barred by the ''Asociación Musical del D.F y Estado Miranda'' from ever playing in Venezuela again. Following this, he moved to Cuba to play with a Cuban band there. In 1960, a special session of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

was convened in Caracas. The purpose was to lift the ban passed on Billo in 1958, which was by then considered to have been unfair. That very same year, Frómeta returned to Venezuela.

Last years

On April 27, 1988, he suffered a stroke while rehearsing with the

Venezuela Symphony Orchestra The Venezuela Symphony Orchestra ( es, Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela) is an orchestra in Venezuela, founded in 1930. They perform at the Ríos Reyna concert-hall in the Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex. See also *Venezuelan music Severa ...

for a concert-tribute in his honour that would occur the very next day: just after he finished conducting the practice run for "Un Cubano en Caracas", he collapsed on the ground as the orchestra was applauding his performance. Frómeta died the following week on May 5, 1988.

References

External links

Billo Frómeta BiographyBillo's Caracas Boys Discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frometa, Billo 1915 births 1988 deaths Dominican Republic composers Dominican Republic emigrants to Venezuela Dominican Republic conductors (music) People from Caracas People from Santo Domingo Venezuelan bandleaders 20th-century composers 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century male musicians Male conductors (music) Male composers