Archive for the ‘ Aries ’ Category

1903, April 8 – BIRTH OF DANIEL LOPEZ BARRETO

Composer, Pianist, Author (Aries) – Tangiers beguiled him and as she had done to William S Burroughs, to Jack Keroac, to Tenessee Williams, to Matisse…she seduced him and so Daniel Lopez Barreto did the unthinkable, he deserted the Argentine Navy and disappeared into Tangiers’ mysterious labyrinths of spys and smugglers…but it was not easy and out of desperation he joined the French Foreign Legion, finding himself oddly at home with its failed revolutionaries and trouble makers from all over the world…but fate had a surpise in store for him, enjoying himself at the “Cabaret Lumiere Du Midi” the night before shipping out, some drunken English sailors suddenly became rowdy for the lack of the promised live music…one of Daniel’s campanions suggested to owner that Daniel play the piano; his debut was so successful that it turned into an eight month engagement…one evening a German couple happened to come in; she was a voice and music professor and was so impressed with Daniel’s talent that she took him under her wing…they took  him to the magical island of Ibizia where through stern, disciplined training she perfected his talent…together they would perform classical music concerts throughout europe in splendor and elegance he had never imagined

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But the call of his native land was strong and against the counsel of his benefactress he decided to return to Argentina where he was immediately arrested; he was sentenced to one year in prison at hard labor…upon his release, for a while, he began earning his living as a boxer and a pianist billing himself as “The Boxing Pianist”….now back in Buenos Aires, he began working in a music publishing house where one day the legendary, Roberto Firpo happened to hear him play piano and asked him to join his orchestra…in 1929 he formed a trio to play on Radio Nacional, later Radio Belgrano…he accompanied renown tenor Tito Schippa in one of his celebrated concerts in Buenos Aires…he composed the music for a number of films including “Canillita” in 1936, and “El Hombre Del Sabado” in 1947….either as a composer or as a lyricist, he would record over 100 tangos…his music and his curiosity would take him around the world Europe, Africa, Asia and the United States; his highlight was undoubtably winning in a prize at the prestigious Mozart Festival in Salzburg…he lived on Easter Island for many months to study the language of the natives and he published a book in the United States on his findings….at the age of seventy nine after an incredible life he passed away at his home in Buenos Aires

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CLICK HERE– http://www.todotango.com/

spanish/las_obras/Tema.aspx?id=BJYAM8BYPRQ= to hear “La Uruguayita Lucia” with lyrics by Daniel Lopez Barreto and music by Eduardo Pereyra performed by the Ricardo Tanturi Orchestra sung by Enrique Campos

2012
04/08
CATEGORY
Argentinean
Aries
Composers
Films
Orchestras
Pianist
Recordings
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1916, April 3 – BIRTH OF MARUJA PACHECO HUERGO

Singer, Composer, Pianist, Author (Aries) –“I like it darling, polish that up a bit”, she said…little did she suspect that, that simple phrase cast at her daughter who was improvising at the piano while she sat on her favorite rocking chair knitting, would launch her daughter Maruja to immortality…it was 2 AM in the morning and Maruja had, had a long day but it was in still of the night that she did her best work but this night would be different, she would make history…she would piece together the tango “El Adios” which would be an instant hit and be recorded by a variety of musicians not only in Latin America but as far away as Japan…it continues, to our very day, to be a favorite in milongas world-wide…interestingly, she did not think she was very good at composing tango and very soon abandoned the field to devote herself to a wide array of music; she recorded over 600 songs in different genres…for example, she composed and recorded  ”Jugetes Musicales”  (Musical Games) designed to entertain and educate for children…

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She composed “Little Musical Bible”, which consisted of twelve songs based on the old testament…she wrote the music for films and appeared in at least two, “Ronda De Estrellas” directed by Jack Davison and “Gran Camarado” directed by Yago Blas…although her tango compositions were not extensive, they included a number of hits working with renown orchestras including Juan D’arienzo, Florindo Sassone, and Edgardo Donato to name just a few…for some compositions, “Cuando Silba El Viento” for example, she wrote both the music and the lyrics; a rare talent among musicians of the epoch…she was a very popular singer and actress on radio dramas; in fact in 1938 in a campaign to identify “Miss Radio” she got over 30,000 votes, which was a rather significant number for those days…she performed on a number of radio stations but her home was Radio Belgrano…”El Adios” was first recorded by Ignacio Corsini, a family friend but it was the version by Edgardo Donato which would render it internationally famous

