Hernan José Gamboa Alexis, better known as Hernan José Gamboa Alexis (June 18, 1946 – January 10, 2016) was a Venezuelan musician, composer and singer. He was a member of the Venezuelan fold music group
Serenata Guayanesa, and later released separate albums.
Biography
The first of seven sons between musician and composer Carmito Gamboa Almeida y Carmen Alexis de Gamboa, Gamboa grew up around music. He studies music with his father, who taught him to play the traditional Venezuelan instrument, the
Cuatro
Cuatro is Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the number four.
Cuatro may also refer to:
* Cuatro (instrument), name for two distinct Latin American instruments, one from Puerto Rico (see Cuatro) and the other from Venezuela (see Cuatro) ...
, as well as the guitar and various other instruments.
In 1970, Gamboa helped found
Serenata Guayanesa with his friends and colleagues Mauricio Castro Rodríguez and the brothers Iván and César Pérez Rossi. He was the cuatrista and tenor voice in the group, which from 1972 until he left the group in 1983, recorded 10 albums.
In 1977, While still a part of the Serenata Guauanesa, Gamboa launched his solo career by signing with the Venezuelan record company PROMUS. In August of that year, he released his first solo album, "El Cuatro de Venezuela." Then in 1983, he decided to focus all his attention on his solo career, and hence left the Serenata Guyanesa. He released a total of 25 solo albums in his lifetime.
Gamboa began suffering from
muscular dystrophy, and in 1992 decided to move to the United States in order to get a clearer diagnosis and the help he needed. He lived in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
for a while, before moving to
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, Argentina in 2010, where he continued his musical career until his death.
In August 2015, Gamboa was diagnosed with
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...
, which he would die of several months later on January 10, 2016.
Nominations
He was nominated for the
Latin Grammy's for three of his records: ''El mundo en cuatro cuerdas (1993)'', ''Serenatas en contrapuntos (2006)'' and ''La Fiesta (2007)'', although he never won one.
References
External links
Interview to Hernán Gamboa in VOZZ.tv for the concert to Simón DíazVeinteMundos article about Hernán GamboaHernán Gamboa Info & music
1946 births
2016 deaths
Male composers
People from Anzoátegui
Venezuelan composers
Venezuelan-cuatro players
Venezuelan folk singers
Deaths from cancer in Argentina
Deaths from lung cancer
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