Simón Narciso Díaz Márquez (August 8, 1928 – February 19, 2014), also known as tío Simón, was a Venezuelan singer, actor, TV host, comedian, and

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

-winning composer of

Venezuelan music Several styles of the traditional music of Venezuela, such as Salsa music, salsa and Venezuelan merengue, merengue, are common to its Caribbean neighbors. Perhaps the most typical Venezuelan music is joropo, a rural form which originated in th ...

. Some of his most popular songs include ''Caballo viejo'', ''Tonada de luna llena'' and ''La vaca Mariposa''. Díaz endeavored to recover the folklore and musical traditions of the Venezuelan Llanos (plains). This style of music has since been performed by artists such as Argentina's

Mercedes Sosa Haydée Mercedes "La Negra" Sosa (; 9 July 1935
at BrainyHistory.com – 4 October 2009) was an

, Brazil's

Caetano Veloso Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicália, which encompas ...

, Spain's

Joan Manuel Serrat Joan Manuel Serrat Teresa (; born 27 December 1943) is a Spanish musician, singer, and composer. He is considered one of the most important figures of modern, popular music in both Spanish and Catalan languages. Serrat's lyrical style has b ...

, Peru's Susana Baca, Puerto Rico's Danny Rivera, and Venezuelans

Franco De Vita Franco Atilio De Vita De Vito (born January 23, 1954, in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan Latin Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter. His first album as a solo artist garnered three Spanish-language hits in Venezuela. He signed with the ...

, Soledad Bravo, Juan Carlos Salazar,

Carlos Baute Carlos Roberto Baute Jiménez (born March 8, 1974, in Caracas, Venezuela), best known simply as Carlos Baute, is a Venezuelan singer-songwriter and television host. His music is mostly in the Latin pop genre, with some ballads and Bachata. E ...

and José Luis Rodríguez, among others. Many of Díaz's works have been adapted by symphonies and choral ensembles throughout Venezuela, as well as being incorporated into the orchestral and choral arrangements of conductors and composers of academic music. Artists from other disciplines have also utilized Díaz's work. For example, German

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

Pina Bausch Philippine "Pina" Bausch (27 July 1940 – 30 June 2009) was a German dancer and choreographer who was a significant contributor to a neo-expressionist dance tradition now known as . Bausch's approach was noted for a stylised blend of dance move ...

included some of Díaz's songs in her work ''Nur Du''. Film director

Pedro Almodóvar Pedro Almodóvar Caballero (; born 25 September 1949) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and author. His films are distinguished by Melodrama (film genre), melodrama, irreverent humour, bold colour, glossy décor, quotations from popular c ...

included Díaz's song "Tonada de luna llena" as part of the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

for his film '' The Flower of My Secret'', sung by the Brazilian artist Caetano Veloso.

Early life

He was born in Barbacoas, Guárico state (nowadays in the state of Aragua), Venezuela, to Juan Díaz and María Márquez de Díaz. He had 7 siblings, one of which is the now deceased actor and comedian Joselo Díaz. His father was a musician and played the cornet in a local band, and he encouraged him to play the Venezuelan

cuatro Cuatro, Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the 4, number 4, may refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), a family of Latin American string instruments, including: ** Cuatro (Venezuela) ** Puerto Rican cuatro * Cuatro (TV channel), a Spanish free-to ...

as well as taught him some of the basics in music. After his father's death in 1940, his family relocated to San Juan de los Morros, where he finished primary school and started receiving music lessons from Ramón Ziegler. In an interview, he described that in that moment, as the eldest brother, he became the “man of the house” and helped his mother raise the rest of his siblings. When he turned 15, he started working as an assistant of the local Siboney Orchestra and soon after performed as comedian under the pseudonym «el Chato».

Career

In 1949 he started working in Caracas as a collector for the Banco Venezolano de Crédito and started receiving music lessons at the Escuela Superior de Música de Caracas. In the 1950s he gained attention as the host of ''El llanero'', a radio show where he mixed folk music and comedy. Later on, he hosted another radio show in 70s with his brother Joselo, titled ''Media hora con Joselo y Simón.'' In 1963 he participated as a collaborator in the album
Parranda criolla
', produced by Hugo Blanco. His first album as a solo artist
Ya llegó Simón
' was released in that same year. Throughout his career he recorded over 70 records and CDs, and made innumerable performances. Díaz composed and authored the music & lyrics of "

Caballo viejo "Caballo Viejo" ('Old Horse') is a Venezuelan folk song written and composed by Simón Díaz, which appears on the 1980 album ''Golpe Y Pasaje''. It has become one of the most important folk songs in Venezuela and is regarded as a classic. " Bam ...

", first released in 1980 (Venezuela) under the album titled
Golpe y Pasaje
, Label Palacio de la Música. To date, the song has more than 300 covers from around the world. In 1987 it was recorded by the

Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings (originally Los Reyes) are a musical group founded in 1979 in Arles, France. The band, whose members have Catalans, Catalan heritage, play a blend of Catalan rumba, flamenco, Salsa music, salsa, and Pop music, pop. They perform mos ...

as the hit song "

Bamboléo "Bamboléo" is a 1987 Spanish language song by Gitano-French band Gipsy Kings, from their eponymous album. The song was written by band members Tonino Baliardo, Chico Bouchikhi (J. Bouchikhi), Nicolas Reyes and Venezuelan composer Simón Dí ...

