Simón Díaz

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Simón Díaz

Simón Narciso Díaz Márquez ( Tío Simón ; born August 8, 1928 in Barbacoas , † February 18, 2014 in Caracas ) was a Venezuelan composer and singer, comedian, actor and television presenter.

At the age of twelve, Díaz moved with his mother and seven siblings to San Juan de los Morros in the Llanos , where he got to know musica llanera , a music that goes back to the traditions of the indigenous population, escaped African slaves and Spanish colonizers. Here he also learned to play singing and the cuatro , a four-string guitar which, along with the maracas and the Venezuelan harp, is an accompanying instrument of the musica llanera.

At the age of fifteen he performed as a stand-up comedian and storyteller under the name El Chato . He was also a member of the Orquesta Sidoney, which specializes in Cuban music . In 1949 he moved to Caracas and studied for six years at the Escuela de Música José Ángel Lamas . He then worked as a radio announcer, hosted the show Contesta por Tio Simón on television and appeared as a theater and film actor.

Díaz became famous as a composer and interpreter of more than 200 songs, which he recorded on over 70 albums and with which he made the música llanera known. He has given concerts in France, Great Britain, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Iraq, the United States, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico and Colombia, and his compositions have been performed by singers such as Ray Conniff , Celia Cruz , Rubén Blades , Gilberto Santarrosa , Ivan Lins , Cheo Feliciano , Juan Gabriel , María Dolores Pradera and Tania Libertad . His most famous song was Caballo Viejo , which the Gipsy Kings took over under the title Bamboléo and which was covered by Julio Iglesias , Rubén Blades, Placido Domingo and Ry Cooder as well as the Cuban guitarist Manuel Galbán .

Pina Bausch used his music for the choreography Nur Du and Pedro Almodóvar his song Tonada de Luna Llena in the film La flor de mi secreto . In 2008 he was honored with the Gran Cordón des Orden del Libertador , one of the highest honors of the Venezuelan state. In the same year he received a Latin Grammy for his life's work .

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personal data
SURNAME Díaz, Simón
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Díaz Márquez, Simón Narciso; Tio Simón
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Venezuelan composer and singer, comedian, actor and television presenter
DATE OF BIRTH August 8, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Barbacoas
DATE OF DEATH February 18, 2014
Place of death Caracas