Diomedes Díaz Maestre (26 May 1957 – 22 December 2013"Murió en Cesar el cantante Diomedes Díaz", Noticias Caracol; retrieved 23 December 2014. ) was a Colombian vallenato singer and composer. He has been named the "King of Vallenato" and is nicknamed El Cacique de La Junta (The Chieftain of La Junta), which was given to him by another vallenato singer, Rafael Orozco Maestre, in honor of Díaz's birthplace. ColombiaLink.com; accessed 29 September 2006 Diomedes is the greatest Colombian singer-songwriter of vallenato music and the biggest seller of records in that musical genre, surpassing 20 million copies.
Diomedes Díaz is the biggest record seller in the history of vallenato, exceeding 20 million throughout his career. Due to this, he was awarded gold, platinum and diamond records, unique in Colombia until 2008. In 2010 he won the Latin Grammy in the "Cumbia / Vallenato category". Loved and idolized by many, Diomedes' followers adopted the nickname "diomedistas", while Diomedes called them his "fanaticada".
His personal life was marked by family instability, controversial friendships, ups and downs with the consumption of alcohol and drugs, accidents, financial and legal problems, especially the death under strange circumstances of Doris Adriana Niño.
Biography
First Years Diomedes Díaz was born and raised on a farm called "Carrizal" on the outskirts of La Junta Township that belongs to the Municipality of San Juan del Cesar, La Guajira. His father, Rafael María Díaz, and his mother, Elvira Maestre, were poor. His childhood was spent helping his parents and eight brothers with farm duties, while he was musically influenced by his locally renowned uncle, Martín Elías.
First compositions According to the journalist Alberto Salcedo Ramos, when Diomedes was a child, he acted as a scarecrow to protect the cornfields from birds and, to avoid getting bored, he sang and exchanged songs as a barter with indigenous people from the neighboring farm in exchange for coffee.
Diomedes' first love, a young woman named Helida, was the one who inspired him to compose his first songs. Diomedes was also trying to dabble in singing, but by way of derision, he obtained the nickname "El chivato" (the little goat) for his voice during puberty. He also learned to play the guacharaca and sing verses. Eventually, his uncle decided to help him train his voice and compose songs; Diomedes mastered his vocal training and was invited to perform at parties. From Carrizal, he was taken to Villanueva to study in elementary school at the "Liceo Colombia". During his stay in Villanueva, a childhood friend accidentally stoned him in the right eye while trying to get mangoes from a tree, he lost sight in the affected eye.
Diomedes worked as a gardener to help with his livelihood, and then, dropped out of his studies to be a messenger for the Radio Guatapurí station with Manuel Pineda Bastidas being the manager, who gave him a bicycle to run errands for him, but Diomedes never learned to use it. He alternated his job with his studies at the "Colegio Nacional Loperena", night shift, where he finished the penultimate grade.
Diomedes' intention of working at Radio Guatapurí was, once inside, to make friends with the announcers and Disc jockeys so that they could play the album that contained his song "La negra", which had recently been recorded by Luciano Poveda and Jorge Quiroz. Diomedes stayed on Radio Guatapurí for eight months, but due to delaying running errands because of not knowing how to ride the bicycle, he was dismissed.
From his friendship with Rafael Orozco, came the recording of the song "Cariñito de mi vida", which consolidated Diomedes as a composer and Orozco as a singer along with the accordionist Emilio Oviedo. Through a greeting in the song "Cariñito de mi vida", Rafael Orozco coined and immortalized Diomedes the nickname "El Cacique de La Junta".
Diomedes continued exercising several trades, but always trying to interact with vallenato artists, even working as a prop, picking up wires and adjusting the sound of the microphones of "Los Hermanos López group". On the advice of his uncle Martín, Diomedes began to dabble in singing. The accordionist of "Los Hermanos López", Elberto López also allowed Diomedes to sing the last songs of their live performances. In 1975, Jorge Oñate and Colacho Mendoza recorded the song "Razón Sentimental" for him on the album "Los dos amigos".
Participation in "Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata" (1975) In 1975, Diomedes participated in the contest "King of unreleased song" of the vallenato legend festival occupying third place with his song "Hijo agradecido". The concourse was won by Julio Oñate Martínez with the theme "La Profecía". This festival took place between 26 and 30 April.
According to his friend Jaime Hinojosa Daza, Diomedes was going through financial difficulties and sold a bundle of lemons in the Valledupar market to buy a cassette and with a borrowed recorder he composed the song. The cassette was presented to the organizers of the contest, then he left to Carrizal because he did not have money to stay in Valledupar, so he heard the results of the competition through Radio Guatapurí, so he knew that they gave him third place. The next morning he went to Valledupar to claim the award. His then-girlfriend "la Negra" Sarmiento kept the trophy they gave him as a prize, which she still keeps.
The same year, Jorge Oñate and Colacho Mendoza recorded Diomedes' composition called "Razón profunda" on the album "Únicos".
In the "Rey Vallenato Professional Accordion" category, the accordion player Nafer Durán was the winner, who contacted Diomedes, through the then artistic director of Codiscos Emilio Oviedo, to make a recording together.
Nafer Durán (1975) One month after the Vallenato Festival, Diomedes and Náfer Durán with his accordion recorded in Medellín the LP Herencia vallenata under the Codiscos label, album that included the song of Diomedes' authorship "El Chanchullito", composed for his sentimental partner Patricia Acosta.
