Alfredo Escalante

That closeness with the musicians he announced stayed with him always: in 1987 he welcomed REO Speedwagon at the Monumental de Maracay, the arena that in those years hosted the international bands. And in the corridors of Radio Capital he crossed paths daily with Iván Loscher — the two men who, each in his own way, opened the Venezuelan dial to rock.

His word carried weight in the scene: the encyclopedia of Venezuelan rock records his definition of the “Concierto en El Valle Encantado” — two days and forty-one bands at the Carlos Anzola velodrome in Maracay — as “el Woodstock venezolano de los 90.” He was the announcer people quoted to name what was happening.

The dial, the screen and the Poliedro

From Radio Capital he narrated the coverage of the Woodstock festival for Venezuela. In 1975 he moved to the Emisora Cultural de Caracas 97.7, the country's first FM station, and with the program “Medium” went on presenting the groups he considered essential. Television gave him “La Música que sacudió al Mundo” between 1979 and 1983. Until his death he kept a Sunday night show on 92.9.

He did not stay in the booth: in the eighties he organized large concerts at the Poliedro de Caracas — the same venue where the minitecas fought their guerras de minitecas, the sound clashes of the movement — and from there comes an anecdote that captures him: at a concert of his in 1984 time ran short for his own appearance and he gave up his slot to the band Antares.

His most quoted profile sums him up without adornment: “no se vendió a nada y quizá por ello su estilo de vida siempre fue modesto.” He even broke with his protégé Paul Gillman over a matter of principle. In his final years, his wife Fabiani accompanied him on the air more and more.

Note on the date of his death

The external sources differ by one day: the blog Locutores y Emisoras de Venezuela dates his death to January 28, 2016 and Revista Ladosis to January 27, 2016. Both are recorded without choosing between them.

Social media

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Credits and sources

• · Nickname, kinship with Cappy Donzella, role at Radio Capital 710 and on “Hippie Happy Cappy,” his standing as a pioneer of rock journalism, the program “Happenin' 70” and his connection with Santana's first visit: blog Locutores y Emisoras de Venezuela (“Falleció el locutor Alfredo Escalante, el ‘duende azul’,” which dates his death to January 28, 2016), El Estímulo (“Alfredo Escalante y la poésika del rock”) and La Guía de Caracas. Accessed July 31, 2026.
• · Career at the Emisora Cultural de Caracas 97.7 from 1975 (the country's first FM station), the program “Medium,” “La Música que sacudió al Mundo” (1979-1983), his Sunday show on 92.9, the concerts he organized at the Poliedro de Caracas in the eighties, the 1984 anecdote with the band Antares, the break with Paul Gillman, the support of his wife Fabiani and the phrase “no se vendió a nada”: Revista Ladosis, “Alfredo Escalante, locutor venezolano” (revistaladosis.com), which dates his death to January 27, 2016. Accessed July 31, 2026.
• · His definition of the “Concierto en El Valle Encantado” (Carlos Anzola velodrome in Maracay, 41 bands) as “el Woodstock venezolano de los 90”: Wikipedia in Spanish, “Rock de Venezuela.” Accessed July 31, 2026.
• · Photographs contributed to the CMTK Archive: the Radio Capital 710 team, the portfolio portrait, the shot with Iván Loscher in the station's corridors (watermark @alfredoescalante_) and the 1987 one with REO Speedwagon at the Monumental de Maracay.