Wilfrido Vargas

b. Wilfrido Radamés Vargas Martínez, 24 April 1949, Altamira, Puerto Plata province, Dominican Republic. Band leader, trumpeter, lead and chorus singer, arranger, composer and producer Vargas was in the forefront of the 80s merengue boom that engulfed not only established salsa markets but also new territory like Spain. The oldest of 10 children, he started studying at the Municipal Academy of Music at the age of 10. Before he was 12, he was the trumpet soloist and director of a small local band. Leading his band, Los Beduinos (The Bedouins), Vargas debuted with Wilfrido Vargas Y Sus Beduinos, the first of 17 albums on the Karen label in 1974. Half of the album was written by pianist, composer, arranger Sonny Ovalle, who helped shape Los Beduinos original sound and went on to make a significant contribution to Vargas’ key hit albums of the 80s. Among the personnel were future merengue names Bonny Cepeda (band leader, pianist, singer, arranger, composer, producer; he had the distinction of becoming the first merengue artist to be nominated for a Grammy Award with Noche De Discotheque in 1985), Chery Jiménez (bass, producer) and Victor Waill (singer, composer, arranger, musical director). Vargas’ fourth album Punto Y Aparte! (1978) yielded the groundbreaking smash hit ‘El Barbarazo’, regarded as the advent of the ‘new merengue’. Vargas’ 1982 collaboration Wilfrido Vargas & Sandy Reyes with former Beduinos vocalist Sandy Reyes (who first appeared on the band’s second album) marked the first of a clutch of hit albums, which also included El Funcionario, El Jardinero (Eddy Herrera was among the six vocalists on this album; he departed after Vargas’ 1987 album and went on to pursue a solo career) and Wilfrido 86 - La Medicina between 1983 and 1985. Some of his best work from this 80s peak period was characterized by a creative and hip fusion of traditional merengue with other Caribbean elements such as soca and zouk, as well as with rap and disco. Vargas’ 1986 Karen finale Vida, Canción Y Suerte 1971-19 … spotlighted vocalist Rubby Pérez (he debuted on El Funcionario), who left to make his solo debut with Rubby Pérez in 1987. Vargas switched to Sonotone in 1987 for a series of five albums, including the 1989 Grammy nominated Animation. By the beginning of the 90s, while he remained a major name, Vargas’ output (on Rodven from 1991) failed to match the lofty heights of commercial success he reached in the 80s. In the mid-80s he conceived and produced the popular merengue bands Las Chicas Del Can (with an all-female line-up) and the New York Band, whose 1986 debut album was co-produced by Chery Jiménez (he subsequently became their sole producer). In 1979, Vargas joined the Fania All Stars for their historic performances in Cuba and featured in the All Stars Habana Jam (1979), which was recorded at their 3 March concert in Havana.