Lisandro Meza (26 September 1937 – 23 December 2023) was a Colombian singer and accordionist. After he started playing the accordion in 1959, Lisandro was described as the “King of Cumbia,” “El Mocho de América” (ENG: The man of the Americas) and the “Master of Vallenato Sabanero.” Meza was once part of the group, Los Corraleros de Majagual in 1962, which was a successful band in both Colombia and Venezuela.
Lisandro Meza was born in El Piñal, Los Palmitos, Sucre, Sucre, Colombia on 26 September 1937. He started to sing and learned to play the accordion with his father, known as "La Armenia", in 1954. His first record was ”Aroma de las Flores,” recorded in the same year.
In 1961, Meza joined Los Corraleros de Majagual, a very well-known group which was popular in both Colombia and Venezuela. During his time with the Group, he recorded 41 LPs. He also declared that the name of the band had been changed to "Combo Gigante." In 1967, he renamed his group "Lisandro Meza y Su Conjunto" with its Album Release, "Fiesta Sabanera."
Known as "Lisandro Meza y Su Conjunto" between 1967 and 1994, his music is known for its eclectic style with Dominican Merengue, Louisiana Zydeco, and Tex-Mex Norteño music. His music was inspired by many famous artists and musicians such as Los Del Río, Aterciopelados, Alberto Barros, Aniceto Molina, and many more artists. Most of his music is prominent outside of Colombia, mainly in Peru, Mexico, the Southern Cone, North America, Europe, and China.
Links to Peel[]
Peel played a track from the singer on his show in 1996 via the 'Lisandro's Cumbia' album. There is no evidence according to available tracklistings on this site that he played any further material from the musician on his radio programmes. However, his friend and colleague, Andy Kershaw, did play some of the accordianist music on his radio programmes.
Shows Played[]
- 08 March 1996: 'Cumbia P'oriente (CD-Lisandro's Cumbia)' (World Circuit)