Venezuela Bids Adios to A Much Loved Folk Legend 19 Feb 2014 5:50 AM (11 years ago)
Venezuela's most famous and best loved folk musician Simon Diaz, known affectionately by his fans as Tio Simon (Uncle Simon), has died aged 85. The news of his death sparked a huge outpouring of support for his life and work on the social networking site Twitter from Venezuelans, folk music fans, and his fellow musicians. His daughter Betsimar Díaz made the announcement on 19
Venezuela's Hottest Party Band to Play London 7 Feb 5 Feb 2014 3:15 AM (11 years ago)
LAI playing 'Mentiras' live in Buenos Aires London is bracing for a Venezuelan invasion as the hottest Latin-party band in the universe, Los Amigos Invisibles, prepares to rock the UK capital to its ultra-funk foundations with a single live show at the Garage on Friday 7 February. Tickets priced £25 are on sale through Latino Life but don't hang about as they're selling faster than hot
Venezuela Guide on Instagram - FITVen2013 1 Nov 2013 1:51 PM (11 years ago)
INSTAGRAMEANDO ANDO YO...
In October 2013 I was invited to travel around Venezuela on a Press Trip organized by the Tourism Ministry (MinTur) in the run up to the FITVen2013 International Tourism Fair.
As I lost my laptop and camera en route to Venezuela I was forced to improvise. Armed only with an HTC One S mobile phone with an 8 megapixel camera, I decided to document my trip on
Still Skanking - Desorden Publico "Los Dados de La Muerte" 27 Feb 2013 3:12 AM (12 years ago)
Venezuela's top ska band Desorden Publico have been making music for more than 25 years and they just get better with each new album.
Their latest video for Los Dados de La Muerte, from the EP "Los Contrarios" shows a re-energized Desorden Publico in blistering form.
After the Colombian-influenced cumbia-ska of their last hit single Cristo Navaja, Los Dados de la Muerte is a
Salsa star Oscar D'Leon invites fans to London show 30 Sep 2012 4:06 PM (12 years ago)
Legendary salsa singer Oscar D'Leon will perform with his full big band at London's Roundhouse on 3 November 2012 for a one-off concert that no Latin music lover should miss. As he says in this special video message to fans ahead of the show... it should be Sabroso!!
For full details of the concert and how to get tickets click here.
Salsa king Oscar D'Leon comes to London 3 November 22 Sep 2012 5:58 AM (12 years ago)
One of the truly great legends of salsa music, Oscar D'Leon, will be bringing his swinging big band and his even bigger personality to London's Roundhouse on 3 November for a one-off concert that no Latin music lover should miss.
Organized by London-based promoters Como No!, the show features Oscar D'Leon's full Venezuelan band and will start with sets from top salsa DJs, including Javier
Venezuelan bands on Starbucks CD - Cafe con Musica 24 Jun 2012 10:24 AM (12 years ago)
By Russell Maddicks
If you like a little Latin flava with your mocha coconut frapuccino then look no further than coffee chain Starbucks who have just released "Cafe con Musica" - their first compilation of contemporary Latino sounds in collaboration with LA-based indie label Nacional Records.
Two of the 16 tracks are by Venezuelan groups: "Mentiras" by the funky boogaloo
Venezuelan orchestra brings classical music to Scotland 21 Jun 2012 1:29 PM (12 years ago)
The Venezuelan classical music programme for disadvantaged and shantytown children known as El Sistema has produced world class conductors like Gustavo Dudamel and the talented young musicians of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra. Now, Scotland has started its own version of El Sistema based around the Big Noise Orchestra in the deprived estate of Raploch in Stirling. Ahead of the
Venezuelan bands on Starbucks CD - Cafe con Musica 20 Jun 2012 6:42 AM (12 years ago)
By Russell Maddicks
If you like a little Latin flava with your mocha coconut frapuccino then look no further than coffee chain Starbucks who have just released "Cafe con Musica" - their first compilation of contemporary Latino sounds in collaboration with LA-based indie label Nacional Records.