Durán included three songs made by him, "Pobre negro", "Teresita" and "La invitación". Although this musical production did not have too much success, it served to make Diomedes known as a singer. In those years, the vallenato music market was dominated by Jorge Oñate, Los Hermanos López and Los Hermanos Zuleta.
Elberto "El Debe" López (1976-1977) Then with "El Debe" López, they recorded the LP's "Tres canciones" in 1976, and "De frente" in 1977. Diomedes initially traveled from Valledupar to Bogota, where the producer Gabriel Muñoz of CBS (now Sony Music) made him a six minutes audition with the theme "Cristina Isabel", and when he noticed Diomedes' talent, decided to contract him.
For the album "Tres canciones" Diomedes included two of his songs, "Celos con rabia" and "Tres canciones".
Regarding the LP "De frente", Díaz included two songs composed by him, "La pollita" and "Mi profecía".
In 1977, Diomedes hired Dagoberto Suárez as his manager, who would remain in the group until 1985. This same year, Juan Piña and accordion player Juancho Rois recorded the album "El fuete", in which they included Diomedes' song "La morriña". Jorge Oñate and "Colacho" Mendoza also recorded compositions from him; the song "Noble corazón" on the album "SIlencio" and the song "Mañana primaveral" on the LP titled "En la cumbre".
Juancho Rois (1978) Diomedes Díaz would achieve recognition in 1978 with the album "La locura", which he recorded with accordion player Juancho Rois, also native from the municipality of San Juan del Cesar.
Diomedes recorded two songs from his authorship; "El alma en un acordeón" and "La carta"; they also included a song written by his uncle Martín Maestre entitled "Me mata el dolor".
According to El Heraldo, this album with Juancho Rois was one of the successes of his musical career. Despite the success they achieved with this album, Juancho Rois was bothered by Diomedes' personality and there were personal differences within the group, so Rois decided to leave.
"Colacho" Mendoza (1978-1984) Diomedes would consolidate his regional success with accordion players such as Nicolás "Colacho" Mendoza, and then towards the interior of Colombia in the early 1980s, especially due to the deployment that his record label gave them, CBS which included commercials on the national chain. By this time, in Bogota had already consolidated Binomio de Oro, made up of his friend Rafael Orozco and the accordion player Israel Romero, so there started a competition in the market with them. The union of Diomedes with "Colacho" occurred after a proposal from Diomedes, in which the manager Dagoberto Suárez intervened, who contacted the musician during a party in the south of La Guajira.
The first album by Diomedes and "Colacho" was "Dos grandes" which was released in 1978. Diomedes included a song of his authorship entitled "Despedida de soltero". The song "El gavilán mayor" was recorded by Diomedes to honor his friend Raúl Gómez Castrillón, alias "Gavilán Mayor", who was one of the first marijuana traffickers or "marimberos" that the North Coast of Colombia had.
The following year, in 1979, Diomedes and "Colacho" recorded the album "Los Profesionales", which included the song "El limoncito" by Martín Maestre; Diomedes included two songs of his authorship, "El profesional" and "El 9 de abril". This same year, Diomedes and Colacho made their first appearances on "El Show de Jimmy" on Do Re Creativa TV, returning to the program in 1980.
The third musical production with "Colacho" was published in 1980 and titled "Para mi fanaticada". Diomedes included his songs "Para mi fanaticada" and "Mi casa risueña". According to El Heraldo, this album with Colacho Mendoza was among the successes of Diomedes' musical career.
During the same year, Diomedes and "Colacho" recorded the LP, "Tu serenata" with two songs made by him, "Tu serenata" and "Penas de un hogar".
The album "Con mucho estilo" was recorded in 1981 with a song by Diomedes dedicated to his father Rafael María Díaz entitled "A mi papá" and another called "Bonita" inspired by his wife Patricia Acosta.
In 1982, Diomedes and "Colacho" recorded the album "Todo es para ti", in which Diomedes incorporated two songs of his own, "Te quiero mucho" and "Una de mis canciones".
The following year they recorded the album "Cantando" and Diomedes recorded two songs made by him entitled "Cantando" and "Te necesito", while "Colacho" included the song "Alma enamorada" of his authorship.
Diomedes' last musical production with "Colacho" was "El mundo" in 1984, Diomedes included three songs of his own; "Mi muchacho" inspired by Rafael Santos Díaz, "Señora tristeza" and "La Rasquiñita". Diomedes sent a greeting on the theme "El mundo" to Ricardo Palmera, before he later became the head of the FARC and assumed the alias of "Simón Trinidad ".
Gonzalo "Cocha" Molina (1985-1987) After six years of being a musical couple with Colacho Mendoza, in 1985 Diomedes formed a musical group with the accordion player Gonzalo Arturo "El Cocha" Molina. Their first record production together was titled "Vallenato". Diomedes incorporated three of his songs; "Dos claveles", "Camina" and "El gallo y el pollo". This last song was composed by Diomedes in honor of "Cocha Molina".
On 30 August 1985, Diomedes and "El Cocha" received a gold record from CBS Venezuela, for the millionaire sales achieved. The award was given to him during a presentation on "Super Sábado Sensacional", at the Venevisión studios.