Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 440

Territories of the Northern Wei (blue) and Liu Song (Red) states (440)

Year 440 (CDXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valentinianus and Anatolius (or, less frequently, year 1193 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 440 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events[link]

By place[link]

Roman Empire[link]

• Flavius Aetius, Roman general (magister militum), returns as triumphator back to Rome after several years' fighting the Burgundians and Visigoths in Gaul. He is honoured by a statue erected by the Senate and by order of emperor Valentinian III.

Europe[link]

• The Huns under Attila reappear in force along the frontier of the Western Roman Empire. They attack merchants on the north bank of the Danube and cities in Illyricum, including (according to Priscus) Viminacium, city of Moesia.

Africa[link]

• A Vandal fleet and their allies (Alans, Goths and Moors) set out from Carthage for Sicily, the principal supplier of oil and grain to Italy after the loss of North Africa. They loot all the coastal towns and besiege Palermo. Heavily laden ships return to the court of king Genseric.

China[link]

• Dynasties of the North and South: The Chinese Empire is unified by the Northern Wei Dynasty. The Northern state will have three competing dynasties—Northern Wei, Northern Qi and Northern Liang, while the Southern state is dominated by the Song (or Liu Song) Dynasty.

Asia[link]

• The Hepthalites (White Huns) move south from the Altai Mountains region into Transoxiana, Bactria, Khorasan and eastern Persia.
• A center of Buddhist studies is established at Nalanda in Bihar on the plains of the Ganges River (India).

By topic[link]

Art[link]

• The Parting of Lot and Abraham, mosaic in the nave arcade, Church of Santa Maria Maggiore (Rome), is made.

Ancient Games[link]

• Chaturanga, Indian war game, and a ancestor of chess through the Persian game of Shatranj (or Chatrang), evolves in the Indus Valley on the Indian subcontinent (approximate date).

Religion[link]

• August 18 – Pope Sixtus III dies after a 8-year reign in which he has resisted heresy and sponsored major construction programs in Rome. He is succeeded by Leo I as the 45th pope.
• September 29 – Leo I begins to formulate orthodoxy and condems Eutychianism, an extreme form of monophysitism which holds that the human nature of Christ is absorbed by his divine nature.
• Winter – Leo I sends a letter to Valentinian III, stating "by the Holy Spirit's inspiration the emperor needs no human instruction and is incapable of doctrinal error".

Births[link]

• Bodhidharma, semi-legendary Buddhist monk (approximate date)
• Childeric I, king of the Salian Franks (approximate date)
• Euric, Visigothic king and son of Theodoric I (d. 484)
• Gaudentius, son of Flavius Aetius (approximate date)
• Qi Wudi, Chinese emperor of the Southern Qi Dynasty (d. 493)
• Tonantius Ferreolus, Gallo-Roman senator and prefect of Gaul
• Vakhtang I, king of Iberia (modern Georgia) (approximate date)
• Wen Cheng Di, emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty (d. 465)

Deaths[link]

• February 17 – Mesrob, Armenian monk and linguist
• Paulinus^{[disambiguation needed ]}, master of the offices in Constantinople (approximate date)
• August 18 – Pope Sixtus III
• Yuan Qigui, empress and wife of Wen of Liu Song (b. 405)

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2011)

Juan Luis Guerra
Juan Luis Guerra during a concert in Boston, Massachusetts.
Background information
Birth name	Juan Luis Guerra Seijas
Born	(1957-06-07) June 7, 1957 (age 55)
Origin	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Genres	Merengue, bachata, salsa, Latin pop
Occupations	Record producer, songwriter, musician, composer, arranger, guitarist
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	1984–present
Labels	EMI Records
Associated acts	Juanes, Enrique Iglesias, 440
Website	www.juanluisguerra.com

Juan Luis Guerra (born June 7, 1957) is a singer, songwriter and producer from the Dominican Republic who has sold over 30 million records, and won numerous awards including 12 Latin Grammy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and two Latin Billboard Music Awards. He recently won 3 Latin Grammy Awards in 2010, including Album of the Year.

He is one of the most internationally recognized Latin artists of recent decades. His pop style of merengue and bolero and Afro-pop/Latin fusion has garnered him considerable success throughout Latin America. Guerra is sometimes associated with the popular Dominican music called bachata, and while this association is partly true, he actually uses the basics of Bachata rhythm with a more bolero feel to the melodies in some of his songs.^[1] He does not limit himself to one style of music, instead, he incorporates diverse rhythms like merengue, bolero-bachata, balada, salsa, rock and roll, and even gospel as in the song "La Gallera". "Ojalá Que Llueva Café" ("I Wish It Would Rain Coffee") is one of his most critically acclaimed self-written and composed pieces. A remix of "La Llave de Mi Corazón" ("The Key of My Heart") with Taboo from The Black Eyed Peas is also an example of his fusion of genres.

Career[link]

Early life[link]

Born Juan Luis Guerra Seijas in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, he is the son of Olga Seijas and Gilberto Guerra, a basketball player. Before he committed to music, Guerra studied philosophy and literature at the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. He then studied guitar and music theory at El Conservatorio Nacional de Música de Santo Domingo, then decided to go to the United States to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston. He graduated from Berklee in 1982 with a diploma in jazz composition.^[2] After his return to the Dominican Republic, he released his first album, Soplando (1984) with a group of local musicians that subsequently became known as Juan Luis Guerra y 440. The group members were Maridalia Hernández, Roger Zayas-Bazán, and Mariela Mercado. The band's name in Spanish is officially publicized as Cuatro Cuarenta (Four Forty), a shortening of the normally strict reading of number "four hundred forty". The 440 part of the band's name refers to the standard tuning of A440. Reportedly the name for the band came from a practice session where Juan Luis's brother suggested the name because the name would reflect how "in-tune and precise they were".^{[citation needed]} According to Guerra, this first album was based on jazz tunes and concepts he had learned at Berklee, and it "wasn't intended to be a commercial hit." Subsequently, however, he began to write more merengues.^[2]

Two albums followed, Mudanza y Acarreo and Mientras Más Lo Pienso...Tú. The band was nominated to attend the Festival of OTI (Organization of Iberoamerican Television) to represent the Dominican Republic.

Their next album, in 1989, brought them international acclaim. Ojalá Que Llueva Café, a slow melodic number with superfast background tracks, became a number one hit in many Latin American countries, with the hit song of the same name. Subsequently, a video of the song was filmed and Juan Luis Guerra and his 440 band began touring. (The song's fame was revived in 1996 and 2008 with covers by Mexican band Café Tacuba and Spanish singer Rosario Flores.)

1990s[link]

In 1990, they released their next album, Bachata Rosa, which became a major hit and earned Guerra his first Grammy award. The album, having sold more than five million copies at that time, allowed Guerra to keep touring Latin America, USA and Europe. This album contains memorable love songs such as "Burbujas de Amor" (Bubbles of Love), "Bachata Rosa", "Rosalia", "Como Abeja al Panal" (Like a Bee to Honeycomb), "A Pedir Su Mano" (Asking For Her Hand), "Carta de Amor" (Love Letter), and "Estrellitas y Duendes" (Little stars and elves).

Guerra became a controversial figure in 1992 after he released his next album, Areíto (which is a Taíno word for song and dance). It featured the hit single "El costo de la vida", (The Cost of Living), whose video clearly has an anti-capitalist message. Other songs included in this album protest against the poor conditions in many Latin American countries, the celebration of the 'discovery' of the Americas ("1492"), and the double standards of first-world nations. "El costo de la vida" was his first number-one hit in the Hot Latin Tracks. Guerra became the first performer of tropical music to achieve this feat.

In his next album, Fogaraté (1995), he stayed away from recording any protest songs. This album is particularly centered in the more rural and lesser known types of Dominican music, like the Perico Ripiao.

Guerra's 1998 release Ni Es Lo Mismo Ni Es Igual (Neither The Same Nor Equal) garnered much critical acclaim, winning three Latin Grammys in 2000 for Best Merengue Performance, Best Tropical Song, and Best Engineered Album. Its hits include "Mi PC" (My PC), "Palomita Blanca" (Little White Dove), and "El Niágara en Bicicleta" (The Niagara on Bicycle - literal; to ride a bicycle across Niagara Falls, i.e. a difficult task - coloquial "al pasar el Niagara en bicicleta", Cuban).

Juan Luis Guerra in concert in Madrid, Spain, during the Para ti tour. July 2005.

2000s[link]

In 2003, Guerra released his first new album in six years. Entitled "Para Ti" (For you), the album's songs are mostly religious in nature, reflecting Guerra's fervent Christianity. With this album the singer won two awards at the 2005 Billboards, in the categories of Gospel-Pop and Tropical-Merengue, for the hit single Las Avispas (The wasps), the first time ever that one song has won these two categories at the same time. Other hits included "Para Ti" and "Soldado" (Soldier). At the same time, Guerra was honored with the Latino Special Award for the Music Academy of Spain for his contributions to the music of his country and the Caribbean in the last 20 years.

In January 2006, Juan Luis performed at Berklee's 60th anniversary along with other artists such as Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock, Michel Camilo and Chiara Civello. That same year, he recorded with Diego Torres in "Abriendo Caminos" (Opening roads) and with Maná in "Bendita Tu Luz" (Blessed your light).

