Alfonso 'El Brujo' Cordoba died Monday at 82, Colombia's Culture Ministry announced. The composer, singer and music collector is considered one of the most important exponents of Afrocolombian music.
According to a press release by the Ministry of Culture, the musician died in Quibdo, the capital of the west Colombian department of Choco.
Culture Minister Paula Marcela Moreno Zapataregreats the death of the music legend and praised him as "one of the greates t exponents of the musical heritage and memory of the Colombian Pacific. [He was] an all-round artist,full of great virtue and an immense heart."
Cordoba was not only a musician, but was also specialized in the production of traditional Afrocolombian jewelry, wood carving and the construction of musical instruments.
Because of the work of Cordoba, a lot of traditional east Colombian lyrics and rhythms were conserved as he traveled to document the musical heritage of the east Colombian jungles.
In 2008 he received the medal of the 'Gran Order of Cultural Merit, Colombia's highest cultural recognition.
The Culture Ministry will organize a service in honor of the artist in Quibdo on July 3.
Portrait of diseased Colombian singer Alfonso Córdoba
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