Lorenzo Herrera

Infobox musical artist
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Background = solo_singer
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Born = birth date|1896|8|2|mf=y
Caracas, Venezuela
Died = 1960
Instrument = guitar
Genre = Venezuelan folk music
Occupation = Musician, singer, composer
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Lorenzo Esteban Herrera (August 2, 1896 - 1960) is remembered as one of the greatest singers and composers of the first half of the Venezuelan XX century.

Life and career

Lorenzo Herrera was born in "Santa Rosalía", Caracas. In 1923 went along with his family to New York City in search of new opportunities for his musical talent. In the first years, had to work as a shoemaker, but managed to obtain a contract with the most famous record companies of the time, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, among others. In this city composed a great part of his famous songs, including the pasodoble, "La Sultana del Ávila". In 1935 participates at the film Joropo, produced by a group of venezuelan residents in New York, under the direction of "Héctor Cabrera Sifontes", rolled in that city, acclimates the typical situations of the Venezuelan plains, and its final sequence, shows all the characters with formal wear, dancing joropo at the great hall the Waldorf Astoria, considered for the time one of the most luxurious hotels of the world. The same year, returns to Caracas, continuing with his musical career, pioneering the bolero, venezuelan folk music and the paso doble.

Lorenzo Herrera was also pioneer of the international promotion of Venezuelan music, managing to sign contracts with international record companies, giving concerts in Canada, United States, Colombia, and Argentina among other countries, also was known as a snappy dresser, having a huge collection of shirts, and appearing on stage with the traditional venezuelan clothes. One of his most famous compositions is the Venezuelan merengue "Compae Pancho" (often incorrectly written as "Compadre Pancho" or "Compay Pancho").

Legacy

Lorenzo Herrera composed more than 500 songs, and most of them were successful.His voice and his authentic Venezuelan style made the name of Lorenzo Herrera synonymous with the grace and humor of Venezuela. As with the romanticism of his waltzes which conserved the sentimental shades of principles of the XX century, with the merengue conveyed the grace of Caracas, with the joropo presented the Venezuelan plains in the cords of the harp and the cuatro. Lorenzo Herrera died at the age of 64. Between his famous songs, we can mention, "Luisa, Josefina, Rosalinda, Juan José, El Bachaco, El Coletón, Mi Rancho, La Caldereta, Compae Pancho,La mula Rucia, Canta Ruiseñor, El primer amor, Chupa tu Mamey, Ya no sufras corazón, Vente pa´ ca mi negra, Caminito del llano adentro", among other compositions.

See also

*Venezuela
*Venezuelan music

Source

*Based on the exhaustive investigation of "Guillermo Ramos Flamerich" about the life of Lorenzo Herrera