Gabriel Eladio Peguero Vega was born March 18, 1920, in Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico to a Dominican father and Puerto Rican mother. He is known professionally as "Yayo El Indio" after his grandfather, who went by "Yayo" and his grandmother "el Indio" (the Indian) believed to be of Arawak descent (1).

Yayo was one of the great voices to emerge from Puerto Rico in the post-war Latin music scene in New York City. A multifaceted vocalist who could interpret everything from romantic boleros to up-tempo son montunos, as well as other Latin Caribbean rhythms like merengue, plena, guaracha, guaguancó, and even calypso. Yayo's impeccable talent was his natural ability to sing and emanate with an incredible range that few singers could ever emulate.

At the age of five, he moved with his family to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, returning to Puerto Rico at 15 (2). According to the original liner notes, his first artistic activities began at the age of 16 with the Orquesta "Pilot" in Ponce, Puerto Rico, alongside Ruth Fernández and José "Pepe" Rubio. He then participated as a vocalist in the orchestra “Snow White,” in Johnny Goicuría’s quartet “Mingo y su Whoopee Kids,” and in Casino de Ponce in the late 1930s. Yayo's recording debut was with Orquesta Casino de Ponce, which was led by Puerto Rican flutist, composer, and bandleader Don Julio Alavardo in 1941 (3) .

Yayo moved to New York City on July 7, 1945 to join the Celso Vega Quintet as featured vocalist. Puerto Rican trumpet player Celso Vega and his quintet had a three-year contract with the CBS program "Viva America" (Voice of the Americas), which was one of the most popular shows on radio in Latin America. At the same time, Yayo pursued his solo career and performed with the famous Pan American orchestra led by Alfredo Antonini. By the late 1940s, Yayo continued his association with Celso Vega until joining the great Miguelito Valdés as part of his coro (backup singers), which foreshadowed his career as a noted coro singer down the road. During his time with CBS, Yayo performed alongside legendary artists, such as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and the Andrew Sisters. While also appearing on Tommy Dorsey, Gordon McRae, and Paul Whiteman shows (4). Shortly after that, he sang and recorded with the orchestras of Alberto Socarrás, Augusto Coén, and Alberto Iznaga. In 1949, Yayo formed the short-lived "Yayo El Indio y Su Conjunto," which featured, among others, Luis Varona on piano and Ramon "Bilingue" Ayala on bongo (5). They recorded several 78s for Decca Records.

In the early 1950s, Yayo performed with many orchestras in New York City, but he was the lead vocalist of the dynamic conjunto, “Johnny Seguí y Su Conjunto Los Dandys del 42” and “Juanito Sanabria and his orchestra,” which was a staple at the Club Caborrojeño (6).

Yayo also participated as lead vocalist on recordings with José Curbelo and coro singer for Ansonia sessions with Ángel Viloria, Pedro Flores, and Johnny Seguí. In 1955, Yayo left Johnny Seguí and formed his own orchestra (7). The orchestra lasted twelve years, and in that time, toured all over Latin America (8). One of the lesser-known facts about his career is that Yayo recorded many merengues throughout the 1950s as a lead and backup vocalist for Tico, Seeco, Century, and Riney Records. All the while, Yayo recorded several 78rpm singles with Ansonia Records at Beltone Studios in the fall of 1956 until January of 1958. These recordings, totaling 20 in all, consist of mostly boleros with a mix of Afro-Caribbean rhythms ranging from son montuno to calypso. In 1959, a few of these recordings were compiled into his solo debut LP, “Listen and Dance to The Music of Yayo "El Indio" Peguero” (ALP 1239).

The album mainly consists of boleros with lush arrangements delivered by Yayo’s deep distinctive vocal stylings. According to the original liner notes, Yayo’s career reached new heights with the release of the bolero moruno (a rhythmic variant of the classic bolero with Andalusian flamenco) “Regáñame” by Héctor Flores Osuna and “Tragedia” by Mario de Jesús Baéz, two of the most prolific composers of the genre during this era. Yayo’s identification with the bolero was representative of his popularity as a soloist at this point in his life.

Furthermore, the LP includes a repertoire of up-tempo tunes like the merengue “Pau pau” by Dominican composer Luis Kalaff who migrated to New York City in 1958 and did the backup vocals on this recording, alongside Dominican singer Luis Vásquez on güira, and percussionist Luis Quintero who played tambora on the record.

