Martín Valoy (died 2 July 2013), known as El Ahijado, was a Dominican bassist, guitarist, tres player, singer and composer. With his older brother Cuco Valoy he formed Los Ahijados, the duo that made its name with Cuban-style sones montunos in the 1960s, and he later played bass in «Los Virtuosos», the orchestra his brother founded in 1975.

Los Ahijados

The brothers began at the end of the 1950s — in 1958, by most accounts — as a duo singing serenades and the hits of the day. In the 1960s Cuco Valoy turned the repertoire towards Cuban sones montunos, and the duo took the name Los Ahijados, a reply to Cuba’s «Los Compadres». Cuco sang lead and played second guitar; Martín, credited as the duo’s soloist, played guitar and tres and sang the harmonies. Their records for the Kubaney label included «Vuelven... Los Ahijados», and numbers such as «Timoteo», «El lunar», «El hombre misterioso», «El paso de la jaiba» and «Vaivén» kept returning in compilations such as «20 éxitos de Los Ahijados». Their repertoire also took in «Qué será de mí», by Bienvenido Fabián.

«Los Virtuosos»

When Cuco Valoy built «Los Virtuosos» in 1975 — the orchestra later renamed «La Tribu» — Martín moved to the bass and sang in the chorus. He is credited on bass on «Tiza!» (1980), where Henry García was among the singers, and on «Chévere» (1982). Writing after his death, Joseph Cáceres described him as his brother’s second: low-key, and a solid presence at the bass.

«Hagan coro señores, llegó el Ahijado»

In 1981 he released his only solo album, «Hagan coro señores, llegó el Ahijado», issued in the United States by Discolor and in Venezuela by Evesol: eight sones, among them «Yo no perdono», «El guardia del arsenal» and «Canta». The brothers came back together as Los Ahijados for «De nuevo al son», a 1997 album on which both are credited as lead vocalists.

Legacy

Martín Valoy died on 2 July 2013, and, as Cáceres noted at the time, his death passed almost unnoticed in the press. His work sits in two of the family’s main projects: the son montuno of Los Ahijados in the 1960s, and the rhythm section of «Los Virtuosos» in the years of «Tiza!» and «Chévere».