Two of the 16 tracks are by Venezuelan groups: "Mentiras" by the funky boogaloo
Smithsonian launches Venezuelan folk CD - Parranda! 19 Jun 2012 3:36 AM (12 years ago)
By Russell Maddicks
Folk group La Sardina de Naiguatá will be bringing all the feelgood fun of a Venezuelan street party when they tour the USA in June and July with a series of free concerts in Washington, Houston, San Francisco and Chicago to promote their new album "Parranda! Venezuelan Carnival Music", which is being released by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings today, 19 June 2012.
As the
Cristo Navaja - Cumbia-Ska from Venezuela 8 Jun 2012 12:51 AM (12 years ago)
Filmed in the picturesque mountain towns of Altos de Paramillo, Peribeca and El Topón around San Cristobal on the Venezuelan-Colombian border, Venezuelan ska band Desorden Publico's latest release is a whimsical confection of folk tradition and magical realism.
Models, folk dancers and men in Colombian hats with machetes make this the most colourful video the Desordenados have done for a long
Venezuela ska band Desorden Publico launch new CD 5 Jun 2012 7:23 AM (12 years ago)
By Russell Maddicks
Venezuelan ska veterans Desorden Publico are marking 25 years in the music business with their long-awaited new album called Los Contrarios.
The new CD sees the Caracas-based nutty boys return with the kind of irreverent black humour, social comment, and high energy that made them so popular in the late 1980s, when they were inspired by British ska bands like The Specials,
Choroni - Sr. Mendez ft Palenke Soultribe 26 May 2012 5:15 AM (12 years ago)
By Russell Maddicks
Here's a summery tune about the Venezuelan beach town of Choroni by Grammy-Award winning songwriter and producer Aureliano Mendez, who records and performs under the monickers Panasuyo and Sr. Mendez.
Aureliano's exciting mix of traditional Venezuelan folk music, dance, electronica, drum n bass and ragga brought him chart success in Venezuela with his first album "Monte y
Afro-America Project - Venezuela comes to London 29 Apr 2012 5:01 AM (12 years ago)
UPDATE: Tonight 10 May at 7:30 p.m. - Free Concert by Wilmer Sifontes & his Afro-American Project at the Venezuelan Cultural Centre in Bolivar Hall - 54-56 Grafton Way London, W1T 5DL
There was a time in the UK when it was impossible to find Venezuelan folk music, either live or on CD, and you had to rely on friends to burn off some tracks for you or travel to Venezuela
SXSW music fest moves to Patafunk's Venezuelan groove 17 Mar 2012 4:37 AM (13 years ago)
Venezuelan DJ, producer, singer and musician Patafunk has returned to the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin, Texas, with a banging new dance track with Slimmy Neutron called "I Want To See You Again, Yo Quiero Verte Otra Vez" featuring SkipRage.
In 2010 Patafunk rocked the SXSW with a laid-back Summery groove "Bailando".
Venezuelan band Los Amigos Invisibles make a movie 7 Mar 2012 9:09 AM (13 years ago)
La Casa del Ritmo, A Film About Los Amigos Invisibles - Teaser from Juan Miguel Marin on Vimeo. To celebrate 20 years making groovy Latin dance tunes, Venezuela's funkiest pop-rock-boogaloo band - Los Amigos Invisibles - have produced a movie called La Casa del Ritmo. The movie is due to come out in Summer 2012 but a teaser trailer is out now, showing the kind of quality fans have come to
Calypso is king of Venezuela's El Callao carnival 15 Feb 2012 4:42 AM (13 years ago)
The 2012 Carnival has already kicked off in El Callao with beauty contests and calypso competitions but the big processions start Saturday 18 February - Tuesday 21 February, and end on Ash Wednesday with the start of Lent.