Other tunes are the guaguancó “De media caña” by celebrated Afro-Cuban composer Justí Barreto with a tight big band styling arrangement done at a captivating pace for dancing and the joyful son montuno “A vacilar como es” by Cuban singer Raúl Azpiazu, which is a song inviting folks from the Spanish Caribbean and all Latin America to have fun and dance to this son montuno with a marvelous solo.
Yayo stayed true to his Afro-Puerto Rican roots with the explosive plena “Catalino” composed by Arsenio Rodríguez, with a romping horn arrangement where you hear a bit of improvisation as well when the plena switches to a short descarga in the second half and then back to a plena to finish the track.

The last two tracks expanded the sounds on this album with the fiery “Merecumbé, cumbé” (merecumbé is supposedly a fusion between merengue and cumbia that originated in Colombia) and the calypso “Money boy, Money” is a novelty tune about a guy who can’t get six dollars to cover his rent from his friend or girlfriend, but they offer him everything else in return.

Although they are not credited on the LP, Yayo assembled an impressive list of musicians and singers. Among them were Santos Colón, Joe Valle, and Manolo "El Barroso" Morales doing the backup vocals. On trumpets were Filiberto de Jesús, Wilson Brignoni, Paul Serrano, and Seymour Platt. On piano there is someone called “Hector Romero” (most likely the beloved Nuyorican pianist Héctor Rivera). The other musicians were Claudino "Lin" Torres on bass, Michel Díaz on drums, Luis González on bongos, and Frankie Colón on tumbadoras. The arrangers for these Ansonia sessions were some of the most prominent innovators of the period, pianists Mario Román, René Hernández, Ray Cohen, and Johnny Conquet. The twelve tracks compiled into the LP featured the warm, brassy, and driving New York big band sound of the era. This solo effort deserves to be rediscovered and enjoyed by today’s digital audience.

Yayo's powerful voice and amazing presence on stage allowed him to have a double career as a noted coro and lead singer for the remainder of his career. In 1960, he traveled to the Dominican Republic, performing and recording with the Súper Orquesta San José, led by Papá Molina. That same year Riney Records released the album, "Yayo "El Indio" Pequero ‎– En Sus Mejores Interpretaciones," which featured the successful hits "Aquella Risa Loca" and "La India Soberbia." Then, in 1963, he went to Mexico and recorded with Cuarteto Flores for the Musart label. Simultaneously, Yayo was one of the lead vocalists of Ángel "Lito" Peña, Orquesta Panamericana in San Juan, and had a big hit with the bolero moruno "La pared."

He was an active participant in the 1960s and 70s salsa scene in New York City as a sought-after lead and backup vocalist with the Alegre All-Stars, Ray Barretto, Willie Colón, Larry Harlow, La Lupe, Justo Betancourt, and many other salsa bands. In 1971, he joined La Sonora Matancera as a lead singer until 1994, while still finding time between tours to sing coro on countless recordings. Yayo released two solo LPs during the early 70s, the 1972 album "El Nuevo Yayo" and the 1973 album "Simplemente Yayo" for Alegre Records. The veteran vocalist sang until the end of his life on December 13, 2000, in the Bronx, New York.

(1) Garcia, David F. “Yayo el indio [Peguero,Eladio].” The Grove Dictionary of American Music 2nd edition: Oxford University Press, 2013.
(2) “Entrevista Yayo el Indio- Mariano Artau Puerto Rico Parte 1 de 4.” YouTube, uploaded by Julio Jaramillo, April 16, 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccI4lYZn6aE&ab_channel=jaramij2
(3) Rendón Ángel, Sergio A. “Salsero del mes/ Julio 2016 Yayo El Indio.” Latinastero.com 100.9FM, Julio de 2016, clasica.latinastereo.com/Salsero-del-mes/YayoElIndio/Cronologia
(4) Ñeco, Modesto and Alfredo Romero Bravo. “Eladio Peguero Vega.” In Músicos, intérpretes y compositores puertorriqueños, edited by Modesto Ñeco Quiñones and Alfredo Romero Bravo. Gurabo, P.R: Editorial Jaquemate, 2003, 293.
(5) “Entrevista Yayo el Indio- Mariano Artau Puerto Rico Parte 1 de 4,” 2018.
(6) La Prensa, August 31, 1953, 14.
(7) Ñeco, Modesto and Alfredo Romero Bravo. “Eladio Peguero Vega.” In Músicos, intérpretes y compositores puertorriqueños, edited by Modesto Ñeco Quiñones and Alfredo Romero Bravo. Gurabo, P.R: Editorial Jaquemate, 2003, 295.
(8) “Sección 06 WYZ,” The Diaz Ayala Cuban and Latin American Popular Music Discography of Cuban Music, 2021, 5, latinpop.fiu.edu/SECCION06WYZ.pdf

-Jhensen Ortiz