• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

International Salsa Magazine

  • HOME
  • Previous editions
    • 2026
      • ISM / March 2026
      • ISM / February 2026
      • ISM / January 2026
    • 2025
      • ISM / December 2025
      • ISM / November 2025
      • ISM / October 2025
      • ISM / September 2025
      • ISM / August 2025
      • ISM / July 2025
      • ISM / June 2025
      • ISM / May2025
      • ISM / April 2025
      • ISM / March 2025
      • ISM / February 2025
      • ISM / January 2025
    • 2024
      • ISM / December 2024
      • ISM / November 2024
      • ISM / October 2024
      • ISM / September 2024
      • ISM / August 2024
      • ISM / July 2024
      • ISM / June 2024
      • ISM / May 2024
      • ISM / April 2024
      • ISM / March 2024
      • ISM / February 2024
      • ISM / January 2024
    • 2023
      • ISM / December 2023
      • ISM / November 2023
      • ISM / October 2023
      • ISM – September 2023
      • ISM – August 2023
      • ISM July 2023
      • ISM Edition June 2023
      • ISM – May 2023
      • ISM April 2023
      • ISM March 2023
      • ISM February 2023
      • ISM January 2023
    • 2022
      • ISM December 2022
      • ISM November 2022
      • ISM October 2022
      • ISM September 2022
      • ISM August 2022
      • ISM July 2022
      • ISM June 2022
      • ISM May 2022
      • ISM February 2022
      • ISM January 2022
    • 2021
      • ISM December 2021
      • ISM November 2021
      • ISM October – 2021
      • ISM September 2021
      • ISM August 2021
      • ISM July 2021
      • ISM May 2021
      • ISM April 2021
      • ISM June 2021
      • ISM March 2021
      • ISM February 2021
      • ISM January 2021
    • 2020
      • ISM December 2020
      • ISM November 2020
      • ISM October 2020
      • ISM September 2020
      • ISM August 2020
      • ISM July 2020
      • ISM June 2020
      • ISM May 2020
      • ISM April 2020
      • ISM March 2020
      • ISM February 2020
      • ISM January 2020
    • 2019
      • ISM December 2019
      • ISM November 2019
      • ISM October 2019
      • ISM Septembre 2019
      • ISM August 2019
      • ISM July 2019
      • ISM June 2019
  • Spanish
  • Download Salsa App
    • Android
    • Apple

Search Results for: salsa in venezuela

Lizna Tovar winner in the category Voice Over of the year 2022 in Canary Islands Tenerife

Lizna Tovar is based in the city of Charallave, Miranda State in Venezuela.

She begins her steps in the radio in 2015, participating in a health segment for a radio program on 102.5fm in the state of San Carlos Edo. Cojedes, Venezuela.

The following year they change the program to the radio station Plata 105.7 FM, in which the director Gonzalo Playa offers him to dabble in depth in the locution, giving him the opportunity to have his own space to which he gave the name “La buena vibra en radio”, of urban cut inclined towards reggae, ska and rap.

Lizna Tovar
Lizna Tovar

Always with the intention of national support, she managed to be the most sought after program with the new talents in the region, always being the special guest in her different presentations.

Her preparation continued with “Gente de radio” and with the school of the director of the same station which gave the best school for great speakers of the state today.

In 2019 he advances to the Voice Over, managing to become the official voice of countless DJs. nationally and internationally, official voice of different stations such as Fantástica 97.5 FM in Venezuela, Latino FM Web of Canary Islands, Radio Constellation Musical of Arizona, among others.

Voice Over  del año 2022
Voice Over  del año 2022

He had the opportunity to identify the adult entertainment channel Venus.

The latter gave her a boost with the recordings in sensual tone, suggesting to many colleagues of the medium and her slogan was the sensual voice.

Continuing with her participation in radio, she was the female voice in the program Baúl Salsero and from there she moved on to her own production Voltaje Salsero, taking her to be the female voice in the presentations of different singers.