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2012
04/03
CATEGORY
Argentinean
Aries
Composers
Films
Orchestras
Poet
Recordings
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1928, April2 – BIRTH OF LUIS CORREA

Singer (Aries) – reflecting on a long and successful career, Luis Correa would recall with nostalgia, his father crouched around his radio listening to his favorite stars on Radio Belgrano…as a little boy he began to imitate those singers to the delight of his father whose secret wish was to have been a singer and so he greatly encourage his son…Luis Correa was born in the town of “El Trebol” (clover) near Santa Fe, Argentina to a struggling family…he began singing in the local bars and cafes for donations and little by little he began developing a name for himself…through one of his loyal fans, at the age of twenty two, he was able to get his first professional job in a second-rate club in Mar del Plata (the birth place of Astor Piazzolla) catering to the newly rising middle class tourist…the result, in the eyes of some, of Juan Peron’s revolutionary populist policys…eventually he was befriended by renown singer Oscar Alonso who encouraged him to enter Radio El Mundo’s famous “Ronda de Cantores” singing contest which proudly featured  the Osvaldo Fresedo Orchestra…

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With great reluctance Luis entered and to his great surprise, out of hundreds of contestants, he was declared the winner…his first break came when he was recruited by the Francini – Pontier Orchestra, comprised of two childhood friends from the town of Zarate who would have such a great impact in the world of tango –  with them he made his recording debut on November 4, 1955 with “Noche de Locura” and “Perdoname”…in his career he would lend his voice to a number of orchestras including those of Alberto Mancione Orchestra and Hector Varela…with the Fulvio Salamanca Orchestra, in duet with singer Armando Guerrico, he would record the great hit “Recuerdo”…with the Miguel Calo Orchestra he had another hit in “Dos Fracasos”…in the mid sixties he began a solo career embarking on a successful tour of Latin America and later a successful tour of the United States culminating in a performance at the renown “Rincon Latino” in Miami”…he passed away from a heart attack  in the city of Mar del Plata at he age of sixty-four

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2012
04/02
CATEGORY
Aries
Composers
Male
Orchestras
Recordings
Singers
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1920, March 30 – BIRTH OF RAUL BERON

Singer (Airies) – Raul Beron is considered by many as the best tango voice in history and yet in the eyes of cognoscenti, Jose his older brother, had the talent surpass his legendary brother but preferred the bohemian night life …but it wasn’t only these two brothers but the whole family that seemed particularly gifted…their sister Elba for example, would record several hits with the Anibal Troilo Orchestra….they  were the children of Adolfo Manuel Beron, a guitarist and composer who encouraged his children to play and sing; theirs was a household visited by Adolfo’s musician and artist friends….their first taste of stardom occurred when Adolfo organized his five children into “Los Portenitos” which began singing in the cafes of their home town of Zarate…Raul Beron was only ten years old when he formed a duo with his brother Jose; they debuted at the Kity Dance Cabaret in Montevideo  to great acclaim; they were soon singing on the prestigious Radio Belgrano…Raul came to the ear of Jose Razzano who became his mentor and in fact in time Raul developed a Gardelian, baritone style like his hero Carlos Gardel…

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His major break came when Miguel Calo asked him to join his orchestra; he was nineteen years old…his debut at the Club Dancing Singapur was met with to ecstatic applause…on April 29, 1942 he recorded “Al Compas del Corazon” a phenomenal hit; within a span of five months two other hits were to follow, “Lejos de Buenos Aires” and the milonga “Azabache”..the next year he appeared in his first film “Todo Un Hombre”  directed by Pierre Chenal who had narrowly escaped nazi occupied France to move to Argentina…Beron later had brief stints with the orchestras of Lucio Demare and Francini – Pontier with whom he recorded another hit “Remolino”…later he joined the revered Anibal Troilo Orchestra with which he would produce several popular recordings and sing in the film “Mi Noche Triste”…it is interesting to note that in his lifetime he was not as popular as singers like Fiorentino, Rufino and Marino and yet with the passing of time it is Raul Beron who aquires legendary status…..on June 28, 1982 he was scheduled sing at the “Cafe De Los Angelitos” but when his wife went into the bedroom to get him, she found him dead; like his brother Jose and his sister Elba he died relatively young of a heart attack

