Yomo Toro

Victor Guillermo "Yomo" Toro was a Puerto Rican cuatro player, singer, and composer who was born on July 26, 1933, in the town of Ensenada, Guánica. He was known as "The King of Cuatro," which is a small, four-stringed guitar that is a key component of traditional Puerto Rican music. Yomo Toro began playing the cuatro at age 6 and quickly developed a reputation as a talented musician. He started his professional career in the 1950s playing traditional Puerto Rican and Mexican music, and over the course of his long and illustrious career, he recorded more than 50 albums and collaborated with many of the biggest names in Latin music, including Trio Los Panchos, Ismael Rivera, and Larry Harlow. Between 1970 and 1973, Yomo Toro joined forces with bandleader Willie Colón and singer Héctor Lavoe for the salsa-themed Christmas albums Asalto Navideño Vol. 1 & 2, which featured hits like "Aires de Navidad," "Esta Navidad," and "La Murga." This success was followed by a third holiday record titled Feliz Navidad in 1979, featuring vocals by Héctor Lavoe and Daniel Santos. During this time, he also delivered two solo albums for Fania Records—Romántico (1980) and Música Para el Mundo Entero (1982). Funky Jíbaro, his first widely distributed album, saw the light in 1988 via Island Records. In addition to his work as a musician, Toro was also a composer and wrote many of the songs that he performed. He was known for his ability to infuse traditional Puerto Rican music with elements of jazz, salsa, and other genres, and his unique style helped to make him one of the most beloved and influential musicians of his time. Sadly, Yomo Toro died of kidney failure on June 4, 2012, at the age of 78, in the Bronx, New York.