Tropical music

Tropical music

Musica tropical or tropical music is a broad term for vocal and instrumental music with "tropical" flavor usually associated with the Afro-Caribbean music. It is part of an even broader category of Latin music. Usually it is an upbeat dance music, but also includes ballads. It features complex,...

 band from Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

 that was formed in Maracaibo

Maracaibo

Maracaibo is a city and municipality located in northwestern Venezuela off the western coast of the Lake Maracaibo. It is the second-largest city in the country after the national capital Caracas and the capital of Zulia state...

 by Mario Viloria and Gustavo Aguado, Zulia in 1968. Mario retired after being the main founder because of college studies but during his participation in the group he was the main composer for several years and his home was the main place where Guaco practiced in the beginnings. The name Guaco is attributed to Mario since in the mornings at his home where the band used to play and practice, a bird called Guaco would fly over. Mario later retired to continue his college studies on engineering but he continues to create "Guaco Music" for his family and friends in Venezuela and in Florida (U.S.) where he lives. The band, having begun as a regular Gaita Zuliana band (a folkloric Zulian rhythm with a heavy use of drums and percussion), during the 70s Guaco diverged from the traditional way of playing the genre by integrating it with elements of Salsa music

Salsa music

Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...

 (like complex horn arrangements), violins and electric guitars (very unusual instruments in a Gaita band). Nowadays, the Guaco rhythm continues to evolve through a complex mixture of Gaita, Salsa, Pop music

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

, Jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, Funk

Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

 and even Rock and roll and Vallenato

Vallenato

Vallenato, along with cumbia, is currently a popular folk music of Colombia. It primarily comes from the Colombia's Caribbean region. Vallenato literally means "born in the valley". The valley influencing this name is located between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Serranía de Perijá in...

music beats, concocting a recognizable and unique style that is considered to be a landmark of the genre.

Band members

• Mario Viloria - Founder, Main Composer, Director, Vocals, Musical Director, Guitar (Retired)
• Juan Carlos Salas - Musical Director, trumpet
• Gustavo Aguado - Founder, Director, and Vocals
• Luis Fernando Borjas - Vocals
• Ronald Borjas - Vocals
• Alexis Moreno - Charrasca
• Yonis Flores - Drum (Tambora)
• Vladimir Quintero - Congas
• Julio Rivera - Timbales
• Humberto Casanova - Drums
• Gustavo Molero - Bongó, Bells and Percussion
• Julio Flores - Saxo Tenor (Tenor Sax)
• Norman Cepeda - Trombone
• Edepson González - Keyboards
• Rafael Querales - Bass
• Carmelo Medina - Guitar

Discography

• El Obrero (Conunto Los Guacos del Zulia) - 1968
• Maracaibo Cuatricentenario - 1969
• Los Guacos - 1970
• Esta gaita si está en algo - 1972
• Gaita a todo color con los Guaco - 1973
• Guaco 73
• No diga que no los ha escuchado ni los ha visto - 1974
• Guaco 75
• Guaco 76
• Grupo Guaco 77
• Criollo y Sabroso (Disco doble) - 1978
• Guaco 79
• Guaco 80
• Guaco 81
• Guaco 82
• Guaco 83
• Guaco es guaco - 1984
• Guaco 85
• Tercera Etapa - 1986
• Maduro - 1987
• Dejando Huella - 1988
• Betania - 1989
• Atraccion Fatal - 1990
• Guaco 90
• Guaco 91
• Guaco 91 (Japanese version)
• Guaco 92
• Guaco 93
• Triceratops - 1993
• Guaco Clásico I
• Guaco Clásico II
• Guaco Clásico III - Sabroso
• Archipiélago
• Amazonas
• Cómo era y cómo es - 1999
• Guaco es Guaco - 2000 (Compilation album under Universal Masters Collection label)
• Equilibrio - 2001
• Galopando - 2002
• El sonido de Venezuela - 2005
• Equus - 2006
• Guajiro - 2010

External links

Guaco.org - Official Website Átame - Fan Site, guitar tabs and song lyrics

• Sincopa - Short semblance