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2012
03/30
CATEGORY
Argentinean
Aries
Composers
Films
Male
Orchestras
Recordings
Singers
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1898, March 23 – BIRTH OF FRANCISCO DE CARO

Composer, Pianist (Aries) – it typified his life that lying on the hospital bed with the oxygen mask over his emaciated face, he was more concerned for the family of his dear friend, bandoneonist Gabriel Clausi “Chula” than for himself, “take care of them, look after them Chula”, he insisted…just a few minutes later, he passed away; he was 78 years old…Francisco De Caro had been the creative arm of the legendary team with his brother Julio de Caro; together they revolutionized the way tango was written and interpreted, founding the “Guardia Nueva” movement…many years later Astor Piazzolla would honor their contribution with his composition “Decarissimo”…the great fame that his brother Julio would attain was in no small part due to Francisco’s artistic leadership displayed in compositions like “Sueno Azul” and “Paginas Muertas”; Julio was headstrong, entrepreneurial and famously difficult to deal with…Francisco was the eldest of twelve children born to Giuseppe de Caro De Sica (an ancestor of legendary film director Vittoriio De Sica”)…

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Giuseppe had been the director of the conservatory of the prestigious “Teatro della’Scala de Milano” and commensurate with his august background he dreamed of  seeing his sons in the rarefied world of classical music; he was Francisco’s first piano teacher…however unbeknownst to the authoritarian Giuseppe, the boys began sharing their classical musical skills with the seedy world of tango…when Julio was nineteen years old, his father confronted him one dawn as he was returning from a gig and gave him the choice of either continuing with serious studies or leaving the house; Julio chose to leave the house and his brother Francisco followed him soon after…their estrangement would only end twenty years later when their father would show up at one of their performances and with tears in his eyes asked for forgivenesses…in 1923 the brothers formed their first quartet and began playing at the mythical Cafe Colon…they would eventually embark on a very successful tour of Europe during which they entertained dignitaries including  Charlie Chaplain and Baron Von Rothschild

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CLICK HERE – http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=SSZY161Xtz8 to hear the Osvaldo Fresedo version of “Sueno Azul” composed by Francisco De Caro
2012
03/23
CATEGORY
Aries
Composers
Orchestras
Pianist
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1943, February 11 – Beron Records “ME LLAMAN EL ZORRO”

Performing with the Lucio Demare Orchestra, this was another great hit for singer Raul Beron who in the eyes of some cognoscenti, was the greatest orchestra singer of all time…the lyrics are the boasting of a young man, born in La Boca, who is a dashing and debonair rogue who thrives on adversity and loves his life of adventure...”I am a tanguero from the old school and I carry tango in my soul…they call me Zorro”, he says…lyricist Roberto Lambertucci was inspired by the legend of Zorro which was created by New York pulp writer Johnston McCulley in 1919 and which has inspired books, films and other media…it in turn may have been inspired by the real life character Joaquim Carillo Murrieta who was a legendary figure in California during the gold rush who became a robin hood type hero to Mexicans battling racism and discrimination…a reward was offered by the California legislature to capture and kill Murrieta…when he was finally apprehended and executed without due process, his head was severed and placed in a jar of  alcohol as proof of his death to collect the reward

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The severed head in a jar toured California and could be seen for the price of one dollar…among Zorro’s many manifestations is the 1925 film “Don Q Son of Zorro” starring Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Astor in which Zorro dances a Valentino style tango..in the 1998 film “The Mark of Zorro” starring Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, there is a scene in which Catherine Zeta-Jones dances a passionate dance which is a hodge podge of tango and passo doble…Raul Beron, born March 30, 1920 (Aries) in the town of Zarate, Argentina, began performing in duet with his brother Jose in the local cafes and bars for spare change…it was during one of his non remunerated performances on radio, that orchestra leader Miguel Calò heard him and invited him for an audition; he hire him immediately…his first recording with Calo on April 29, 1942, “Al Compas Del Corazon”, became an instant  great hit and launched Raul on the road to legendary status.

