Wilfrido Vargas
Wilfrido Vargas (b. Wilfrido Radamés Vargas Martínez, April 24, 1949, Altamira, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic), was a bandleader, trumpeter, vocalist, arranger, composer and producer who was instrumental in making the merengue style a worldwide phenomena. He began his musical studies early, attending the Municipal Academy of Music beginning at age 10. Before he was 12, he was the trumpet soloist and director of a small local band. It was in his twenties, however, that he begun to have commercial and critical successes. His band, Los Beduinos, produced their first album, Wilfrido Vargas y sus Beduinos, on the Karen label in 1974. It was the first of 17 albums that Vargas would record with Karen, all the while acting as mentor to a new generation of merengue musicians. Half of that first album was written by pianist and composer Sonny Ovalle, who helped develop Los Beduinos' sound and who would later make a major contribution to Vargas' hit albums in the '80s.
Vargas' first hit came with his fourth album, Punto y Aparte!, which was issued by Karen in 1978. It produced a hit single, "El Barbarazoí," and helped touch off a worldwide merengue craze, providing exposure for scores of Dominican artists. Vargas had a series of hit albums in the '80s, beginning with his duet with Los Beduinos vocalist Sandy Reyes, Wilfrido Vargas y Sandy Reyes, which was issued in 1982. In 1987 he switched to the Sonotone label and produced five albums with them, including Animation, which received a 1989 Grammy nomination. From 1991 on he was with the Rodven label, and while he remained a major name in merengue, he would never again achieve the prominence that he had known in the '80s. Outside of the merengue genre, Vargas also made a major contribution to the Fania All-Stars, joining them for their historic performances in Cuba in 1979 and contributing to the recording of the All Stars' Habana Jam album, recorded March 3 of that year at a concert in Havana.
© Stacia Proefrock /TiVo
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Vida, Canción y Suerte
World - Released by Karen Records Inc on 1 Jan 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pajaro Choui
World - Released by Karen Records Inc on 1 Jan 1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tambores de Carnaval (Pista Original)
Latin America - Released by J&N Records, LLC on 17 Dec 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
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El Cuchicheo
Latin America - Released by Villalón Entretenimiento on 13 Jul 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wilfrido Vargas & Sandy Reyes
World - Released by Karen Records Inc on 1 Jan 1982
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mi Conuco
Latin America - Released by Wilfrido Vargas on 15 Oct 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Poder Musical
World - Released by Karen Records Inc on 1 Jan 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Merengue con Diente
Wilfrido Vargas, Maremoto, Freddy Gerardo
Latin America - Released by LF Productions on 1 Jan 2001
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tambores de Carnaval
Latin America - Released by J&N Records, LLC on 10 Nov 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Joaquín
Henry Jimenez, Wilfrido Vargas, Didi Hernandez
Latin America - Released by Henry Jimenez - Esto es Merengue on 31 May 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Altamira
Latin America - Released by Wilfrido Vargas on 26 Oct 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Internacional
World - Released by Karen Records Inc on 1 Jan 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Merengue Que Aloca
Latin America - Released by Wilfrido Vargas on 26 Nov 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cosas de Mi Amigo Miguelito
World - Released by Karen Records on 1 Jan 1981
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Si Tú Te Vas
Latin America - Released by Villalón Entretenimiento on 13 Jul 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo