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55 albums · 1955–2023

Music of Venezuela, from Simón Díaz and the joropo to gaita, salsa, Los Amigos Invisibles, Dudamel and today

· 2 min read · by 1001 Albums

A joropo group on a small stage, the harp and the cuatro in the middle, a bass beside them and the singer at the microphone
A couple dancing the tambor in front of the blue and white church of Curiepe, she in a red flowered dress, he with his straw hat raisedGustavo Dudamel conducting the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, baton in hand, the audience behind him
A joropo group with harp and cuatro at La Mulata, between Villa de Cura and San Juan de los Morros, 2008. Photo: Axoben Bastidas, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. · The baile de tambor before the church of Curiepe, in Barlovento, 2025. Photo: Edgarjmm, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. · Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in London, 2009. Photo: Rey Trombetta, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Venezuela's popular music has the joropo of the llanos at its heart, Simón Díaz's Tonadas and Juan Vicente Torrealba's harp, and around it the gaita of Maracaibo with Cardenales del Éxito and Guaco, the cuatro of Hernán Gamboa and C4 Trío, Aldemaro Romero's onda nueva, the salsa of Dimensión Latina and Oscar D'León, the song of Soledad Bravo and Serenata Guayanesa, the pop of Franco De Vita and Yordano, the rock and ska of Sentimiento Muerto, Desorden Público and Caramelos de Cianuro, Los Amigos Invisibles' Gozadera, the drums of Barlovento with Betsayda Machado, La Vida Bohème and Rawayana, Danny Ocean and Lasso today, Edward Simon's jazz, and Dudamel's Fiesta with the Simón Bolívar orchestra for a nod to the concert hall. The list has 55 records from 1955 to 2023, one or two by each of the names above and only a small part of what they made, Maracaibo 15 counted with the anthology in which its gaitas survive; the joropo of each region beyond a few, the aguinaldos and parrandas of Christmas, the drums of the coast beyond a nod, the calypso of El Callao and most of the classical tradition would each need a list of their own. About 38 hours of music, 5 days of a few records each.

By genre

Rock 8%Pop 6%Latin 5%Other 81%
  • Rock 8%
  • Pop 6%
  • Latin 5%
  • Other 81%

The genres named most: venezuelan, pop, gaita, joropo, folk, rock.

The colours of the covers

A stripe for each cover, in the colour Tidal picks from it, sorted by hue; the greys at the end.

Where the music comes from

Music from 1 country: Venezuela 55. The deeper the colour, the more albums: one, two to four, five to nine, ten and more.

The 1950s

The 1960s

The 1970s

The 1980s

The 1990s

The 2000s

The 2010s

The 2020s

More lists

Lists of Countries first, then others; all of them on the blog. The blog.