El Callao - A Calypso, Caribbean Carnival in the South of Venezuela
Venezuela is a country of countless parties, fiestas and dances, from individual celebrations of local
Venezuelan conductor "stupendous" on Sesame St 13 Feb 2012 5:31 AM (13 years ago)
Grammy-winning Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel is now so famous in the USA he was invited to appear on the popular kids' show Sesame Street, alongside series-veteran Elmo, a sheep playing the violin, an octopus playing percussion and an all penguin choir.
His appearance on the show was "very, very great and amazing", but what else could you expect from a classical music conductor who
Yellow Pants, Grapes and Triqui Traquis - Venezuelan New Year 30 Dec 2011 9:54 AM (13 years ago)
Venezuelans have been stocking up on yellow underwear, sparkling wine and grapes in the last few days, in the traditional build up to the celebration of New Year's Eve, or Fin de Año. The locals love to welcome in the New Year with a massive bang so sales of fireworks or "triqui-traquis" have also been brisk - especially the annoying little firecrackers called "fosforitos", the bigger "
Gustavo Dudamel and OSB join Calle 13 at Latin Grammys 11 Nov 2011 12:14 AM (13 years ago)
Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra joined Puerto Rican rappers Calle 13 on stage to open the show at the Latin Grammy's on 10 November with a rousing rendition of Calle 13's "Latinoamerica".
Dudamel wore a sash in the red, yellow and blue colours of the Venezuelan flag during the performance at the Mandalay Bay Hotel theater in Las Vegas.
Venezolanía - Official song and video for FitVen 2011 6 Oct 2011 6:24 AM (13 years ago)
Venezolanía, performed by Merida singer-songwriting sisters Ariana and Manuela Moreno, is the official song for Venezuela's annual tourism fair, FitVen 2011, which takes place on the tourist island of Margarita at the Venetur Hotel in Porlamar from 22-25 October.
Ariana and Manuela's group is called Surconciente.
This is the IV edition of Venezuela's annual FitVen tourism fair, which aims to
Venezuelan ska band Desorden Publico star in BBC documentary 25 Sep 2011 1:24 AM (13 years ago)
Veteran BBC presenter Jonathan Dimbleby joins Desorden Publico - a ska band that has been at the top of the charts in Venezuela for over a quarter of a century - as part of his documentary series "South American Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby", which airs on BBC 2 at 8 p.m. on 25 September. Playing to audiences of up to 150,000 people, Desorden Publico are not mere entertainers but
Dudamel and Los Amigos Invisibles blow away LA 15 Aug 2011 12:04 AM (13 years ago)
Venezuelan musical history was made on Friday, 12 August, when funky-Latin-party popsters Los Amigos Invisibles took to the stage with mop-top conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philarmonic to play five classics from their back catalogue at a packed Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
It was a meeting of two of Venezuela's most accomplished and successful exports: Los Amigos Invisibles, who have
Venezuelan Birthday Song - Ay Que Noche Tan Preciosa 14 Aug 2011 12:27 PM (13 years ago)
UPDATE: Sadly, Luis Cruz, the creator of Venezuela's unique Happy Birthday song "Ay Que Noche Tan Preciosa" died in Cabudare, Lara State, on 21 April 2012 aged 82. As long as Venezuelans continue to celebrate birthdays he will never be forgotten.
Venezuelans love socializing and there's no better excuse for hearty partying than a birthday celebration.
Birthdays are celebrated in the office
Simon Diaz - Tonada del Cabrestero 9 Aug 2011 3:06 AM (13 years ago)
UPDATE - 19/02/2014: Venezuela Bids Adios to a Much Loved Folk Legend Venezuela's most famous folk singer and composer, Simon Diaz, celebrated his 83rd birthday on 8 August with a huge outpouring of support for his life and work on the social networking site Twitter from Venezuelans all over the world. A national treasure, Simon Narciso Diaz Marquez was born in Barbacoas, Guarico, in 1928