Luis Días

Albums • Luis “Terror” Dias (1984) • Merenrock (1988) • El Accidente (1998) • Vickiana: Las Sesiones De 1985 (2000) • La Yola (2000) • Radio Macana (2003) • Tiempo De Ocio (2009) Singles & EPs • Baila En La Calle (1983) • El Transporte Urbano (1983) • Luis Dias Trio (1999) Compilations • Jaleo Dominicano + Homenaje A Luis Dias (1999) • La Suite Folklorica Dominicana (2001) • Lo Mejor Del Terror (2009)

In 1983, he was granted a national award for his composition of the main theme song for the Dominican Carnival. The theme was named "Carnaval", but is better known as "Baila en la Calle" (Dance in the Streets). The theme's first performers were Sonia Silvestre and Luis Días himself. By 1985, the very popular Dominican merenguero Fernando Villalona recorded the song with the label Kubaney. To date, the aforementioned version has achieved the highest levels of popularity and recognition. In 1984, his L.P. Luis "Terror" Días came on the market, which mainly contained songs in Merengue rhythm, such as "Ay Ombe", "Liborio" and "La porquería", among others. In 1985, he participated in the XII World Festival of Youth and Students (Moscow). Together with Juan Luis Guerra he was commissioned to compose the main theme for Carlos Cristalini's short film Las Pausas del Silencio (The Pauses of Silence). They received the silver award for Best Original Music at the Philadelphia International Film Festival in 1984. In 1986, he published a book titled Tránsito Entre Guácaras (Transportation in Between Caves), a work of poetry taking Taíno myths as a source of inspiration. He was also contracted by UNICEF to compose the song "Los Niños Sin Padres" ("Children Without Parents"), which was performed alongside singers Sergio Vargas and Sonia Silvestre. More than three hundred of his songs have been recorded by various artists and bands. Some notable examples are: Sergio Vargas ("Marola", "Las Vampiras", "La Novia"), Kaki Vargas ("Los Mosquitos Puyan"), Wilfrido Vargas ("La Pringamosa"), Sonia Silvestre ("Mi Guachimán", "Yo Quiero Andar", "Andrecito Reyna"), Dionis Fernández ("El Guardia del Arsenal"), Los Hijos del Rey ("Rocapiedra"), Fernando Villalona ("Carnaval (Baila en la Calle)"), Alex Bueno ("Gigante"), July Mateo "Rasputin" ("El Carrito") and Marc Anthony ("Si He De Morir"), among others. Among the many awards he has received are Lyricist of the Year (Casandra Awards, 1989) and Composer of the Year (Casandra Awards, 1990). After several years of performances in the Caribbean region, the United States and South America, and after taking his art to Paris, Marseille, Moscow, Leningrad, Madrid, Tenerife, Barcelona, and Lisbon, in 1991 he returned to New York, where he would continue his intense work surrounding culture and ethnic studies. At this stage in life, Luis Días composed the sound track for several films, such as the short film "Portrait of Teresa" (1993), which was presented at the San Juan Cinemafest. Another highlight is his collaboration with David Byrne in the soundtrack for the film Blue in the Face (1995), in which Marc Anthony performed his song "Mi Barrio" along with a rap by Kaz and Remi Leku. In 1997, he returned to Santo Domingo, where he received great support from the audiences at his concerts, and celebrated the release of his first compact disc recordings. In 1999, the Centro Cultural de España in Santo Domingo and "Colecciones El Europeo" selected his work to release a compilation titled Jaleo Dominicano + Homenaje a Luis Días, this being the first time that said institution selected an artist from the American continent for such a distinction. That same year, he was appointed as Director of the Music Department at the Casa de la Cultura Dominicana in New York. Between 2002 and 2003, he began recordings for Radio Macana, an album produced by Reynaldo García Pantaleón y Lliam Greguez, and that would include participation of his band "Las Maravillas" in the sessions. This project includes his work during Luis' stay in New York between 1999 and 2002. Despite being an independent experimental production, the album included songs that are quite representative of Luis' particular style. In the year 2004, he is named by the Dominican Government as "National Cultural Patrimony". A concert was held in Santo Domingo in celebration of this meritorious distinction, which was recorded and released in a DVD titled "Luis Terror Días: El Terror en Vivo". In 2005, upon a request by the Centro Cultural España in Santo Domingo, he organized a Merengue band to perform some of his main compositions made popular by other artists. This performance was recorded and later released as a DVD titled "En Vivo desde el CCE: Luis Terror Días, Merengues". That same year he authored the sound track for the Dominican film La Maldición del Padre Cardona (The Curse of Father Cardona). In 2006, he was involved in a controversy with the Colombian pop-singer Shakira and the Haitian singer/producer Wyclef Jean, due to a section in their song "Hips Don't Lie" in which they make use of the chorus of Días' "Carnaval (Baila en la Calle), " yet with no mention of Días in the song's credits. Luis Dias died in Santo Domingo, on December 8, 2009, at 57 years of age due to heart attack, kidney, and liver complications.