Merengue and salsa lovers have been left without one of their greatest exponents this Wednesday, the Dominican singer-songwriter Johnny Ventura. ‘ El Caballo Mayor’, as it was internationally recognized, suffered a heart attack at the Unión Médica de Santiago clinic. The news was released this afternoon by his son, fellow singer Jandy Ventura.
This colossal figure in Latin music was very popular in the 60s, 70s, and 80s in the Dominican Republic, and in Colombia it rang out with hits like ‘Capullo y sorullo’, ‘Pitaste’, ‘La resbalosa’, ‘ Patacón pisao ‘,’ Domilanchan ‘, among others.
Ventura, in addition to the music of his land, also created salsa hits such as ‘Dilema’, ‘Triángulo’ and ‘Trampolín’, the latter was composed for El Gran Combo and in the last three years it has been one of the most popular salsas in Barranquilla stations and estaderos.
The 81-year-old artist innovated with his lyrics and his catchy rhythm accompanied by his group El Combo-Show with which they performed striking choreographies. It was a different sound for the time, but it enjoyed the acceptance of a large fan base that began to follow it.
Ventura modernized the merengue rhythm by introducing saxophones, trumpets, piano, drums, electronic effects, timpani, and incorporating elements from other rhythms without losing the essence and natural colors of the merengue.
He was also one of the merengueros who has recorded the most songs made by our Colombian composers such as: ‘La hamaca grande’, by Adolfo Pacheco; ‘Las tapas’ by Ivo Otero, ‘Patacón pisa’o’ by Ramón Chaverra, ‘El Hombre enamorao’ by Gabriel Rumba Romero, among others.
Last year Ventura had been hospitalized due to the attacks of the covid-19, but he managed to recover.
Amelia Warner
Amelia Warner writes all the Latest Articles. She mostly covers Entertainment topics, but at times loves to write about movie reviews as well.
