Los Golperos de El Tocuyo – Homenaje a Don Pío Alvarado (Centro Nacional del Disco, 2014)
Venezuelan traditional music ensemble Los Golperos de El Tocuyo dedicate this album to an essential artist named Don Pío Alvarado, from Cimarrona in Lara state in northwestern Venezuela. Pío Alvarado started singing in 1910, at the age of fifteen, and collected the songs and emotion of the traditional singers of the late 19th century. Pío Alvarado collected numerous traditional Venezuelan styles such as canturias, velorios, golpe tocuyano, decimas, tonos, and the Afro-Venezuelan sones de tamunangue. Pío Alvarado promoted the traditions of his region extensively and wrote many enduring songs that are performed by new generations.
Los Golperos de El Tocuyo is a traditional music group from El Tocuyo, a fertile valley in Lara state. The group was started by Carlos Garmendia and its lineup has varied throughout the years. The group got together to play local and regional traditional music including the golpe tocuyano, tamunangue and Zaragoza.
Los Golperos de El Tocuyo play lively folk songs strumming cuatro (small 4-string guitar) and cinco (a 5-string version of the cuatro) guitars along with lead and call and response vocals, maracas and tambora drum.
The musicians on Homenaje a Don Pío Alvarado Include Mario and Antonio Vizcaya on cinco, cuatro octavado and vocals; Edignio Torrealba and Gabriel Pérez Matheus on medio cinco, cuatro and vocals; José Gregrio Yépez and Dubi Dun on cuatro and vocals; José Alberto Torrealba on maracas; José de los Santos González on tambora; Iván Jose Querales and Luis Rafael Vargas on cuatro and lead vocals; and Edicar Torrealba on additional maracas and tambora.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.