Repeating Islands

Singer-songwriter Luis Días, one of the Dominican Republic’s most influential contemporary musicians, died yesterday at the age of 57. He died from a heart attck and complications linked to alcohol and tobbaco use. “We have lost one of the greatest composers of our Dominican Republic,” said fellow Dominican singer-composer Juan Luis Guerra in a release. “The last time we met we shared hugs as if they were songs,” he added.
Although called the “father of the Dominican rock,” Días was known for his fruitful experimentation with Dominican folk music, and his fusión of merengue, mangulina, pri-pri, hail, mangulina, ga-gá and other indigenous rhythms. “I devoted myself to studying the best exampled of the different styles,” Días said in Apri during an event honoring his career.

In 2004 the Dominican Government declared him a “valor cultural” (national cultural asset). His best-known composition is “Baila en la calle,” recorded in 1984 against a background of carvinal sounds and performed by Fernando Villalona.  Shakira used the chorus from “Baila en la calle” in her “Hips Don’t Lie” megahit.