Juan Luis Guerra
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Juan Luis Guerra Y 440 | ||
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 Juan Luis Guerra during a concert in Boston, MA.
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| Background information | ||
| Born | June, 7, 1957 | |
| Origin | Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | |
| Genre(s) | Merengue, Bachata, Salsa | |
| Members | ||
| Juan Luis Guerra, Musicians | ||
| Notable instrument(s) | ||
| Guitars,Drums | ||
Juan Luis Guerra (born June 7, 1957 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican singer and songwriter best known for popularizing merengue and bachata styles of music internationally.
After a year of study in philosophy and literature at the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, he switched to the Conservatorio Nacional de Música where he finished his undergraduate study. Guerra was a great admirer at this time of the nueva canción, embodied by Pablo Milanés and Silvio Rodríguez, among others.
After finishing his study at the Santo Domingo conservatory, Guerra went to the Berklee College of Music in Boston to study composition and arranging.
After his return to the Dominican Republic, he discoverd that released his first album, Soplando (1984) with a group of local musicians which subsequently became known as Juan Luis Guerra y 440. Note that the band's name in Spanish is officially publicized as Cuatro Cuarenta, a shortening of the normally strict reading of number four hundred and forty. The 440 part of the band's name refers to the standard tuning "A=440." Reportedly the name for the band came from a practice session where Juan Luis's brother suggested the name, because the name would reflect how "in-tune and precise they were."
Two albums followed, Mudanza y Acarreo and Mientras más lo pienso ... tú. Although they saw little acclaim internationally, the band garnered some fame in their country.
Their next album, in 1989, brought them international fame. Ojalá que Llueva Cafe (If only it would rain coffee), a slow melodic number with superfast background tracks, became a number one hit in many Latin American countries, with the hit song of the same name. Subsequently, a video of the hit song was filmed and Juan Luis Guerra and his 440 band began touring. (The song's fame was revived in 1996 with a cover by Café Tacuba). In 1990, they released their next album, Bachata Rosa, which also became a major hit and earned him his first Grammy award. The album, having sold more than 5 million copies at that time, allowed Guerra to keep touring Latin America, USA and Europe. This album contains memorable love songs such as "Burbujas de amor" (Bubbles of Love) and "Estrellitas y Duendes".
Guerra became a controversial figure in the Dominican Republic after he released his next album, Areito. "Areito" (1992), featured the hit single "El costo de la vida," ("The Cost of Living/Cost of Life") but the video version was banned in several countries.
He protested against the poor conditions in many Latin American countries, the celebration of the discovery of the Americas "(1492)", and the double standard policies of first world nations. ('Areito' is a Taino word for song and dance).
That situation might have had something to do with his next album, Fogaraté (1995), where he stayed away from recording any protest songs.
One of his most recent albums, Ni es lo Mismo ni es Igual (It's not the Same nor is it Equal) (1998), garnered much critical acclaim. It won three Latin Grammys in 2000.
In 2004, Guerra released his first new album in six years. Entitled "Para Ti" (For you), the album's songs are mostly religious in nature, reflecting Guerra's conversion to Evangelical Christianity. With this album the singer won two awards at the 2005 Billboards in the categories of Gospel-Pop and Tropical-Merengue, for the hit single Las Avispas, being this the first time ever that the same song wins these two categories at the same time. In the same time, Guerra was honored with the Latino Special Award for the Music Academy of Spain for his contributions to the music of his country and the Caribbean in the last 20 years.
Guerra is the uncle-in-law of Miss Universe 2003, Amelia Vega.
Recently, he recorded with famous artists Diego Torres and with Maná.
He announced that he's probably going to record in English.
[edit] Discography
- Soplando,1985
- Mudanza y Acarreo,1985
- Mientras más lo pienso tú,1987
- Ojalá que llueva Café,1990
- Bachata Rosa,1991
- Areíto,1992
- Fogarate,1994
- Grandes Exitos Juan Luis Guerra y 440
- No Es Lo Mismo Ni Es Igual,1998
- Para Ti,2004
[edit] Reference
- Manuel, Peter. Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae.
[edit] External links
- Biography of Juan Luis Guerra and his relationship to bachata music
- Discover the music of Santo Domingo music, video clips, and articles
- Juan Luis Guerra Discography
