Edmundo Arias (Edmundo Dante Arias Valencia, Tuluá, Colombia, 5 December 19… Read Full Bio ↴Edmundo Arias (Edmundo Dante Arias Valencia, Tuluá, Colombia, 5 December 1925 - 28 January 1993) was a Colombian musician and songwriter.

Arias was the composer of one of Colombia's most popular bambucos, "Los Sauces (The Willows)." When he was ten years old and living in Tuluá, Valle del Cauca, in southwestern Colombia, he and his brother Ricuarte started Los Hermanitos Arias, a group that played music with a Cuban influence. Since the most important recording studios in Colombia were to be found in Medellin, the capital city, Arias went there with his brother and started the Sonora Antillana, which they later renamed the Edmundo Arias Orchestra. Edmundo was the composer, arranger, conductor, and played the bass and the guitar. He was inspired by the music from the Atlantic coast—porros, cumbias, merecumbes and gaitas—which make up most of his musical repertoire. Arias gave the music from the Atlantic coast a personal touch with certain contrasts and characteristics that distinguish it from the other contemporary music of his time. Arias passed away in in Medellín in 1993.