La Sonora Dinamita

La Sonora Dinamita are ambassadors of tropical music from Colombia. During their initial phase, from 1960 to 1963, they delivered hit singles for the legendary Discos Fuentes label such as "Yo La Vi" and "Mayen Raye," which revitalized cumbia's popularity at home. During the late '70s, their chart success with the album El Meneíto, and in particular the single "Se Me Perdida la Cadenita" in Mexico, dictated a cumbia revival in that country and led to them performing abroad for the first time. They recorded the hit album Fulminante in Mexico City in 1979, ensuring their popularity on the charts and across Latin America. Their charting singles during the '80s -- including "Maruja," "Cumbia de la Cadenita," and "Cumbia Barulera" -- and their platinum-certified El Africano in 1989, precipitated their first tour of the continent. Two years later they sold out New York's Madison Square Garden. Though Sonora Dinamita's lineup has evolved almost constantly -- their original singer, Lucho Argain, passed in 2002 -- the global success of albums such as 2003's A Mover el Cu and 2005's Universal Cumbia inspired younger performers and indirectly led to the cumbia explosion among younger artists on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2014, they contributed two tracks to the compilation Salsa, Champeta y Tropical, Fiesta Latina -- "Mi Movimiento" and "Corazon Mentiroso" -- that lit up airplay charts across Latin America and spread their reputation and tropical gospel to younger audiences and musicians. 2019's Noches de Copas was followed by the star-studded Transformando la Cumbia in 2021. It featured La Sonora Dinamita revisiting cumbia classics with the 2020s crop of Latin music superstars including Mon Laferte, Flor de Toloache, Victoria La Mala, and rockers Los Amigos Invisibles. Colombian arranger/composer Lucho Argain (born Luis Guillermo Pérez Cedrón) made his first record in 1959 after signing to Antonio Fuentes Estrada's label Discos Fuentes. Soon, the talented musician and the visionary entrepreneur teamed up to assemble a major orchestra inspired by the success of Cuban Sonora Matancera. Unfortunately, the original group disbanded in 1963.In 1975, Julio Ernesto Estrada Rincon, also known as Fruko, re-formed La Sonora Dinamita and began expanding the reach of cumbia throughout the Latin world. In 1977, Pedro Lucho Argaín took over leadership of the group, and 1979, they traveled to Mexico to record their first album in that country. Entitled Fulminante, it became a hit and started the resurgence of the public interest in cumbia as a popular art form.In 1981, La India Meliyará became their first female lead vocalist. With her they made successful, even classic records including "Mi Cucu." Since that time, La Sonora Dinamita has undergone many incarnations and personnel changes. They have been credited as the true source of the popular rebirth of cumbia throughout Latin America and have issued dozens of albums and compilations, some of which charted. Their 1986 album, Sida, reached number five on the Regional Mexican Albums charts, while their 1989 and 1990 singles "Tucucu" and "El Viejo del Sombreron" landed on the Hot Latin Songs Charts. Their Super Exitos, Vol. 1 collection from 1995 also netted three hit singles. The band has toured internationally almost every year since 1995 and have played in Europe and North America. In the fall of 2016, La Sonora Dinamita issued the massive 22-track collection Juntos la por Sonora. It featured the legendary group performing hits and traditional cumbias in duets with star-studded Mexican artists including El Dasa, Roberto Tapia, Mariana Seoane, El Bebeto, and Chuy Lizárraga y Su Banda Tierra Sinaloense. Almost a dozen compilations followed over the next two years, leading up to the band's 60th anniversary. In 2019, they delivered a collection of new recordings in Noches de Copas, followed by the live 60 Aniversario. In 2021, the band re-emerged with Transformando la Cumbia, a collection from the historic cumbia canon performed in collaboration with a star-studded cast of popular Latin-American vocalists including Mon Laferte, Flor de Toloache, and Victoria La Mala.
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