In conjunction with her colleague Deisy Bonett, she arrives to another production called Ni tam Santas ni tam Fiablas, broadcasted in K-ribeña stereo.

In August of this year she is announced her nomination for the Latin Gold Awards 2022 in the category of Voice Over in international mention, being the winner of the award and official voice of the same.

Latin Gold Award 1st Edition.

A well-deserved recognition to the evolving talent of singers, orchestras, DJs and communicators whose effort and dedication to achieve a space in the music industry deserve to be recognized, especially for working every day to provide entertainment, information and much Latin joy to all corners of the planet.

Voice Over  del año 2022 en Islas Canarias Tenerife
Voice Over  del año 2022 en Islas Canarias Tenerife

Premio Latino de Oro brings together an ecosystem composed of emerging artists and orchestras, as well as those of recognized trajectory and greater projection worldwide, providing a large niche of diversified talent that the entertainment industry requires daily, also concentrates the most representative network of DJs in the Latin world, in addition to the most global online Latin radio circuit that exists whose musical window is the dream of all artists.

Lizna Tovar ganadora en la categoría Voice Over  del año 2022 en Islas Canarias Tenerife
Lizna Tovar ganadora en la categoría Voice Over  del año 2022 en Islas Canarias Tenerife

Today also active in social networks, she is part of a project called “Nuestra Visión” transmitted every Tuesday broadcast via instagram live, produced by Carlos Viloria in conjunction with the team formed by professor and historian Jeijal Perez and DJ. Julio the black.

She continues her preparation and constant learning in this medium and support for national talent, dedicated to carry out her projects with her motto “Always working for the positive” And it is that what is done from the heart transmits positive energies.

She does not think about rivalries or competitions, only to do a good job and in order to improve the quality, knowledge and experience.

Lizna Tovar (Voice Over)

 You can read: Saúl Delhom “Esta Salsa me gusta” one of the things I like the most is to learn, create and share

“Mambo Fiesta” the new of Maelo y su Klan from Oslo Noriega

As of Thursday, November 4, 2022 it will be available for sale on all digital platforms worldwide.

A musical production of Café Records.

Miami, FL, November 4th, 2022. (Café Records) It already smells like the holidays, both the World Cup Qatar 2022 and Christmas and the native of Caracas, the Venezuelan Ysmael D’La O (Maelo), producer, composer and director of the European group “Maelo y su Klan”, brings us this new and catchy single from the album “Cultura Viva”, titled Mambo Fiesta.

Mambo Fiesta lo nuevo de Maelo y su Klan desde Oslo Noriega
Mambo Fiesta lo nuevo de Maelo y su Klan desde Oslo Noriega

In his musical biography, Maelo has the album “Ritmo y Sabor” 2018 and singles from his new production; “Son Kizomba”, “La reina de la Campana”, “Que Extraño es Eso”, which was his first Feat with the Venezuelan cultural heritage group “El Sondeo Clásico del Caribe” and last summer’s hit “Son Onomatopeya”.

It has been a spectacular year, full of nominations, recordings and successes of the mulatto from Carapita, in which we highlight the following: winner as the best Antillean Group of 2022 of the Cristo Rey Awards, which is awarded in Cali, Colombia, known for being the world capital of salsa.

He also received the “Honorable Mention” as producer of the year 2022, at the Golden Latin Awards in Tenerife, Spain, after more than 20 years in music production in the old continent.

Referring to the Mambo, today few groups are recording this type of rhythms, but Maelo, as a good visionary and knowledgeable of the emerging market, breaks with that scheme and presents us with a work of musical art for the dancer.

With the invitation of excellent and first class musicians as collaborators:

Composer: Ysmael D’La O (Maelo), Trumpets: Luis Ruiz, Trombone: Michael Palma, Voice: Luis González, Alto and Baritone Saxophones: Julio Estrada, Tumbadoras, Bongo, Campana, Maracas and Guiro: Yomar “Caballo” Méndez, Timbal: Hungría Rojas Jr, Bass: José “Mortadelo” Soto, Piano: Julio Estrada, Backing Vocals: Luis González, Alexis “El Chivo” Aguilar and Ysmael D’La O (Maelo). Arrangement and musical production: Julio Estrada, recorded at Estudio Requena and JE studio, mixing: Francisco Requena and Julio Estrada.

Mastering: Estudio Requena: Francisco Requena, all under the general and executive production of: Ysmael D’La O (Maelo).

“Mambo Fiesta” is here to stay in the public’s taste, and is already available on all digital platforms distributed by Café Records.

Maelo y su Klan

You can read: Live The Salsero Rhythm In Asia

Renato Capriles, the man who imposed the rhythm with “Los Melodicos”

Dance bands have always added flavor and rhythm to parties in the Caribbean, but one of the greatest was born in Venezuela at the hands of Renato Capriles, “Los Melodicos”. An entrepreneur with an interesting vision of music, who knew how to adapt to what the public wanted, throughout the decades that accompanied his great project. In the following lines, we will tell you about his life and what he thought of his experiences.

Early years of Renato Capriles

Contrary to what many believe Renato was not born in Caracas, but in a small town called San Esteban located in Puerto Cabello, Carabobo state on December 28, 1931. In his own words:

“It was a town where only six or seven families lived. The rest of the inhabitants were people who served in those houses. San Esteban is about an hour from Puerto Cabello and it is still a very beautiful area.”

His arrival in Caracas is due to the death of his father, at that time his older brother, Miguel Ángel, decided to move the family to the capital and develop the businesses for which the Capriles family would later be well known in Venezuela. In addition, that is why it is known that he was born into a wealthy family, so business is something that he carried in his blood. They were also a large family, Renato being the 13th sibling of 14, which is why he always considered it his lucky number.

Arriving in Caracas, they settled in La Pastora, where the Capriles spent their childhood and adolescence. Renato himself even commented that he traveled those streets with a velocipede that was given to him for his birthday. During his adolescence he began to be closer to the dance bands of the time, although music always accompanied him, showing an innate ear since he was a child. But it was as a teenager that he went to parties in the main  square and listened to the radio:

“Already a little older – 16, 17 or 18 years old – the programs I listened to were “A Gozar Muchachos”, Billo’s program, of course, and the program that Luís Alfonso Larraín had. Those were the two great orchestras…”

At that time he also began his professional stage, first as an office boy at Inex S.A., owned by the German businessman Gustavo Zingg. Thanks to his friendliness and knowing how to treat people, he met Zingg and his children, who, seeing his hard work, promoted him to store salesman and then itinerant salesman aboard a Land Rover, with which he toured much of the Venezuelan territory selling everything, including power plants.

Then he decided to follow his family’s vein and set up his own business in Valencia, a clothing store that he bought from his brother-in-law who was a travel agent for two clothing factories. However, this only lasted 2 years, this being the only business that Renato failed. His mother asked his brother Miguel Ángel to take him to the company, known at that time as Cadena Capriles, which little by little became a publishing conglomerate.

Renato came to the organization and formed the company’s Public Relations department from scratch, something he was always very proud of and that he kept reminding in every interview. In fact, that vein of public relations is what led him to achieve that impressive success with “Los Melodicos”:

“I think I was born with that. I always make the comment that more than a musician I feel like a born relationist. All my life I have done it and I have applied it…”

The Birth of “Los Melodicos”

Although it may seem like a joke due to the supposed enmity between the two, it was Billo Frómeta’s orchestra that prompted Renato to form “Los Melodicos”. The young Capriles spent his adolescence listening to Billo’s Caracas Boys on his radio program “A Gozar Muchachos”, he also listened to other orchestras that competed with Billo’s for the popularity of Venezuelans and neighboring countries.

