Santos Gonzales

Paraguayan-harp player, born in a rural village on November 1, 1926. In Asunción, José got introduced to folklore expert Julián Rejala and honed his craft with Luis Bordón. Now going by the stage name of Santos Gonzalez, he formed a band whose performance suitably impressed guitarist Rubito Medina that they travelled to Buenos Aires and continued to work there, including on radio. Returning to Asunción, both were drafted as members of a new group which Luis Alberto Del Parana was forming in 1955. The band? Los Paraguayos, with whom he recorded and toured until 1966 before retreating to family life in Belgium. Santos Gonzalez died in Beersheba, Israel on May 23, 1985.