Ramón Orlando Valoy García (born July 29, 1959), is a Dominican musician, singer, arranger, composer, record producer and songwriter, besides being a gran maestro pianist in Caribbean rhythms. Ramón Orlando received seven

Casandra awards The Soberano Awards are the Dominican music awards, which are awarded annually by the Asociación de Cronistas de Arte of the Dominican Republic in Santo Domingo. Often referenced in music line-ups to delineate a musician's popularity in Hispani ...

in the 1992 ceremony, including the ''Soberano'', which is the most important category in the Dominican awards ceremony. In 2005, he was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award in the Best Merengue Album category.

Career

Ramón Orlando Valoy was born on July 29, 1959 in Manoguayabo,

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) , webs ...

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 with ...

. He is the son of

Cuco Valoy Cuco Valoy (born January 6, 1937, in Manoguayabo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican Republic singer, songwriter, percussionist and guitarist, who is versatile in salsa, son montuno, guaracha The guaracha () is a genre of musi ...

. Ramón Orlando started his music career at age 14, as a singer, piano player, arranger, composer and songwriter in his father's merengue band called ''La Tribu.'' He formed his own merengue music band in 1984 called "Los Virtuosos", later renamed “Cuco Valoy y Orquesta” with Peter Cruz y Henry García as lead singers. Years later, the Cuco Valoy group broke up and Ramón moved to Colombia to physically separate himself from the Dominican Republic due to his political differences with the Dominican president

Joaquín Balaguer Joaquín Antonio Balaguer Ricardo (1 September 1906 – 14 July 2002) was a Dominican politician, scholar, writer, and lawyer. He was President of the Dominican Republic serving three non-consecutive terms for that office from 1960 to 196 ...

. Ramón Orlando then undertook a more ambitious musical project. He and then-famous merengue singers Peter Cruz and Henry García formed ''La Orquesta Internacional'' (The International Orchestra), in which Ramón Orlando intended to be the composer and musical director, while Cruz and García were intended to be the vocalists. However, of the first ten "single" songs to be recorded (and released individually), Ramón chose to sing four of them himself, which caused a split in the group. Peter Cruz and Henry García then each formed a short-lived group. Upon the two vocalists' departure, Ramón Orlando quickly hired some vocalists with voices sounding similar to those of Cruz and García in order to perform songs already gaining airplay. Ramón Orlando is also the composer of the theme ''El venao'', which found a large audience in several Latin American countries including Colombia, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. Ramón Orlando shares with

Juan Luis Guerra Juan Luis Guerra Seijas (born June 7, 1957) is a Dominican musician, singer, composer, and record producer. He has sold 30 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists. Throughout his career, he has wo ...

the greatest

Soberano Award The Soberano Awards are the Dominican music awards, which are awarded annually by the Asociación de Cronistas de Arte of the Dominican Republic in Santo Domingo. Often referenced in music line-ups to delineate a musician's popularity in Hispani ...

in 1992. He was a nominee in the

Latin Grammy Awards of 2005 The 6th Annual Latin Grammy Awards were held in Los Angeles at the Shrine Auditorium on Thursday, November 3, 2005. It was the first ceremony to be broadcast by Univision in the United States. Ivan Lins was the big winner, winning two awards, inc ...

for the Best Merengue Album (Generaciones) in the tropical category. Ramón Orlando serves as a pastor in a Protestant church.

Discography

Awards

Ramón Orlando received in 1992 the highest award given by Soberano Awards; that year he received 7 awards, for which Ramón Orlando holds the record of receiving the most Soberano Awards in a ceremony. In 2005, he was nominated to the

6th Annual Latin Grammy Awards The 6th Annual Latin Grammy Awards were held in Los Angeles at the Shrine Auditorium on Thursday, November 3, 2005. It was the first ceremony to be broadcast by Univision in the United States. Ivan Lins was the big winner, winning two awards, inc ...

as Best Merengue Album with ''Generaciones''.

Arrangements

Ramon Orlando is a prolific arranger of latin music including merengue,

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: ...

, bachata and

ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

. During his ongoing career, he has completed more than 2,000 arrangements for his band, for Los Virtuosos, La Tribu, Los Cantantes,

, and for other artists including Alberto Beltrán,

Fernando Villalona Fernando Villalona, the first artist named "El Mayimbe" (born in Loma de Cabrera, Dajabón Province on May 7, 1955, Ramón Fernando Villalona Évora), is a Dominican merengue singer who began singing in the early 1970s, his popularity started ...

, Alex Bueno,

Milly Quezada Milagros Quezada Borbón (born May 21, 1955) is a Dominican singer specializing in Merengue. She is a four-time Latin Grammy Award winner and has been referred to as the "Queen of Merengue" because of her impact on the world of merengue music. ...

, Rubby Pérez,

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 ...

Luys Bien Luys Bien is a Dominican singer, musician and songwriter. He interprets poetical lyrics with a melodious voice in a variety of Latin music genres, including bachata, merengue, bolero and salsa. Luys Bien's most recent release, ''Latidos de Tambo ...

, Miriam Cruz,

Manny Manuel Cruz Manuel Hernández Santiago (born December 1, 1972), known artistically as Manny Manuel, is a Puerto Rican musician and singer of merengue, bolero, and tropical music. He became famous first as a member of the group Los Sabrosos del Merengu ...

, among others. The following are some of well-known or recent arrangements by Ramón Orlando:

References

External links

All Music AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...