This Tuesday February 20 commemorates the 96th birth of composer Leandro Díaz, minstrel of vallenato music who saw life with the eyes of the soul. His visual disability did not prevent me from fulfilling his dreams or building his artistic career.
His son Ivo Díaz described him as a wise man when remembering his father’s perseverance and strength to overcome obstacles. He stressed once again that he will continue working to prevail his legacy.
“February 20, birth of Leandro Díaz, a wise man”wrote the singer in a publication on his Instagram account where he shared the fragment of an interview with his father, conducted several years ago, in which he explains the story behind ‘God doesn’t leave me’, one of his masterpieces.
In an interview for EL PILÓN, Ivo said that although 10 years have passed since Leandro’s death, they continue to remember him through his compositions and recognitions.
“We have not forgotten it even though so many years have passed and it is a date where not only the family, but all the followers of Vallenato music who had the joy of enjoying Leandro’s work, continue to remember him as if he were alive. It is a permanent tribute for all the work that he left to humanity, for that ability to sing to life, to courage, to women and everything that his imagination could feel, touch and be inspired by”said Ivo Díaz.
Leandro Díaz died in June 2013 in Valledupar. During his artistic career he composed the songs ‘Cardón guajiro’, ‘Matilde Lina’, ‘El Verano’, ‘Diosa coronada’ and ‘Dios no me deja’among others, the latter being the one preferred by Ivo when he pointed out that his father sang about his life story and the close relationship he had with God.
“It is a song where Leandro shows off all that feeling, all those experiences and above all his homage to God, who despite all the circumstances he was able to experience, found the strength to say thank you to God for everything, for life; Thank you because despite feeling sadness in life due to all the circumstances experienced, Leandro never forgot God and God never forgot Leandro”, he expressed.
On Leandro’s birth, in the town of Tocaimo, Cesar, On February 24, the Mayor’s Office of San Diego will hold a discussion and fair about the life and work of the Guajiro singer-songwriter.