Three hours from Valledupar, in the village of Costilla, jurisdiction of Pelaya (Cesar), was born on May 30, 1943, Emilio Oviedo, better known as ‘The Commander’, one of the most experienced and talented accordion players in the country.
With more than 45 years of artistic life, Oviedo has also been characterized as a discoverer and producer of great exponents of the genre.
It is enough to know who his first ‘guinea pig’ was, to understand the importance of the Comandante in Vallenato music. “When I recorded, I saw that my voice was not commercial. I felt that it was not nice. So, I invented that thing about putting a singer“, said Oviedo in a note published on the page web de Sayco.
“Emilio Oviedo’s selfless act of sharing applause and looks creating the singer, was born when he heard a cassette with the voice of an apprentice from La Paz, a certain Jorge Oñate. Oviedo was putting the finishing touches on his fourth musical production. ‘When I heard his voice, I no longer wanted to sing, but I left him eight songs. I sang four nothing more’. Jorge Oñate was born there and a new way of making vallenatos that would make history”, says the chronicler and writer Uriel Ariza-Urbina.
Ariza-Urbina recounts that Oñate continued his career with the López Brothers and Oviedo had to look for a new singer. It was then that he put his ‘good eye’ to work again and noticed Rafael Orozco, Loperena school student at that time, with an unusual and new timbre of voice, with whom he recorded two albums: ‘Adelante’ and ‘Con sentimiento’.
Orozco was immediately taken away by Israel Romero to form the legendary Binomio de Oro.
In that album with Orozco, remember Ariza-Urbina, Emilio Oviedo “killed two birds with one stone”. “One day a scruffy-looking boy came to her house, with a sweaty face and a daring immodesty. Oviedo told him to leave the cassette with his songbut the boy told him that he did not have a tape recorder or cassette, that he had it in the ‘coco’ and he would sing it to him right there”, he points out.
The young man was Diomedes Díaz. His song “Cariñito de mi vida” was the hit of the season. At the same job, Oviedo told Orozco to greet Díaz as El Cacique de la Junta, and he stayed that way. Besides, recommended Diomedes to record with Náfer Durán.
“I GOT THEM OUT OF NOTHING”
Emilio Oviedo Corrales is the accordion player who has recorded with the largest number of singers in the history of Vallenato music. According to data from the teacher, researcher and consultant Ángel Massiris Cabeza, (updated in September 2016) this accordionist has recorded with 26 singers. Many of the who began their artistic life with Emilio Oviedo who brought them to fame such as the cases of Jorge Oñate, Rafael Orozco, Beto Zabaleta, Farid Ortiz, Miguel Morales, among others.
The singer with whom he has recorded the most albums is Farid Ortiz, with 8 complete albums, followed by Eduard Morelos (5) and Beto Zabaleta (3).
According to Massiris Cabeza, the list of 26 singers is made up, in alphabetical order: Alberto ‘Beto’ Pastrana, Alberto ‘Beto’ Rodríguez, Beto Zabaleta, Fello Blanco, Carlos Narváez, Chiqui Escobar, Edwin Cantero, Eduard Morelos, Enaldo Barrera, Euder Medina, Farid Ortiz, Freddy Peralta, Gaby Garcia, Jafeth Zuniga, Joaco Pertuz, Jorge Luis Rodriguez, Jorge Oñate, Juan Soto, Kate Martinez, Rafael Orozco, Reinaldo ‘El Papi’ Diaz, Ruben Darius Peña, Toby Murgas, Tomy Lopez, Walmer Tordecillas and William Peter . . . .
“In my career I’ve been with 23 singers, half of whom are famous. I got them out of nowhere. For example, I started working with Miguel Morales when he lived in a little cardboard shack in Los Fundadores; I took Farid Ortiz out of the Zapato en Mano neighborhood; Beto Zabaleta at that time took care of roosters and sold gasoline in the pimpina in El Molino, La Guajira. Today they are rich and famous guys. I don’t have the same money as them because what I earned at the time I invested in my children’s study: I have a dentist, an architect, a doctor and a physiotherapist“Oviedo said in an interview with EL PILÓN in May 2016.
As a result of his talent with the bellows, in 1970 he was crowned the first vallenato king in the semi-professional category and on three occasions he ranked third in the professional category.
Emilio Oviedo, without a doubt, one of the most talented vallenato accordion players and an invaluable banner in the events of this genre.