Photo: Bryan Steffy/Getty Images
Five years have passed since the death of the Colombian singer-songwriter, Luis Magin Diaz Garcia.
Magín Díaz, as he is popularly known, passed away at 95 years old, on November 28, 2017.
He will go down in history as a man who from anonymity had an important influence on Caribbean music.
The musical genres in which Magín Díaz worked They were Bullerengue and Cumbia.
The bullerengue it is a ‘cantao’ dance of proclamations and responses, an African heritage that found its refuge in the Colombian Caribbean; a dance that oscillates between sensuality and fertility whose percussive rhythm is based on drums.
a bit of his life
Although he did not have opportunities for any formal education and did not learn to read or write, from a very young age he manifested his musical skills.
His father, Domingo Díaz, taught him to sing, compose and play some percussion instruments.
Díaz is credited with the chalupa version of the song “Pink, how beautiful you are.” a song that came out in 1927, originally created by the Sexteto Habanero.
During the 80’s he tried enter the recording industry as a member of the group Los Soneros de Gamero. But the recordings did not overcome the political and social marginalization that occurred in the coffee nation.
Recognition after your 90’s
But all the recognition that he made under anonymity would begin to emerge after he was 90 years old.
The first recording at an older age was Magin and Santiago which was published by Páginas de Cultura in 2012. Subsequently, Magín Díaz and the Gamerano Sextet came out in 2015 and El Orisha de la Rosa in 2017.
It was precisely this last one that resulted in the collaboration of numerous musical, graphic, visual, audiovisual artists and admirers who supported its production.
This was also the result of four years of research and musical production that had the collaboration of numerous artists from 5 continents, 14 countries and 45 locations.
The album was directed by Manuel García Orozco and Christian Castagno.
At the age of 95, he obtained the National Life and Work Award from the Ministry of Culture, which is the highest recognition of the Government of Colombia to an artist.
In November 2017, he attended the Latin Grammy Awards with his son in Las Vegas, Nevada, for two nominations he had received for his latest album in the categories of Best Folk Album and Best Packaging Design.
It was that same day that he was admitted to the hospital due to a general malaise. While hospitalized he won the Latin Grammy for Best Packaging Design.
Magín remained hospitalized until November 28, 2017, until a crisis respiratory caused death.
Keep reading: