Pupo Valoy Reynoso, known as Cuco Valoy and El Brujo, is a Dominican singer, composer and bandleader. He began playing tambora as a child, recorded son with his brother from the late 1950s, and later led an orchestra that brought merengue, son and salsa together.

Manoguayabo

He was born on 6 January 1937 in San Miguel, Manoguayabo. His father, Santiago Reynoso, was a carpenter; his mother died when he was four. He learned tambora by listening to local musicians and, at about ten, made one from a tin and paper cement sacks. After limited general schooling, he studied music theory at the National Conservatory. He also plays guitar, piano and bass.

Los Ahijados

He began singing serenades and boleros with his younger brother Martín Valoy. Inspired by Cuba’s Los Compadres, the brothers were already performing son and using the name Los Ahijados in 1958. Cuco sang lead and played second guitar; his brother played lead guitar and sang harmony.

The duo’s name emerged on the amateur programme «Buscando Estrellas». To make their first single, Cuco raised money through a family savings circle, recorded in a small HIZ studio, and arranged for the records to be pressed with Atala Blandino’s help. A 1958 newspaper account already described them as recording artists.

Los Virtuosos

Cuco prepared «Los Virtuosos» with his son Ramón Orlando, whom he had steered toward piano as a child. They rehearsed for years before their first professional performances in 1975. Cuco set the direction and brought repertoire and song ideas; Ramón wrote arrangements, played piano and served as musical director. The ensemble later adopted the name «La Tribu».

The orchestra combined merengue, salsa, son montuno, bolero and other tropical styles. Colombia became one of its main stages: a 1979 tour of Cali and Barranquilla inspired «Los Frutos del Carnaval». In 1984 father and son produced a record together for Alberto Beltrán.

La Tribu

The orchestra got its lasting name on tour in Panama, where a member of the audience joked that the band looked like a tribe because of the colour of its players. Valoy liked the idea, started using it, and before long the orchestra was officially La Tribu.

El Brujo

«El Brujo» grew out of the consultations of a folk healer Valoy observed; «Juliana» took shape during a New York recording session, drawing on memories of a youthful heartbreak. Other songs include «Nació varón», «Pasito Colombiano», «Los Frutos del Carnaval» and «No Me Empuje». His repertoire also included socially engaged songs such as «Páginas gloriosas de mi patria». He shared stages with Machito, Celia Cruz, Oscar D’León, Johnny Ventura and Johnny Pacheco.

The honours

Colombia has given him the Congo de Oro at the Barranquilla carnival several times, in the salsa category and, decades later, as king of the people. In 2017 Acroarte gave him the Gran Soberano, its highest award, putting him alongside Johnny Ventura, Juan Luis Guerra 4.40, Wilfrido Vargas and Johnny Pacheco; the Latin Recording Academy gave him its Musical Excellence Award the same year.