In addition to that, Renato Capriles was always linked in one way or another to music, not only did he have rhythm and an innate ear, but also his businessman’s mind led him to give his own orchestra a different organization. In fact, at the time that the Capriles family lived in La Castellana, he and his younger brother Juan Felipe had a small band of 5 musicians. Therefore, Renato already had experience in the formation of bands and orchestras.

In 1958 Renato finally decided to follow his most longed-for dream of having his own orchestra and taking advantage of the problem of the veto given to maestro Billo, Renato looked for him to help him with the composition and arrangements. As he commented in the interview he gave to Alfredo Churión D. and his space “Aquí están todavía”:

“There is a bit of fantasy about the creation of my orchestra. I was a big fan of Billo and always wanted to have an orchestra that sounded like his. I’ve always said it!… (Billo) he had opened a business in Sabana Grande which he baptized El Rincón de Billo in where he played the piano for the large number of friends who visited him there. And there I introduced myself to him one day with Tere, my first wife, to give an outlet for the concern I had had since I was a boy, which was to have an orchestra.

And my words were: ‘Billo, the reason for my visit is not to come and hear you play the piano or have drinks at the bar, but rather to propose that you make arrangements for an orchestra that I’m going to found and I’ll give you 50% of profits’… All in all, after seven months my orchestra appeared with its arrangements. He could not appear anywhere with them because no musician could get close to Billo at that time under penalty of being banned for life too.”

“Los Melodicos” made their debut in a television program that was sponsored by Cadena Capriles, it was called Su Revista Musical. Renato was the producer of the show and there the animator Henry Altuve made his debut, who had only worked on the radio until that moment. The orchestra’s first LP came with arrangements and a composition by Billo. So it had its sound but at the same time it didn’t:

“He arranged very lively with a very commercial sound, but it didn’t sound like him. On my orchestra’s first LP, although it’s his arrangement, it’s not his sound.”

Another important thing to highlight was the way of working and how Renato organized the orchestra, along with his innovative system of paying the musicians:

“I created a form of payment for musicians that did not exist at the time and that caught Billo’s attention when he reappeared with his orchestra in 1960. I invented the rates for musicians and I can prove it to you because I have the contracts saved. A first high earned eight hundred bolivars a month and a good second tenor earned six hundred. It was the first orchestra that earned salaries. It wasn’t like Billo’s where each musician earned a percentage. I created the orchestra as a company. They had, and still have, Social Security, Savings Bank, interest-free loans, etc.”

Renato’s golden age with “Los Melodicos”

The “Los Melodicos” orchestra has been faithful to the motto that has accompanied it throughout its extensive musical career: “The orchestra that imposes rhythm in Venezuela”. They began with the singers Víctor Piñero “Rey del Merecumbé” and Germán Vergara, but they were innovative by having a woman in the ranks of an orchestra for the first time: Emilita Dago.

Since then, singers and musicians like Rafa Pérez, Manolo Monterrey called the “Ciclón Antillano”, Niro Keller, Cherry Navarro, Cheo García, Roberto Antonio and Miguel Moly have passed through its ranks over the decades; while among the girls were Norma López, Diveana, Floriana and Liz.

What differentiated “Los Melodicos” from other orchestras in those decades was the innovation that Renato put into it. One of those great examples is presenting varied rhythms outside of the Latin dance rhythm. They came to play the twist with the singer Teresita Martí, which brought them great problems since it was considered “… a vulgar and ordinary rhythm.” They also came to play songs with touches of rock, but their most significant sound is techno with songs like “Papachongo” and “Que Rico”, where Diveana managed to capture more than one heart.

During all the years that Renato was in charge of the orchestra, there were many rumors of romantic love affairs with his singers, to which he himself replied:

“17 female figures have passed through my orchestra and I have had romantic relationships with 7 of them. Some are stormy and others very beautiful. People think that I’ve gotten involved with all of them, but that’s not the case. Raise fame and go to sleep.”

