José Manuel Calderón (El Maestro de Bachata) is considered the first musician to record '' bachata'' with "Borracho de amor" and "Condena", in 1962 at the Radio Televisión Dominicana studios.Julie A. Sellers Bachata and Dominican Identity / La bachata y la identidad dominicana- 2014 - 0786476737 "Bachatero Edilio Paredes remembers the first bachata “Condena (Conviction/ Sentence),” recorded by José Manuel Calderón: “In 1962, the first recording of what we now call bachata was made. Then, it was called 'bolero de guitarra." Calderón's voice was unlike typical ''bachateros'', in that he sang in baritone. He also innovated instrumentation in ''bachata'', applying strings, horn sections and piano, as well as replacing the

maracas A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were ...

with a güira. Calderón moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1967, and recorded with labels such as Kubaney and BMC. After five years, he returned to the Dominican Republic, only to find that the ''bachateros'' had been marginalized, since the genre itself had been associated with poverty and prostitution, and only Radio Guarachita, a nationwide radio station, played it. Disillusioned, Calderón returned to New York, where he found that a Dominican community was growing in Washington Heights, and was able to give rise to a popular ''bachata'' scene. Today, with the recent acceptance of ''bachata'' in the Dominican Republic and the US, Calderón receives a fraction of the recognition he deserves as one of the forefathers of the national genre. He continues to record and distribute his own recordings.

Discography

* ''Recordando Tu Amor'' (1960) * ''Sus Éxitos'' (1960) * ''Este Es José Manuel Calderón'' (1962) * ''Con la Misma Moneda'' (1966) * ''José Manuel Calderón y Sus Éxitos'' (1966) * ''Qué Será de Mi'' (Condena) (1968) * ''El Romántico'' (1974) * ''Más Éxitos de José Manuel Calderón'' (1980)

References

External links

José Manuel Calderón websiteJosé Manuel Calderón biography and audio clips
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calderon, Jose Manuel Bachata musicians Living people 20th-century Dominican Republic male singers Year of birth missing (living people)