Neither the sun nor the heat gave up their prominence on the third day of the Professional category, corresponding to the second round, of the 56 Vallenata Legend Festival, in homage to Luis Enrique Martínez.
More than 40 degrees of temperature, in addition to the ‘warm’ support of the public for the participants, framed the competition between 25 digitizers who continued in the battle to become the new Vallenato King.
Cristian Alvarez, Jaime Squirrel, Ferney Arrieta, Juan David Athens, Enaldo Barrera, Edgardo Bolano, Jaime Luis Campillo, Richard Daza, Jose Juan Camilo War, Omar Hernandez, Hernando Larios Jr., Tuto Lopez and others were on the stage Javier Matta, for group 1; Camilo Molina, Romario Munive, Jesus Ocampo, Juan Payares, Cristian Perez, Jairo Piza, Anselmo Quezada, Enderson Rada, Ricardo Ramos, Nemer Tetay, Ronal Torres and Misael Velasquez, for Group
Starting at 8 am on Saturday, the battle of whistles and basses of the Professional accordion players classified to the second round began on the stage, Francisco El Hombre de la Plaza Alfonso López. Of these, only 15 will go to the semifinal this Sunday.
JUAN DAVID WON THE HEART OF THE PUBLIC
As the day progressed, the fight of whistles and basses ‘heated up’, and it was the accordion player Juan David Atencia, who was blind from birth, who first received the ovation from the public attending the Plaza.
Atencia performed the merengue ‘savory merenguito’ and the walk ‘La tijera’, by Luis Enrique Martínez, the puya ‘Let her come’ by Náfer Durán and the son ‘Altos de Rosario’ by Alejo Durán.
“Anxious, because this is not easy, but in the end one has to work, the support of God and the people who are always here supporting me. If God allows me to arrive… let it be his will, not mine”, said Atencia at the end of her presentation.
Atencia is a pupil of Andrés ‘Turco’ Gil and to whom he recognizes the importance of his musical and personal development. “He is a father to me, apart from teaching me, thanks to him I studied, very important… he advised me to always give my best and not be afraid to show what I know,” Juan David stressed.
EDGARDO BOLAÑO, A ‘CHICKEN’ WITH DYNASTY
Of the 25 participants in the second round, one of those who has the weight of a dynasty behind him is Edgardo Bolaño, who recognized that being mounted on the stage by Francisco El Hombre is a privilege.
Great-grandson of minstrel Chico Bolaño, grandson of Ildemaro Bolaño and son of Edgardo Bolaño, he played ‘Catalina Daza’ and ‘El coito’ by Chico Bolaño, ‘Saludo Cordial’ by Luis Enrique Martínez and ‘La Salchipapa’ by him.
On this last topic, he says:
“In the accordion the puya represents gallantry,
And the musicians of today are lacking in courage,
It is that these accordion players become pure gooda,
They don’t play, they are and merengue and they are afraid of the puya…
“They only play salchipapa, they don’t want to burn that stage, because the good accordion player in the puya is what stands out…”,
Bolaño sent a message to his colleagues: “The message is that now none of the accordion players wants to show up at the festival, they don’t want to learn a son, a merengue, a puya.”
This Sunday, only the best 15 who went to the semifinals to continue in the fight for the major crown will perform at the Pedro Castro Monsalvo Fair Coliseum.
BY: JOSÉ MARTÍNEZ VEGA/EL PILÓN