". Simón Díaz's compositions have been performed by artists such as "Roberto Torres",

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

Ray Conniff Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. Biography Conniff was born November 6, 1916, in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United S ...

Caballo Viejo "Caballo Viejo" ('Old Horse') is a Venezuelan folk song written and composed by Simón Díaz, which appears on the 1980 album ''Golpe Y Pasaje''. It has become one of the most important folk songs in Venezuela and is regarded as a classic. " Bam ...

recorded by Conniff in his album, ''Fantástico!'' 1983 Brazilian release CBS-138578

Julio Iglesias Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top List of best-selling music artists, reco ...

Celia Cruz Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950s as a singer of , earning the nickna ...

, Rubén Blades,

Gilberto Santa Rosa Gilberto Santa Rosa Cortés (), nicknamed "El Caballero de la Salsa" (The Gentleman of Salsa) (born August 21, 1962), is a Puerto Rican bandleader and singer of salsa and bolero. He is a six-time Grammy Award winner and has sold over three mi ...

, Gipsy Kings, Ivan Lins, Joyce,'' Joyce. Ivan Lins,

Cheo Feliciano Cheo Feliciano (3 July 1935 – 17 April 2014) was a Puerto Rican singer and composer of salsa and bolero music. Feliciano was the owner of a recording company called "Coche Records". He was the first tropical singer to perform at the "Amira ...

, '' Joyce,

Luis Enrique Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player. He is the manager of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playin ...

, Danny Rivera, Ivan Lins,

Juan Gabriel Alberto Aguilera Valadez (; 7 January 1950 – 28 August 2016), known professionally as Juan Gabriel (), was a Mexican singer-songwriter and actor. Colloquially Honorific nicknames in popular music, nicknamed Juanga () and El Divo de Juárez, ...

, María Dolores Pradera,Pradera performs ''El becerrito'', written by Simon Diaz Tania Libertad,Libertad performs

on her album ''Amar Amando''

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and h ...

and the

and

Devendra Banhart Devendra Obi Banhart (born May 30, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Texas and raised in Venezuela and California. In 2000, he dropped out of the San Francisco Art Institute to pursue a musical career. ...

Díaz also performed in theater, motion pictures and television. In the 1960s he became a comedian in Venezuela. He had the leading role in three plays, and participated in films such as '' Cuentos para mayores'' (1963), '' Isla de sal'' (1964), ''El reportero'' (1968), ''La bomba'' (1975), ''Fiebre'' (1976), ''La invasión'' (1977) y '' La empresa perdona un momento de locura'' (1978). He produced and hosted 12 different TV shows, all of them devised to promote Venezuelan music. One of these shows, ''Contesta por tío Simón'', aired on Venezolana de Television for over 10 years and was devoted to teaching

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

to children. It was during this time that Díaz's viewers began calling him "tío Simón" (uncle Simón).

Death

After battling

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

for many years, his daughter, Bettsimar Díaz García, announced that he died at his home in Caracas on 19 February 2014. Following his death, the Venezuelan Government announced three days of national mourning, and a concert to celebrate his life on 23 February 2014. He was buried on 21 February 2014 at the Cementerio General del Este in Caracas.

Awards and recognition

Simón Díaz was awarded the highest recognition conferred by the Venezuelan state, "The Great Ribbon of the Liberator's Order". He was given honorary doctorate degrees by two major Venezuelan universities, Simón Rodríguez University and Zulia's Universidad Católica Cecilio Acosta. The Latin American TV channel A&E MUNDO produced a documentary dedicated to Díaz under its “Biography” program, honoring his many contributions to Venezuelan culture, the program began airing in September 2004.''"His most celebrated songs include "Caballo Viejo", which became a smash hit in a crossover genre known as charanga vallenata, and "Bamboleo", recorded by the Gipsy Kings and Celia Cruz. His works have been performed and recorded by a who's whom of international music, from Plácido Domingo to Ivan Lins. Well into his 70s, Diaz maintains an active artistic life, and continues his performing and touring career with appearances throughout Latin America and the United States, including a slated performance in 2006 at Carnegie Hall."'' On September 30, 2008, the

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...

s announced that they would honor Díaz with a Lifetime Achievement Award, (El Premio del Consejo Directivo). Díaz was awarded the 2008 Latin Recording Academy Trustees Award, presented by Venezuelan salsa singer

Oscar D'León Óscar Emilio León Simosa (born July 11, 1943), known as Oscar D'León, and affectionately called ''The Pharaoh of Salsa'', ''The Lion of Salsa'', and the ''World's Sonero'', is a Venezuelan musician and bassist best known for his salsa music. ...

. In 2012, he received the National Prize of Culture (Premio Nacional de la Cultura), in the category of music, by the Venezuelan Ministry of Culture for his work in Venezuelan llanos music, particularly the tonada and traditional milking songs.

Early life

Career

Death

Awards and recognition

Discography

References

External links