Edmundo Arias

• Name — Edmundo Arias • Birth Name — Edmundo Dante Arias Valencia • Background — person • Born — 5 November 1925 • Birthplace — Tuluá, Colombia • Died — 28 January 1993 • Place of death — Medellín, Colombia • Genre — tropical music, bolero, pasillo • Years Active — 1948–1993

Edmundo Arias was born on 5 November 1925 in Tuluá, Colombia. His mother was Amelia Valencia Arizabaleta, and his father was Joaquín Arias Cardoza, a composer from Antioquia; altogether the couple had 9 children. As a child Arias learned to play various instruments at home, and together with his father and younger brother Ricaurte formed the Trío Arias, which performed in Valle del Cauca and Risaralda, and appeared on the radio in Pereira. Following the death of his father in 1948, Arias took over leadership of some of his bands. In 1951 Arias moved to Medellín. In Medellín he recorded for various record labels, including Discos Fuentes, Zeida, Ondina, and Sonolux. Unlike other bandleaders in Colombia at the time, Arias did not have a permanent orchestra; instead he would bring musicians together only when he had new material to record. The groups that he formed in this way include Edmundo Arias y Su Orquesta, the Sonora Cabecenido, the Sonora Antillana, Conjunto de Edmundo Arias, and the Orquesta Estudiantina Sonolux. Arias was well known for his shyness. He was nicknamed cabeza-de-nido, which was used for the name of the band Sonora Cabecenido. Arias died of uremia on 28 January 1993 in Medellín.

• Alma Colombiana (Zeida, 1959) • Alfonso López y Amalia, with Conjunto Edmundo Arias (Zeida)

• El Mecánico: Lo Mejor de Edmundo Arias (1978, Sónico) • Guepa Je! (2024, Radio Martiko)