This Tuesday November 21 marks the twenty-ninth anniversary of the death of Juan Humberto Rois Zúñiga ‘Juancho’, one of the colossi of the vallenato accordion.
‘Juancho’ was the most versatile of all the accordion players, he had magical fingers that allowed him to finger subtle fast, happy, dynamic notes through his accordion, his magical bellows were excellent, his notes were full of joy and nostalgia. , demonstrated it by playing that inseparable friend called the accordion that since he was eight years old, chen his foster father, José Eduardo ‘Purito Canova’, gave him his first two-key accordionFrom a very young age he showed his love for music and that is how he locked himself in his room where ‘Purito’ and his grandmother Rosa María de Rois were.
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In her room, ‘Juancho’ practiced every day performing songs by Luis Enrique Martínez, ‘Alejo’ Duran, Rafael Escalona, Emiliano Zuleta BaqueroLeandro Diaz, Carlos Huertas, Isaac Carrillo, among others.
FROM SCHOOL TO RECORDING
The year 1977 was passing, Juancho studied at the Educational Institution ‘El Carmelo’, there he had many friends such as, Fellin and ‘Patico’ Gomez, Alberto Gomez, Jaime Alario Daza, Hermes Amaya, ‘Poncho’ Mendoza, Talo Perez and Alvaro Alvarez.
At that school he participated in different civic and cultural events such as flag raising, literary centers, school festivals and cultural week. On that date he received a visit from another of the great accordion players of Vallenato folklore, Israel Romero Ospino, who introduces him to Juan Piña, to record his first musical album called ‘El Fuete’ and in 1978 ‘El Azote Vallenato’.
In those two musical works ‘Juancho’ Rois demonstrated his artistic and musical qualities, the ease of generating with its versatile notes that all vallenato lovers liked from the beginning.
DIOMEDES ARRIVES
Later in 1978, he made an alliance with the greatest vallenato singer-songwriter Diomedes Diaz and they recorded the compact disca ‘At the Place’where he becomes known with unforgettable songs such as ‘La Locura’, ‘El alma en un accordión’, ‘Amores hidden’, ‘Lluvias de Verano’, ‘Lo más bonito’, ‘La carta’, ‘Vendo el alma’ , ‘The pain kills me’, among others.
In 1979 he recorded ‘La fuetera’ with Elías Rosado, In 1981 he joined forces with ‘El Jilguero’ Jorge Oñate González and they recorded two excellent musical works.: ‘The Singer’ and ‘The Nightingale of my Valley’. In 1988 he joined again with Diomedes Diaz, recording the album ‘Ganó el folclor’, then recorded ‘El cóndor injured’ in 1989, ‘Sing with me’ in 1990, ‘My musical life’ in 1991, ‘The return of the condor in 1992, ‘Título de Amor’ in 1993, and ’26 de Mayo’ in 1994.
‘Juancho’ and Diomedes made a very successful musical couple that lasted 6 years, every time their CD came out the Caribbean region was paralyzed and each of their followers had the luxury of buying this album and celebrating it in their neighborhood with all the fans who were counted in droves.
HIS LIFE
We can say about ‘Juancho’ Rois that he was born in San Juan del Cesar, on December 25, 1958, son of Juan Manuel (El Negro) Rois and Dalia Zúñiga Vega, brother of José Gregorio (RIP), Javier, Jorge Enrique and Gisela .
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‘Juancho’ meets the Monteriana in Bogotá Jenny Dereix, with whom he falls in love and marries her on October 16, 1994, in the San Pablo Apóstol church in Montería, From this union, Juan Humberto Rois Dereix was born, current councilor of Montería and who completed his law studies at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana and in the last elections he was elected deputy to the Departmental Assembly of Córdoba for the years 2024 – 2027.
‘JUANCHO’, THE COMPOSER
In the 1990s, the composer ‘Juancho’ appeared with songs of his authorship such as: ‘I am the one who loves you’, ‘Goodbye may you do well’, ‘For what reason’, ‘You ended my life’, ‘Mr Doctor’, ‘Mr Announcer’ and ‘Juancho’s Notes’.
‘Juancho’ was a great artist, a good accordion player, an excellent composer and above all he was an unconditional friend, I never saw him drunk, I never saw him arguing with anyone and he left friends and followers in Colombia and all countries.
In the home of Mrs. Dalia Zúñiga Vega, friends meet every November 21 and family to remember ‘Juancho’, that great accordion player who brought many glories to his family and to Vallenato folklore, since he was a musician who, in addition to being creative, was a very cultured, kind person who treated others well.
Mrs. Dalia has a special room in her house, where she keeps several photographs of ‘Juancho’, next to family members and artists, of the musical albums he recorded and of his marriage to Jenny Dereix.
A MUSEUM IN PROJECT
Talking with his siblings Javier, Jorge and Gisela, they told me that there is a project to create the Juancho Rois Zúñiga Museum there. Meanwhile, The Rois Zúñiga and Rois Dereix family will celebrate a mass in honor of ‘Juancho’, at the El Carmen church, at 6 p.m. Twenty-nine years after Juan Humberto Rois Zúñiga died, he is still alive in the hearts of his fans since every day they call requesting that they please them with his songs on all FM and AM stations in the Caribbean region and the rest of Colombia.
BY ALCIBÍADES NÚÑEZ MANJARRES/SPECIAL FOR EL PILÓN.
