Rafael José Orozco Maestre (24 March 1954 — 11 June 1992) was a Colombian singer-songwriter and musician.
Born in Becerril, Cesar Department. Orozco did menial labor to help support a large family. Some time later he moved to Valledupar to finish high school at the Loperena National School. During a cultural week, Orozco won the singing contest. After winning the contest, he had the opportunity to be with accordionists such as Julito de la Ossa, and Luciano Poveda, although he did not record any songs with them.
In 1975, he met accordionist Emilio Oviedo, with whom he recorded his first two albums: "Adelante" and "Con Sentimiento". Both albums were hits in Colombia and Venezuela.
In 1976, accordion player Israel Romero met Rafael Orozco Maestre at a party in Manaure, Colombia, where Orozco sang at a party with Emilio Oviedo. Later they met again in Barranquilla at the birthday of Mario Ceballos Araújo, rector of the Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, and played together for the first time. Two months later, they founded the musical group El Binomio De Oro De América. With El Binomio de Oro he earned 16 gold and two platinum records for millionaire sales worldwide. In October 1981, El Binomio de Oro performed at Madison Square Garden in New York, This is the first group of vallenato and one of the first Latin music groups.
In 1988, Binomio's accordion player Israel Romero was diagnosed with kidney cancer and had to leave the group to begin medical treatment. Several accordionists joined Binomio de Oro and accompanied Orozco while Israel recovered from the cancer. In 1989, after overcoming the treatment, Romero officially returned to the Binomio de Oro along with Rafael Orozco.
On June 11, 1992, Orozco was killed after a gunman was shot outside his home in Barranquilla. He was 38 years old.
Studio Discography:
- 1975 - Adelante
- 1975 - Con Sentimiento
- 1977 - Binomio de oro 1976
- 1977 - Por lo alto
- 1978 - Enamorado como siempre
- 1978 - Los Elegidos
- 1979 - Súper vallenato
- 1980 - Clase aparte
- 1980 - De caché
- 1981 - 5 años de oro
- 1982 - Festival vallenato
- 1982 - Fuera de serie
- 1983 - Mucha calidad
- 1984 - Somos vallenato
- 1985 - Superior
- 1986 - Binomio de oro 1986
- 1987 - En concierto
- 1988 - Internacional
- 1989 - De Exportación
- 1990 - De fiesta con el binomio de oro'
- 1991 - De américa
- 1992 - Por siempre
These are the tropes related to Rafael José Orozco Maestre :
- Christmas Songs: Orozco recorded on the 1982 album "Fuera de serie" the song entitled "Navidad" ("Christmas"), which became a Christmas classic in Colombia.
- Location Song: "Recoriendo A Venezuela" and "Recoriendo A Colombia" It is a tribute to those two countries.
- Friendly Rivalry: With the singers Diomedes Díaz and Jorge Oñate
- Let's Duet: He did a duet with the Dominican singer Wilfrido Vargas.
- Vocal Evolution: His voice sounded very youthful in the 70's. Although his voice became sharper around the 80's.
