Early life and education Gonzalo "El Cocha" Molina was born on 11 June 1965 in
Patillal, in the Colombian department of
Cesar, to Arturo Molina and Estela Mejía. His father was a guitarist in the
conjunto of
Jorge Oñate. His nickname "El Cocha" comes from the
pet name that his mother used for him. Molina attended primary school at the Colegio Parroquial in
Valledupar, and secondary school at the Colegio Nacional Loperena in Valledupar and the Colegio Chiquinquirá in
Bogotá. He studied three semesters of
business administration at university, but did not complete his degree. Molina started to learn accordion at the age of 6, on an instrument given to him by his uncle Evaristo Gutiérrez, the father of songwriter
Gustavo Gutiérrez Cabello.
The Vallenato Legend Festival In 1978, Molina competed in the child accordionist competition of the
Vallenato Legend Festival, accompanied by Ovany Gómez on vocals and
guacharaca, and Wilder Gómez on
caja; he came second behind his cousin Chiche Maestre. He won the amateur accordionist competition of the Festival in 1982. Molina competed in the professional accordionist competition of the Vallenato Legend Festival in 1989, coming second behind that year's vallenato king
Omar Geles. Molina competed again and won in 1990, accompanied by
Iván Villazón on vocals and guacharaca, and Augusto Guerra on caja. They performed the
paseo "El Pollo Vallenato" (written by
Luis E. Martínez), the
merengue "Rosita" (also by Martínez), the
son "Pena y Dolor" (
Alejo Durán), and the
puya "Déjala Venir" (
Náfer Durán). In 1997 Molina won the king of kings competition of the Festival, which is only open to past winners of the professional accordionist competition. He defeated Omar Geles (who came second), Chiche Martínez (third), Juan David Herrera, and Freddy Sierra.
Collaborations In the 1980s Molina had a successful period of collaboration with singer
Diomedes Díaz, and together they released the albums
El Mundo (1984),
Vallenato (1985),
Brindo Con el Alma (1986), and
Incontenibles (1987). In 2002, Molina and Díaz released the album
Gracias a Dios. Beginning in 1988, Molina began recording with singer
Iván Villazón, and together they released the albums
Por Ti Valledupar (1988),
Enamorado de Ella (1989) and
El Amor Canta Vallenato (1990). In 1995 Molina played on
Gloria Estefan's Grammy Award winning album
Abriendo Puertas. He released the album
Sensacionales with
Carlos Malo in 1994, and in 1997 started collaborating with
Jorge Oñate, with whom he released the albums
El de Todos los Tiempos (1997),
Son Universal (1998),
El Poder de Mis Canciones (1999), and
Llévame Conmigo (2001). In the 2000s Molina began playing with , and together they released the albums
Colombia Canta Vallenato (2007),
El Nobel del Amor (2010), and
Parao en la Raya (2014). ==Notes==