Los Príncipes del Vallenato

David Granados was born in Santa Marta in 1964. In 1993 he and six other musicians founded Los Príncipes del Vallenato (The Vallenato Princes) in New Jersey. After performing at the Colombian Independence Festival of New York and New Jersey, they received an award for outstanding new group. When the band came to Miami on tour, Granados liked the weather so much that he decided to move here. In South Florida, he reconstituted Los Príncipes with new musicians.

Los Príncipes perform a fairly traditional style of vallenato. Despite the appeal of more commercialized forms of the music today, Los Príncipes won, by popular acclaim, the prize of best vallenato group at the First Coco Vallenato Festival, held in Miami in July 2001. Thus, the Princes of Vallenato were crowned kings. The festival was produced by Coco Cárdenas, who hosts a weekly vallenato show on Radio Caracol (1260 AM), the main Colombian radio station in South Florida. In October 2001, Los Príncipes were invited to represent Colombia at an international accordion festival in Texas. At present, the band plays regularly in nightclubs from Miami to Orlando.

Los Príncipes features David Granados on vocals. Alfonso Henríquez plays the German-made Tres Coronas (Three Crowns) Hohner accordion, which is larger than the Dos Coronas Hohner used in the typical merengue of the Dominican Republic or the norteño ensemble of northern Mexico and Texas. Other musicians include Henry Medina on guacharaca (scraper), Miguel on caja (small drum), René Sequeda on conga drums, and Ricardo de la Rosa on electric bass.

Photograph Gallery
Los Príncipes del Vallenato at the Exedra Club.
Photographs by Richard Patterson.