Yuri Buenaventura

Name at birth:  Yuri Bedoya
Date of birth: 1961
Place of birth: Buenaventura, Columbia

Yuri Buenaventura has been called the “brightest New Star from South-America”. Also named “Salsero Don Quijote” (or written as Don Quixote) by international media. He inherited his passion for art and music from his father, Manuel Bedoya, who was a music and art teacher. He grew up by the Pacific Ocean shores in a small Columbian village, called Buenaventura. Later he got accepted at the prestigous Sorbonne University of Paris, studing Economics. He adopted his new coutry where he decided to the make the Latin music genre popular in France and started to play music at underground stations.

In the beginning of the ‘90s he started to sing in the “Grupo Caiman” then he became the vocalist of Mambomania and gave up his university studies. He became one of the most famous Latin singers of the Latin district in Paris. His debut album was released with the title “Herencia Africana” in 1998. Since then he has sold over 400000 copies of his first disk.

Trivia
His most famous song Salsa! was featured in the Joyce Buñuel film with the same name (Salsa) released in 2000.

Discography:
1998    Herencia Africana
2000    Yo Soy
2004    Vagabundo
2005    Best of Yuri Buenaventura
2005    Salsa Dura
2006    Lo Mejor
2009    Cita Con La Luz

by Zsuzsa Melkvi
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About the Author: Zsuzsa Melkvi is a salsa dancer and teacher, having competed in Latin-American and Standard dances from 1995-1998. She is also the founder of Baila Cuba (www.bailacuba.hu), a Dance company focused on giving exclusively pure Afro-Cuban workshops in Hungary. Zsuzsa holds a BA degree in Economics from the University of Hertfordshire.