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Antony Santos
Antony Santos
Dominican Republic musician and singer
1
Zacarías Ferreira
Zacarías Ferreira
Dominican Republic musician
2
Johnny Ventura
Johnny Ventura
Dominican Republic musician
3
Luis Vargas
Luis Vargas
Dominican Republic musician
4
Eladio Romero Santos
Eladio Romero Santos
Dominican republic singer
5
Leonardo Paniagua
Leonardo Paniagua
Dominican Republic artist
6
Juan Luis Guerra
Juan Luis Guerra
Dominican musician, singer, composer, and record producer
7
Frank Reyes
Frank Reyes
Dominican Republic singer
8
Los Hermanos Rosario
Los Hermanos Rosario
band
9
Monchy & Alexandra
Monchy & Alexandra
Dominican musical duo
10
Wilfrido Vargas
Wilfrido Vargas
Dominican Republic musician
11
Tatico Henriquez
Tatico Henriquez
Dominican musician
12
Fernando Villalona
Fernando Villalona
merengue singer from Dominican Republic
13
Daniel Santacruz
Daniel Santacruz
American-born Dominican musician, singer and record producer
14
Toby Love
Toby Love
American singer
15
Danny Rivera
Danny Rivera
Puerto Rican singer
16
Mocedades
Mocedades
Spanish singing group from the Basque Autonomous Community
17
Leo Dan
Leo Dan
Argentine singer
18
Luis Días
Luis Días
Dominican Republic musician
19
Ramón Torres
Ramón Torres
Dominican singer-songwriter
20
Olga Guillot
Olga Guillot
Cuban musician (1922-2010)
21
Manolo Escobar
Manolo Escobar
Spanish singer and actor
22
Raphael
Raphael
Spanish recording artist; singer and actor
23
Raulín Rodríguez
Raulín Rodríguez
Dominican Republic singer
24
José Luis Rodríguez
José Luis Rodríguez
Venezuelan singer
25
Víctor Víctor
Víctor Víctor
Dominican composer, singer and percussionist
26
Puerto Plata
Puerto Plata
Dominican musician
27
Vicente García
Vicente García
Dominican singer
28
Felipe Gil
Felipe Gil
Mexican musician
29
Sonora Matancera
Sonora Matancera
Cuban band
30
Mar de Copas
Mar de Copas
Band
31
Aníbal Troilo
Aníbal Troilo
Argentine tango musician (1914-1975)
32
Gilberto Santa Rosa
Gilberto Santa Rosa
Puerto Rican musician
33
Ramón Orlando
Ramón Orlando
Dominican singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger and composer.
34
Aventura
Aventura
Bachata music band which originated in The Bronx, NY
José Manuel Calderón
Dominican Republic musician

José Manuel Calderón

Intro
Dominican Republic musician
Music

José Manuel Calderón (El Maestro de Bachata) is considered the first Dominican Republic musician to record bachata with "Borracho de amor" and "Condena", in 1962 at the Radio Televisión Dominicana studios. Calderón's voice was unlike typical bachateros, in that he sang in baritone, much like Mexican singers such as Pedro Infante. He also innovated instrumentation in bachata, applying strings, horn sections and piano, as well as replacing the maracas with a güira.

Calderón moved to New York City in 1967, and recorded with labels such as Kubaney and BMC. After five years, he returned to the Dominican Republic, only to find that the bachateros had been marginalized, since the genre itself had been associated with poverty and prostitution, and only Radio Guarachita, a nationwide radio station, played it. Disillusioned, Calderón returned to New York, where he found that a Dominican community was growing in Washington Heights, and was able to give rise to a popular bachata scene. Today, with the recent acceptance of bachata in the Dominican Republic and the US, Calderón receives a fraction of the recognition he deserves as one of the forefathers of the national genre. He continues to record and distribute his own recordings.