The orquestas típicas of tango's Golden Age usually shared the stage with an accompanying act, more often than not a jazzband, in alternating sets lasting about half an hour. A complete list of Argentine jazzbands of the period would be a very long one, but the short list must certainly include Washington-Bertolín, Barry Moral, Eduardo Muratore, Al Black, Joe Starr, Joe Rispoli, Fredy Caló, and Adolfo Veneziani.
[Photo: "Radio "El Mundo" has just made a valuable acquisition by adding to its cast the jazz guitarist and bandleader Oscar Alemán, who will appear at our microphones for the month of March." 27 January 1944.]
Of those Argentine jazz players whose music is known to us, the finest is the Afro-Argentine guitarist Oscar Alemán. He held the unique distinction of being not merely a homegrown Argentine talent, but also a direct participant in American and European avant-garde jazz. During a ten-year residence in Paris (1930-40), he played with Duke Ellington's band, jammed with fellow guitar wizard Django Reinhardt, and was a much-favored soloist, dancer, and master of ceremonies with Josephine Baker's orchestra. Other Argentine jazz players learned jazz by listening to records. Oscar Alemán learned it at the source.
No stranger to tango, Oscar had given his first mature performances as half of Les Loups, a duo with Brazilian Hawaiian-guitar exponent, Gastón Buen Lobo. Their first recordings were a "tango-milonga" titled Hawayanita and a vals, Criollito, both 1928. Soon after, Les Loups were contracted by Adolfo Carabelli, director of the Orquesta Típica Victor, to form the Trio Victor with tango's greatest violinist, Elvino Vardaro. Oscar's Buenos Aires circle of friends included Augustín Magaldi, Enrique Santos Discépolo, and the left-wing journalist Dante A. Linyera, editor of La Canción Moderna.
An Oscar Alemán playlist on YouTube.
Returning to Buenos Aires from Nazi-occupied Paris in 1940 with his French wife Malou, a gifted jazz singer in her own right--the couple arrived with 85 pesos to their name--Oscar found work in Buenos Aires's jazz clubs, on Radio El Mundo, and in the dance halls where tango was king and jazz, a visiting dignitary. While his appearances in the tango scene were not an everyday occurrence like those of Washington-Bertolín or Barry Moral, he shared the stage at one time or another with just about every major tango orchestra. Though he played in a variety of clubs, Oscar seems to have been especially popular with the organizers of the Club Santa Fe and the Círculo General Urquiza. For those of us who have danced at the present-day Palermo tango club "Villa Malcolm," it's great fun to imagine Oscar trading sets with Rodolfo Biagi in that very room!
We hope you enjoy this gallery of Oscar Alemán sightings from the El Mundo newspaper Dance Guide. Photo source: Tango Time Machine.
Dates, top down, are: 5 May 1944 (w/ Troilo); 15 January 1944 (w/ Laurenz); 12 October 1944 (w/ Troilo, Lagna Fietta, and Di Sarli); 8 July 1943 (w/D'Agostino); 14 May 1944 (w/ Biagi); 10 September 1933 (solo at Floresta Juniors).
[Biographical data in this article is from Oscar Alemán: Guitarra Embrujada by Sergio Pujol, Editorial Planeta, Buenos Aires 2015. Highly recommended!]
Excelente posteo gracias por el aporte. Comparto con Uds. Discografía actualizada de Oscar que quizá pueda interesarles. Cordiales saludos. Waldo Fonseca. Hot Club de Boedo.
http://hotclubdeboedo.blogspot.com.ar/2015/11/discografia-de-oscar-aleman-por-andres.html
Posted by: Waldo Fonseca | 12/01/2015 at 08:29 AM