This Saturday, April 29, at the Livestock Fair Coliseum, the 30 compositions that aspire to become the unpublished song of the Vallenato Festival 2023 sounded. One of those compositions was born within the Díaz dynasty.
Diomedes Dionisio Díaz Aroca, one of the sons of Diomedes Díaz, decided to participate in the Vallenato Festival with his merengue ‘Las canciones de Luis Enrique’.
Due to his first and last name, Dionisio is one of the most recognized faces of the contest. EL PILÓN spoke with the singer-songwriter about his song, which in addition to composing, he is also in charge of interpreting it.
What was it inspired by? “I did not know the life of Luis Enrique Martínez in depth, but I was inspired by his songs. I listened to his titles and it caught my attention. For example, ‘La ciencia occult’, ‘La cereteñita’, and women’s names, that doesn’t come out anymore: ‘Maricela’”said Diomedes Dionisio, who in addition to his first and last name, also inherited his father’s musical talent.
Diomedes Díaz was one of those singer-songwriters who dared to sing songs that had their own name. In 1976 he included the ride ‘Isabel Cristina’ in his second musical album ‘Tres canciones’. Along with him, other artists also immortalized muses such as ‘Matilde Lina’, ‘Alicia Adorada’, among others.
“The maestro was direct: if it was for Maricela, that was the name the song bore. That caught my attention a lot.” Dionysus counted. However, it was difficult to recount the life of ‘Pollo Vallenato’ in a single song, which is why Dionisio decided to name only the titles in his merengue.
THE NERVES
With the authority of his last name, permission was given to speak for ‘El Pollo’, who left this world more than 27 years ago, to send thanks to Carlos Vives for internationalizing his music.
“Knowing that Carlos Vives recorded ‘Los Clásicos de La Provincia’ and internationalized it, I gave myself the permission to say that he sent a message with me: say hello to Egidio Cuadrado and Carlos Vives, because they internationalized me,” adds the vallenato singer-songwriter.
Despite his experience and more than 20 years on stage, on Friday he had to fight against his nerves. It was the first time that she was on a stage in front of the juries of the Vallenato Festival.
“I used to tell my friends that I have sung in concerts with 40,000 people, and it is a normal nerve, but yesterday (Friday) I felt too nervous, as if I was just starting, as if I had never been on a stage”, Dionysus recounted.
HEIRS
The son of Diomedes Díaz is part of the list of musical heirs participating this year in the Unpublished Song category of the Vallenato Festival. “There is talent. There is a new generation of composers, sons of great artists. It’s the second generation and that makes me happy”, he counted.
In addition to Diomedes Dionisio, Enrique José Gutiérrez, son of the composer and singer Gustavo Gutiérrez, participates. The youngest of the four children applied for the walk ‘Defending the legacy’.
Wilson Rafael Sánchez, son of the composer Rafael ‘Wicho’ Sánchez, will compete with the ride ‘Una llovizna’. Héctor Alfonso Cotes, son of the composer Lázaro Alfonso Cotes Ovalle, presented his merengue ‘Artistas de qué’. For Lázaro Cotes, in 1975, Jorge Oñate recorded ‘La parranda y la mujer’.
Lea: Nostalgia took over the unpublished song of the Vallenato Festival
By Deivis Caro