Song:Me Voy Pa Cali
Album:The Greatest Salsa Ever
Oscar D'Leon is a singer, bassist and bandleader known as The Lion of Salsa. I guess the odd thing about him is he is from Venezuela and most salsa artists are probably from Puerto Rico or Cuba. He was born July 11, 1943 in Caracas, Venezuela. He was interested in percussion as a child and he started playing the bass. D'Leon's main influences are legendary Cuban bandleader Beny More, Celia Cruz and Eddie Palmieri. He started out working as a taxi driver during the day and playing in clubs at night. He formed La Dimension Latina in 1972. At first D'Leon just played bass. But when the singer left the band, he took that over and he's been doing that now for decades. He's been a solo artist since 1976. Me Voy Pa Cali is from the 1991 album El Rey de Los Soneros. The song was written by Colombian bandleader Gabriel Romero. Plenty of artists have recorded it but most of then change Cali to some other location. I suppose D'Leon could have changed it to Me Voy Pa Caracas. This 2CD budget comp is a good intro to his music. D'Leon celebrated his 50th anniversary in music in 2015. At the time he was still performing but he last recorded new music in 1996. It looks like he may have retired in 2016. He suffered several heart attacks over the years. And his website is kaput. If you're a salsa fan, be sure to check out Oscar D'Leon. Here's Oscar D'Leon performing Me Voy Pa Cali on Venezuelan TV 1992.
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