The legendary folklorist Daniel Toro, author of “Zamba to forget you” has died

The popular folk troubadour from Salta Daniel Bullauthor of a large and renowned songbook whose greatest work is “Zamba to forget you”, died this Thursday in a hospital in the provincial capital where He had been hospitalized since April 28 with a picture of pneumonia that could not be reversed.

Family sources consulted by Télam confided that the weak state of health that has afflicted the musician for years precipitated in this last hospitalization in which he went through delicate trances that he was overcoming.

outstanding career

Born on January 3, 1941 in Salta, Toro signed more than a thousand works, including true classics from the Argentine and Spanish-American songbook that were capable of addressing both love and social issues.

The artist created romantic hymns like “To go looking for you” (along with Ariel Petrocelli), “My sad butterfly” and the previously mentioned and widely covered “Zamba to forget you”), but he also gave an attractive pulse to the testimonial theme of pieces among which “When I have the Earth” (also with Petrocelli), “This American Christ” and “El antigal” (with Lito Nieva and Petrocelli).

Such a work was created in a relatively short time since Toro was one of the voices that the last civic-military dictatorship wanted to silence through censorship and then he had to resort to the pseudonym Casimiro Cobos.

However, and in the midst of that political trance, the musician suffered from throat cancer that made him lose his voice and kept him away from the stage.

“Some artists remain in the collective memory for just one song. In the case of Daniel, he is well known for ‘Zamba to forget you’ but we must add that he is Indian and that he was on stage for less than 10 years, having to retire with songs prohibited in the dictatorship and throat cancer. It’s like a lot of headwinds, right?” the communicator told Télam Silvia Majul, author of the documentary “El Nombrador” (2021) that dimensioned the life and work of Toro.

The musical path of the man from Salta began in 1959, integrating several local groups such as Los Tabacaleros, Los Forasteros, Los Viñateros and Los Nombradores.

It was not until around 1966 that he began his solo career and a year later at the Cosquín National Folklore Festival he received the Consecration Award.

Since then and in the following years, the artist has published highly successful albums, including “El nominador”, “Canciones para mi tierra”, “Canciones para mi pueblo”, “A año de amor”, “Rondas de amor “, “When I have the land”, “Return to folklore”, “Proverbs of my people”, “Troubadour’s dream”, “The American Christ”, “Zamba to forget you”, “Deceived” and “Write me a letter”.

Part of that somewhat blurred legacy due to the passage of time and the long absence from the scenes, however, was rescued by the film by the production company El Jume where eloquent references appear provided by current colleagues such as Teresa Parodi, Víctor Heredia, Nadia Larcher , Abel Pintos, Los Carabajal, Mariana Carrizo and Franco Ramirez.

Musicians from other genres such as

Ricardo Mollo, who in the film sings a version of “Cuando tenga la tierra” accompanied by Agustín Carabajal and Nadia Larcher in a recitation, then told Télam:

“I am grateful for this challenge that brings me together with songs that have stayed with me for a lifetime.”

In a brief communication, the leader of the rock trio Divididos highlighted that Toro has “a body of work and a career that shows him as a great composer and a valuable thinker for this music of ours.”

At that time and on the verge of turning 80, Daniel himself told this agency that “I have the joy of having tried to leave something that has a positive cultural value and not do anything.”

“I am convinced that I have been protected by God, who sent me to Earth to fulfill this mission of making so many songs, and I was able to do it and I did not live just because,” he added in a conversation with his daughter Daniela to which he agreed telam.

Later, and in relation to his years of massive success, Toro reflected: “When I was number one I learned that it is no use being number one, because many people who believe that things are very easy approach you.”