Renato’s rhythm went off before his time

Renato Capriles left us on the morning of July 8, 2014, he had already been hospitalized for days in a clinic in Caracas, all due to pneumonia. Currently, the direction of the orchestra is led by Iliana Capriles, daughter of Renato, who has been working hard for 11 years to continue contributing to the success of the orchestra as director. But all her life she has been in one way or another linked to the orchestra, and like a good Capriles she has gone through all the positions of the company that her father founded.

“For 30 years I have been part of the musical organization Renato Capriles, I have been the right hand of my father, his producer, promoter, sales, among others, until 2014 when I had to assume it, and it has been an enormous responsibility, and here we are paying tribute, honor to whom honor is due, and maintaining the legacy of great importance in Latin music”.

“Los Melodicos” are a key part of the musical history of Venezuela, with more than 100 productions under their authorship, and it cannot be forgotten that their professional enmity with Billo’s Caracas Boys is what kept the panorama of dance bands interesting. As they have always shown, they keep up to date with new trends and social networks are no exception, so you can find them everywhere like @orquesta_losmelodicos or La Orquesta Los Melodicos, because now they are “the orchestra that imposes the rhythm” in the digital world.

Yolanda Moreno “the People’s Dancer”

Venezuela has been a Caribbean and South American country that has always shown artistic tendencies among its inhabitants. Dance is no exception here, and one of the great representatives of typical Venezuelan dance is Sixta Yolanda Moreno de Rodríguez, better known as Yolanda Moreno the People’s Dancer” In this article we will talk more about her, keep reading.

The beginnings of Yolanda Moreno’s Career

This great Venezuelan dancer was born on August 6, 1936, in El Guarataro neighborhood of San Juan parish, in Caracas. Her parents named her Sixta Yolanda, a fact that few know unless her life is investigated, but she considered that Yolanda was easier to say and pronounce.

She grew up in a low-income family, but that didn’t stop her from pursuing her passion for singing and dancing. At the age of 13, she joined as a chorister in the musical group “Retablo de Maravillas” created by the Ministry of Labor. In this group she demonstrated her talent for music and a wonderful voice, in addition to fulfilling a childhood dream: «As a child I wanted to be a flamenco singer, I listened to the «Gitana de Color». With this group she met her first mentor, the Austrian dancer Margarita Brenner.

During this stage Yolanda met the one who will be the love of her life, her husband Manuel Rodríguez Cárdenas. To whom she also thanks all the support he has given her throughout her career, to the point of assuring that she would not be the dancer and woman she is today without his total trust and company. Although their relationship was a surprise since the marriage took place when she was only 16 years old.

The foundation of “Danzas Venezuela”

Another of her great achievements with her husband Manuel, is the founding of the group “Danzas Venezuela” in 1962. With it Yolanda manages to modernize the dance and folklore of the country, by changing the image of the dancers with very wide skirts and hair collected, that way they look more refined; she also changed the footwear to give more force to the zapateado.

Although at first these changes were not well received, Moreno with her husband achieved public acceptance, and also captivated the international public. Among the places they managed to visit are: China, Japan, Korea, Hawaii, San Francisco, Washington, New York, Canada, the Soviet Union and Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina. One of her special places was Puerto Rico, where she was given her nickname: “La Bailarina del Pueblo” (the People’s Dancer).

She also has great memories of China, especially when she was amazed by the respect for elders and the large number of artistic expressions that exist in this country. «Dance is a permanent job, very pleasant. I work until I am asleep. I got used to hard work, although it hurt, I danced» her words sum up her love for dance and art.

And Yolanda Moreno’s retirement came

Despite the fact that she will always be “The dancer of the Venezuelan people”, Yolanda has accepted that her days on stage are over, this of course does not mean that she won’t continue directing dancers and giving her advice with contributions in choreography. But Yolanda no longer actively follows her career, her big farewell was in 2008 with two performances at the Casa del Artista.