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  • CLICK HERE– http://www.youtube.com/
  • watch?v=rckflM7IV6k to hear Raul Beron sing his hit “Me Llaman El Zorro” with the Lucio Demare orchestra…music is by Mario Perini and lyrics by Roberto Lambertucci
2012
02/11
CATEGORY
Aries
Films
Male
Orchestras
Recordings
Singers
Tango In Film
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1932, December 9 – 1st RECORDED, “EL HURACAN”

The composer of “El Huracan” (the hurricane) Edgardo Donato was notoriously absent minded…his daughter would tell the story of one day, when he was on a street car, that he happened to meet a friend and got into a conversation with him; they descended from the tram and continued talking…after a while he realized that his wife had been with him and that she had remained on the tram…”El Huracan” was a great hit for Edgardo, one of many among his more than 200 compositions…It was premiered at the Teatro Colón at a contest organized by the Sociedad de Beneficencia de Buenos Aires in 1932; it won second prize after the tango “Ventarron“…”El Huracan” continues to this day, to be played in milongas all over the world and has been recorded by many musicians, perhaps the most successful of all by Juan D’Arienzo…

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Edgardo Donato (born April 14, 1897, Airies), one of nine children of  an Italian immigrant musician in the field of opera, was born in the neighborhood of San Cristobal in Buenos Aires but raised in Montevideo (perhaps the only instance of a tango great going from Buenos Aires to Montevideo, it was usually the opposite)…his father was his first teacher and in fact Edgardo started his career in opera working with his father but his true love was the tango…with much trepidation, one day Edgardo mustered the courage to tell his father that he was joining the orchestra of Negro Quevedo which just happened to have on piano another future great, Enrique Delfino …Edgardo Donato was of course the composer of the immortal “A Media Luz” which he composed while riding a tram….his first hit “Julian” at the age of 24, he had actually tried to sell, in a moment of dire need, for 20 pesos but no one would buy it; he then decided to record it himself…its instant success created an immortal in tango

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  • CLICK HERE– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zWebHXopm0 to hear “El Huracan” played by the Edgardo Donato orchestra…the lyrics are by Nolo Lopez…the voice is that of Alex Gutierrez; it was his first recording and a hit at the age 23
2011
12/09
CATEGORY
Aries
Composers
Musicians
Orchestras
Pianist
Recordings
Sun Sign
Uruguay
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1955, April 23 – BIRTH OF LINA AVELLANEDA

Singer, Composer, Poet (Aries) – there were nights she would wake up from a night mare and realize that it had been real…the knock at the door, the forced entry of armed soldiers, the beating of her parents, her sister dragged away with no knowledge of her fate only to learn later that she had been tortured and murdered in Argentina’s tragic “Dirty War”…Lina herself barely escaped being apprehended and she had to flee with an eight month old baby, changing houses seven times to avoid detection and arrest…it is this passion, the anger, the fear, the outrage that so many of its perpetrators have still not been brought to justice which she puts into her poetry and music…Lina Avellaneda was born in the Wilde neighborhood of Buenos Aires to a family of gifted musicians, circus performers, singers…her father, son of Italian immigrants, was passionate about tango; her mother of Spanish descent, until late in life, continued singiing Spanish “Tonadillas”…

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Her cousin, Julio Pane, is a renown bandoneonist and composer who performed with Astor Piazzolla…she began performing when she was still in grade school singing folk songs; later she graduated from the Escuela De Bellas Artes (School of Fine Arts) and continued her musical studies with the legendary Sebastian Piana…she has won numerous awards for her music and has won nine awards for her poetry including the Mitominas first prize given by the Argentine poet Tamara Kamenszain…in 2005 she published to great acclaim, “Marron y Plata” a book of poetry about about the origins of the river and the arrival of its immigrants; many of her poems have been musicalized by renown composers…her performances, interspersed with her humor and monologues, have made her a favorite on Radio Belgrano and at Ruben Juarez’s celebrated Cafe Homero…in 2003 she appeared in the movie “Yo No Se Que Me Han Hecho Tus Ojos” dedicated to Ada Falcon…she is an impassioned campaigner for women’s rights especially equal pay and reproductive rigthts