Notably, Juan Luis Guerra was part of the former highest grossing music tour of all time,(U2's 360 tour is currently the highest grossing music tour of all time) as he was the opening act for The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang Tour at their San Juan, Puerto Rico show in February, 2006.

He was also invited by Sting to sing with him at a concert at Altos de Chavón, La Romana in the Dominican Republic in 2006. At the Premio Lo Nuestro awards in 2007, he was given the honorary lifetime achievement award. He also performed the lead single of his new album, "La Llave De Mi Corazón", released in March 2007.

"La llave de mi corazón" reached number one on the Billboard charts for four consecutive weeks, and was the #1 selling album in Colombia while climbing the charts in other countries^{[citation needed]}. Guerra won more than 20 awards with this CD, including 5 Latin Grammy Awards, 6 Premios Casandra awards, 4 billboard Awards, 2 lo nuestro, and one Grammy Award.

On April 6, 2006, Juan Luis Guerra was honored as a BMI Icon at the 13th annual BMI Latin Awards. Named BMI's 1995 Latin Songwriter of the Year, Guerra's songwriting has garnered 14 BMI Latin Awards.^[3]

Juan Luis Guerra was honored at the Latin Grammy Awards in 2007 with 5 awards, sweeping each category he was nominated in: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Tropical Song & Best Merengue Album. The engineers of the album, Allan Leschhorn, Luis Mansilla, Ronnie Torres, and Adam Ayan were awarded Best Engineered album. One night prior to the Latin Grammy Awards he received the Academy's Person of the Year Award for his contribution to Latin music and for his philanthropy.

On March 10, 2008, Juan Luis was honored with 6 awards in los Premios Casandra, the most important award event in the Dominican Republic. He won for Orchestrator of the year, Outstanding artist abroad, Music album of the year for "La Llave de mi Corazón" and "El Soberano" (The Sovereign), the most important award of the night.

On March 16, 2008 He and other artists participated in the Paz Sin Fronteras concert raised by Juanes, because of the conflict in recent days between Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador.

On April 11, 2008 Juan Luis Guerra was the Billboard Latin awards big winner, with 7 nominations and 3 awards.

On September 15, 2008 Guerra was named a UNESCO Artist for Peace "in recognition of his efforts for the benefit of children with disabilities and children in need."^[4]

On May 9, 2009, Guerra was awarded an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Berklee College of Music at its commencement ceremony.

2010 Juan Luis Guerra was featured in Enrique Iglesias' Spanish single, Cuando Me Enamoro, and appeared with Iglesias in the music video. The single has currently spent 17 non-consecutive weeks at #1, the longest tenure at the peak position for both artists. In addition, the single was a self-replacement at #1 for Guerra as it replaced his own single Bachata en Fukuoka from his album A Son de Guerra.

Singing in other languages[link]

Guerra has recorded several songs in English, like "July 19th" on his Fogaraté release (1995), and more recently "Medicine for My Soul" and "Something Good" with Italian singer Chiara Civello. Some of his songs have verses in both English and Spanish such as "Woman del Callao", "Guavaberry", "Señorita" and more recently "La Llave de Mi Corazón". Album Areíto featured two songs, cover-title song "Areíto" and "Naboria daca, mayanimacaná" which are sung in the Arawak language of the extinct Taino natives of Hispaniola. Juan Luis Guerra also recorded the album "Bachata Rosa" in Portuguese. He uses Japanese words in Bachata en Fukuoka (Bachata in Fukuoka), 2010 Latin Grammy winner for Best Tropical Song.

Lyrical style[link]

Being a native Dominican, his music is heavily influenced by native Caribbean rhythms, such as merengue and bachata.

His lyrics are often charged with intentionally simple, heavily metaphorical, erotic, or popular expressions, such as "Burbujas de Amor" (Bubbles Of Love) or "El Niágara en Bicicleta" (Niagara on Bicycle), an idiom for something difficult to do.

Discography[link]

Singles[link]

440 band members[link]

• Roger Zayas
• Maridalia Hernández
• Mariela Mercado
• Marco Hernández (replaced Maridalia Hernández)
• Adalgisa Pantaleón (replaced Mariela Mercado)
• Quico Rizek (replaced Marco Hernández)

Quotation[link]

This section is a candidate to be copied to Wikiquote using the Transwiki process.

We write for our home audience. We play music that appeals to those at home, a music that feels natural and intuitive.^[7]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Manuel, Peter. Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Juan Luis Guerra

• Official website in English and Spanish.
• Biography of Juan Luis Guerra With particular focus on his relationship to bachata.
• Juan Luis Guerra at National Geographic World Music
• Juan Luis Guerra Online Scholarship from Berklee College of Music
• Juan Luis Guerra at the Internet Movie Database
• Encarta bio (Archived 2009-10-31)