Of course, she has had special appearances like the one she presented in the posthumous tribute to Joaquín Riviera, which was part of the pre-opening of Miss Venezuela 2013. There have been other special events, but none as splendidly as the golden years of his career.

It is more than understandable that Moreno would withdraw from it, at 86 years old she is a woman who since she was a child has given everything to the art and folklore of her country. She also had to bravely face the farewell of her husband Manuel, which occurred in 1991 accompanied by her two sons Manuel Rodrigo and Fernán. It only remains to hope to be able to enjoy a few more years of her great ideas for the preservation, as well as modernization, of the typical dance of Venezuela.

The Caribbean joined the party with Billo Frómeta

Luis María Frómeta Pereira, better known as Billo Frómeta, was born on November 15, 1915 in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. However, this Caribbean man has more of a Venezuelan feeling than other compatriots, since he was very grateful to Caracas, that is where he made his life, both professionally and personally.

Despite his love for the Venezuelan lands, he never lost his Cibao smile, specifically from Quisqueya. But his gestures, his affection and tenderness, the details with which he acted, and his musical stamp are very Venezuelan. Perhaps we say goodbye to Billo very soon and he could not see his tribute in his lifetime, that only adds more strength to his career. Read all about his life with the following lines .

The beginnings of Billo Frómeta as Luis María

Although he was born in Santo Domingo, the Frómeta family moved to San Francisco de Macorís, where Billo spent his childhood and met the friends with whom he would embark on the musical adventure of his life: Rafael Minaya and Francisco Simó Damirón. As Billo recounted in his last interview before losing him to a brain stroke in 1988:

“There couldn’t be a birthday that we knew about because the three of us from San Francisco de Macorís were there playing and brightening up the evening. I always keep that in mind when I go to a special event”.

It can never be denied that Luis María was born with an innate talent for music, which he polished during his basic education, since rhythms and sounds were a compulsory subject in the Dominican Republic. As he already said, it was something he continued to do during his adolescence, although this was already in Santo Domingo where he moved back in 1933. There he is part of the firefighters, where with the rank of captain he founded and became director of the Band of the Fire Department of the capital.

Here he also gives guitar lessons, which leads him to meet the young saxophonist and violinist Freddy Coronado, through him Billo enters the world of dance orchestras, forming a group and working on the radio. Some time later, when they are already university students, Billo meets up with his childhood friends and introduces them to Freddy. They form the Santo Domingo Jazz Band, whose activities and presentations are carried out along with their studies.

However, Damirón moved to Puerto Rico, leaving Billo in charge of the management, but his medical studies were interrupted since at first it was difficult for him to comply with both things, then in his third year he began an internship at the military hospital but his ideas collide with those of the regime of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, so he abandons his studies and decides to devote himself entirely to music.

Arrival in Venezuela and its success in Caracas

The Santo Domingo Jazz Band received the opportunity to play on December 31, 1937, at the Roof Garden, an important local in Caracas. The journey to reach those Venezuelan lands was an adventure full of many sacrifices. However, on the day of the presentation, without the teacher Billo being consulted, the name of the band was changed to Billo’s Happy Boys, which generated discontent in the Dominican Republic, especially from Trujillo’s regime.

Due to this discontent and the growing popularity of the band in Caracas, the boys were forced to stay in the capital of Venezuela. This was the point that would change Billo’s life forever, since this city is the one that sees him grow as a person and as a professional. As he himself relates:

“My forever girlfriend, the city with which I owe a debt of gratitude and affection…”

This is shown in the number of songs by the band that speak in one way or another of the city. Despite the great affection he has for Caracas and Venezuela as a whole, Billo never renounced his Dominican nationality:

“It is the least I can do for the land where I was born. Venezuela is my life. Here I have planted. So as a feeling of gratitude to the Dominican Republic, I keep that nationalist umbilical cord. It is like the case of two mothers, one brings you into the world but the other raises and educates you. You will not stop loving the first and you will show your affection in something even if all your tenderness arrives at the second…”

Two years later in 1939, Billo faces a tough stage, he falls ill with typhus and the doctors give him no hope, but the teacher shows them that his time had not yet come. He returns to the stage ready to consolidate the popularity of the band more than ever, to which he gives a new name: Billo’s Caracas Boys, which the band maintains to this day.

