Rafael Escalona

Composer Rafael Escalona revolutionized his native Colombia's vallenato folk tradition, modernizing the music's rough, accordion-based sound via the addition of vividly detailed narratives evoking the rhythms and rigors of working-class life. Born Rafael Calixto Escalona Martínez in the Atlantic coast town of Patillal on May 27, 1927, he initially dreamed of pursuing a career as a painter or cartoonist, but soon recognized that his artistic talents lie in writing, not drawing. He authored his first song, "El Profe Castañeda," at the age of 15, and after composing a lyric detai...