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2011
04/23
CATEGORY
Argentinean
Aries
Composers
Female
Films
Poet
Singers
Wilde
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1868, April 21 – BIRTH OF ROSENDO MENDIZABAL

Composer, Pianist (Aries) – for the last two years of his life he was ill, bedridden, partially paralyzed in one single, squalid room…on June 30, 1913, mercifully, he finally passed away, he was forty-five years old…and yet, just a few years earlier he had been a very wealthy man having inherited a huge sum of money from a deceased grandmother…this gifted, charming man might have simply been forgotten had he not composed “El Enterriano”, one of the most successful tangos in history…Rosendo Mendizabal, of mixed african blood, came from a well to do family…his father, was a poet and a renown writer, famous for, “Primos Versos y Oras de Meditacion” (First Versus and Hours of Meditation), a book of poems…Rosendo graduated from the conservatory as a piano teacher where he was a gifted student and a great career was predicted for him…however, with his sudden windfall, he embarked on a profligate, bohemian life squandering a considerable fortune in a short period of time…his life resembled that of his contemporary Angel Villoldo, composer of the immortal “El Choclo”

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He was forced to survive by playing piano in clubs and brothels for tips but his immense talent and charm also made him a favorite entertainer in high-end cabarets like “La Vieja Eustaquia”, “Tarana”, ” and “Maria La Vasca” run by renown Laura Montserrat…it is here that in 1897 he began to improvise a tango “El Enterriano” which would become a great classic; it is considered by some historians as the first published tango in history…these were the times before authors earned royalties on their compositions so while his masterpiece would generate considerable sums in the future, like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, he would die destitute…it was the custom to dedicate a new tango to some important person who would in turn make a gift of a sum of money to the composer; it is believed that El Enterriano was dedicated to Ricardo Segovia who may have been an influential judge…Rosendo composed many tangos but as they were often just simply scribbled on blank sheets of paper, the majority of his works were lost… his tangos were generally humorous and referenced judges, bankers, politicians…no personal recordings by Mendizabal were ever made…some of his popular surviving tangos include, “A La Luz De Los Faroles”, “Arrabalera”, “Z Club”

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2011
04/21
CATEGORY
African Descent
Aries
Composers
Pianist
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1897, April 20 – BIRTH OF JERZY PETERSBURSKI

Composer, Pianist (Aries) – Jerzy Petersburski was the composer of the mythical tango “Ta Ostatnia Niedziela” (This Is The Last Sunday) which was to have a dramatic and macabre role in history…it became known as “Suicide Tango” for young disillusioned Polish army officers would shoot themselves in the head while playing it in the background…furthermore the nazis would have Jewish musicians play this tango as they led Jews to their death in the gas chambers…in fact Arthur Gold, Peterburski’s cousin who had played “Ta Ostatnia Niedziela” professionally in pre war Warsaw, would lead the orchestra at Treblinka which played it as jews were led to their death; Gold himself would eventually meet the same fate…a Russian version of this tango became the theme song in the 1997 Russian film “Burnt By The Sun” which won the academy award for Best Foreign Film…the tango was used in another academy award winner Shindler’s List which premiered in 1993

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Jerzy Petersburski was born into a well-known Warsaw family of jewish musicians…he is credited with having popularized tango in Poland which adopted tango with an intensity unparalleled anywhere else in the world; tango became synonymous with Polish popular music…it is even more surprising when one considers that unlike Paris, Madrid or Berlin, tango came to Warsaw primarily through gramophone recordings and not visiting Argentinean orchestras…interestingly, tango in Poland is mostly of Jewish origen…after the war Jerzy Petersburski lived in Buenos Aires for twenty years where he worked for “Radio El Mundo” during which he composed the hit song “All Roads Lead to Buenos Aires”…toward the end of his life he returned to Poland settling in his beloved Warsaw…in 1928 he composed “Tango Milonga” which became an instant hit all over the world…in English it was called “Oh Donna Clara” and was recorded by Al Jolson in America and Edith Piaf in France and even Florindo Sassone in Buenos Aires

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2011
04/20
CATEGORY
Aries
Composers
Films
Jewish
Orchestras
Pianist
Tango In Film
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