From that moment the career of Billo and the band goes through ups and downs, from having a radio program where he can even produce and edit his own records, to spending days in jail for marriage demands. Speaking of love, Billo got married 3 times, being Morella Peraza his last wife and the greatest love of his life:

“… the one that Morella inspires me and I don’t know what is the miracle by which I see her prettier every day… I think it is the miracle of love, of that feeling that creates the need for one with the other, that transforms what is impossible into possible, that gives life to life… Sometimes it scares me… I am getting old and when one is old one no longer inspires appetites or desires, but Morella loves me and that is the triumph of love over the years. Isn’t it wonderful?”

Billo Frómeta dark days

By 1957 Billo’s career was on the ground, in addition to jail he also faced vetoes due to having contacts with important figures of Marcos Perez Jimenez’s regime, which caused him to be banned “for life” from performing in Venezuela. However, this did not prevent him from continuing to work as an arranger and producer, not only in Caracas but also in other countries such as Mexico and the United States.

In 1958 he met and befriended Renato Capriles, who was a businessman at the time, but wanted to replicate the success of dance bands like Billo’s. The unusual thing about this friendship is that it began precisely with Renato asking Billo to help him in the composition and production of various works for his band “Los Melodicos”. The friendship was maintained over the years but always with a touch of enmity.

A phrase that sums up these fateful years is: “What hurts me the most in life is ingratitude, and I have cried for it.”

Last years of Billo and his mark in the musical history of Venezuela

Between the 1960s and 1980s, Billo focused on his career and his band, brought Billo’s Caracas Boys together again, thanks to the lifting of the veto, and from that moment embarked on the search for those little-known talents who by passing through the band would be taken to stardom, as is the case of Felipe Pirela, José Luís “El Puma” Rodríguez, Guillermo “Memo” Morales, among others.

In addition to presenting new and unpublished works, they also continue to present the old ones. Also, Billo embarks on the business adventure of founding his own record label called Fonograma, although this does not last long and after several problems he decides to close the record company, and sell the catalog to his son-in-law.

For the 80s, the band continued with a success that rose like foam, not only in Venezuela but in the rest of the continent, they even performed alongside great artists like Celia Cruz. For 1988 a tribute to the master in life was planned, which he himself was going to direct, and had him very moved and excited. How well the words of Lil Rodríguez portray him, to whom he granted his last interview:

“The Master would arrive with the minutes, loaded with thoughts and concerns which he had no qualms about spilling on his way home, as if he thought out loud and with affection. Here I have, finally, more or less the order of the concert. Almost everything is ready and only the last rehearsal is missing. It would not be the first time that Billo would conduct a Symphony, but he was excited as in a debut.”

But this tribute never happened and in his place a slow procession was held to say goodbye to the master. Billo Frómeta, out of emotion, nerves and his perfectionist mania, suffered a brain accident that led him to fall into a coma, just one day before his concert and tribute. He died on May 5, 1988, that day Caracas lost an adoptive son, that it made its own and it saw his development as a musician.

Many people said goodbye to the master at the Caracas Municipal Council, while others accompanied the coffin to the Eastern Cemetery. This way, a great chapter in the history of dance music in Venezuela and the Caribbean was closed, but leaving an incredible legacy that continues to this day, since who has not danced with the Billo’s Caracas Boys?

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 70
  • Page 71
  • Page 72
  • Page 73
  • Page 74
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 94
  • Go to Next Page »

International Salsa Magazine (ISM) is a monthly publication about Salsa activities around the world, that has been publishing since 2007. It is a world network of volunteers coordinated by ISM Magazine. We are working to strengthen all the events by working together.