Tobías Enrique Pumarejo

Tobías Enrique Pumarejo
Also known asDon Toba
Born
Tobías Enrique Pumarejo Gutiérrez

8 August 1906–1910
Valledupar, Colombia
Died(1995-04-08)8 April 1995 (aged 84–88)
Barranquilla, Colombia

Tobías Enrique Pumarejo Gutiérrez[a] (early 1900s – 1995), also known as Don Toba, was a Colombian songwriter. He was an early composer of vallenato, and altogether wrote over 150 songs in a wide range of styles.

Biography

Pumarejo was born on 8 August, sometime in 1906–1910,[b] in Valledupar, and grew up in Patillal.[2] He attended high school in Medellín.[5]

Music career

In Medellín, Pumarejo founded the Orquesta Magdalenense alongside José María and Pedro Castro Monsalvo, Pedro and Celso Castro Trespalacios, and Guillermo Hurtado Calderón.[5] While in the group Pumarejo wrote his first song, "Mi Cabaña".[5]

Pumarejo was an early composer of vallenato, and taught songwriters Rafael Escalona and Gustavo Gutiérrez Cabello.[5] In 1948 he famously took part in a vallenato parranda with Guillermo Buitrago, and he was one of the judges at the first Vallenato Legend Festival.[5]

Personal life and death

Pumarejo was married to Ruth Ladrón de Guevara, with whom he had 7 children.[6] He was also a well-known womanizer.[2] He died on 8 April 1995 in Barranquilla, where he was buried in the Jardines del Recuerdo cemetery.[2] Los Hermanos Zuleta played at his funeral.[6]

Musical style and compositions

Pumarejo wrote over 150 songs in a wide variety of styles, including pasillo, waltz, ranchera, and all four airs of vallenato.[6][5] He wrote several songs about horses, including "El Alazanito" and "Los Tres Caballos".[5] His song "La Víspera de Año Nuevo" is a well-known Christmas song.[5] His other notable compositions include "Mírame Fijamente", "La Cita", "Muchacha Patillalera", "Los Tres Hermanos", "Calláte Corazoncito", "Nueve de Mayo", "Ojos Penetrantes", "Alma de Valledupar", "Mi Potrerito", "Sabana Sananjera", "La Mariposa", "Tres de Marzo", "La Muerte de Pedro Castro", "Mala Suerte", "Siete de Enero", and "Desolación".[5]

Pumarejo only ever recorded two of his own compositions: "Viva Alfonso López" (written to support the presidential run of Alfonso López Michelsen) and "Callate Corazón".[6] His songs have been recorded by artists including Colacho Mendoza, Luis Enrique Martínez, Alejo Durán, Binomio de Oro, and Alfredo Gutiérrez.[6]

Notes

  1. ^ In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Pumarejo and the second or maternal family name is Gutiérrez.
  2. ^ Reported birth years include 1906,[1] 1908,[2] 1909,[3] and 1910.[4]

References

  1. ^ Marcos Fidel Vega Seña (2005). "La presencia de los ausentes: Tobías Enrique Pumarejo". Vallenato: Cultura y Sentimiento (in Spanish). Bogotá: Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia. p. 66. ISBN 958-8205-69-7.
  2. ^ a b c d "Murió Don Toba" [Don Toba has died], El Tiempo (in Spanish), 9 April 1995, retrieved 14 November 2025
  3. ^ Egon Ludwig (2001). "Pumarejo, Tobías Enrique". Música Latinoamericana (in German). Berlin: Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf Verlag. p. 523. ISBN 3-89602-282-2.
  4. ^ Alberto Salcedo Ramos (26 December 2017), "Don Toba recuerda" [Don Toba remembers], Radio Nacional de Colombia (in Spanish), retrieved 14 November 2025
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Tobías Enrique Pumarejo, 25 años después de su muerte" [Tobías Enrique Pumarejo, 25 years after his death], El Espectador (in Spanish), 7 April 2020, retrieved 14 November 2025
  6. ^ a b c d e "Murió el maestro de maestros" [The master of masters has died], El Tiempo (in Spanish), 10 April 1995, retrieved 14 November 2025
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