Fruko y sus Tesos

The prolific Colombian salsa group Fruko y sus Tesos (whose name is partly inspired by the pseudonym, Fruko, of group founder and multi-instrumentalist Julio Ernesto Estrada Rincón) formed in Medellin and launched their career with Tesura in 1969. They are best known for their 1975 salsa anthem "El Preso," composed by the band's percussionist Álvaro Velásquez. The band went on to record scores of albums following the appointment of singers "Piper Pimienta" Díaz (who rotated lead vocals in the early 1970s before moving on to perform with The Latin Brothers and going solo), the late Joe Arroyo (who died in 2011), and Wilson "Saoko" Manyoma, who sang "El Preso," in the mid-'1970s. Some of their most notable albums from that era include A la Memoria del Muerto (1971), El Bueno (1972), Ayunando (1973) El Violento (1973), La Fruta Bomba (1974), El Caminante (1974), later scoring hits with "El Ausente," "El Caminante," and "Manyoma." Fruko y sus Tesos achieved popularity in both Latin America and the US, playing at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1993. In 2013, Julio Ernesto Estrada Rincón launched his candidacy as a Colombian senator under the presidency of Juan Manuel Santos and that same year, the group released their 42nd album, Fruko Sinfónico. The follow-up, El Glorioso, was issued in 2014 and after a break from recording, they returned in 2022 with "Trueno," a collaborative single with Colombian cumbia legends Afrosound (who are also masterminded by Fruko/Julio Ernesto Estrada Rincón).

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