Oscar Aleman

Oscar Alemán - Con Ritmos de Brasil

2012-01-29T07:49:00.006+01:00

Oscar Alemán: His Brazilian Rhythm - Tony Vardé (English) Oscar Alemán: Con Ritmos de Brasil - Tony Vardé (Español) Oscar Alemán: Zijn Braziliaanse Ritmen Tony Vardé (Nederlands)

Debo confesar que la música brasileña nunca me ha conmovido en lo mas mínimo. A pesar de sus raíces afro, nunca me han llegado Vinicus, Caetano, o Jobim. Algo de Stan Getz puede ser lo mas cercano que me ha hecho mover la patita, pero en general, la bossa nova y sus derivados me aburren. Hasta que un día, mi amigo Flavio, consiguió hacerme cambiar de parecer, al menos por un rato. Le regaló a mi hija un cd titulado Oscar Alemán y su conjunto - Con ritmos de Brasil. Ya que mi hija no estaba en ese momento apta para poner el cd por si sola, me vi forzado a hacerlo yo mismo, y a escucharlo con ella. Tan grata fue mi sorpresa al escuchar el álbum, que en esta entrada de Escuchate Esto! le hacemos lugar a la música brasileña, aunque esté interpretada por un argentino. Y todo gracias a mi amigo Flavio. Negra de Cabello Duro - Oscar Alemán y su Quinteto de Swing. (Odeon 74037) (7 de Setiembre de 1943) (Oscar Alemán Discography - Hans Koert)
Oscar Alemán, es ese hombrecito delgado, de piel mulata y bigotes, cabello crespo con gomina, gafas de carey y cadencia caribeña, que podía tocar la guitarra, bailar y zapatear, cantar y monologar, todo bien y al mismo tiempo. Proveniente de una familia de músicos, Oscar nace el 20 de Febrero de 1909, en Machagai, Chaco y a los diez años, ya se encuentra lustrando botas cerca del obelisco. Alguien le acerca un cavaquinho, pequeña guitarra de cuatro cuerdas, y se inicia así su carrera artística. Alrededor de 1926, toca, de manera profesional, en cafés y clubes nocturnos, junto a Gastón Bueno Lobo, otro guitarrista con quien forma el dúo "Los Lobos", abarcando géneros variados. Incluso se llegan a presentar en New York como guitarristas Hawaianos. Incursiona en el tango, vinculándose con Agustín Magaldi y Enrique Santos Discépolo. Viaja por tierra brasileña y otras latitudes sudamericanas y es ahí cuando comienza a crearse esa mezcla de ritmos y sabores dentro de su arte. Oscar Alemán.
La troupe de Baker Esta mezcla crece aun mas cuando viaja a Europa, en 1932 la artista de varieté Josephine Baker lo ve actuar y lo contrata como guitarrista estable de su orquesta. Permanecen juntos hasta 1940, cuando la la invasión alemana llega a París. Oscar permanece en Europa, donde conoce a Louis Armstrong y Duke Ellington. Pero es Django Reinhardt, quién le produce la revolución final en su sonido y toque guitarrístico. Ambos se admiran y respetan, comparten sesiones e improvisaciones. Antes que T-Bone Walker o Jimi Hendrix, Oscar Alemán impuso el hábito de tocar la guitarra sobre las espaldas. De vuelta al país, logra un éxito con “Rosa madreselva”. Alterna su vida entre Brasil y la Argentina, y graba en ambos países. De este período es de donde sale el álbum al cual hacemos nos dedicamos en esta entrada. Oscar alemán fallece el 14 de Octubre de 1980 en Buenos Aires. En el disco, los temas vienen mezclados, pero nos pareció conveniente hacer una diferenciación entre las 2 etapas en las que se grabaron los temas, tanto desde lo cronológico, como desde la formación. Entre 1943 y 1947 a Oscar lo acompañaba el “Quinteto de Swing” (eran mas de cinco) y entre 1951 y 1957, la “Orquesta de Jazz”. En el disco, los temas tienen la particularidad de específicar a qué ritmo pertenecen. Vanidosa - Oscar Alemán y su Quinteto de Swing (Odeon 22309) (24 de Enero de 1947) (Oscar Alemán Discography - Hans Koert)

Elegimos poner en primer en primer lugar Negra de Cabello duro, ya que durante el primer minuto, Oscar alemán ya nos muestra de qué madera está hecho. Y también canta. Tico Tico No Fuba es un instrumental con aires de milonga, en el que podemos escuchar su virtuosismo. En estos dos temas de 1943 abundan los yeites “a lo Reinhardt”. La primera mitad de Yo Vi Un Leon esta cantada en portugués y la segunda mitad en castellano. Es aquí donde Oscar Alemán hace gala no solo de su swing, sino de su histrionismo y comicidad. Melancolía es un samba instrumental que suena misterioso. En Apanhei Te Cavaquinho se da un riquísimo contrapunto entre las guitarras, mientras que el piano es el que lleva la armonía. El violín lidera por primera vez en Vanidosa, lo cual nos remite mas que nunca al Hot Club de Francia de Reinhardt y Grapelli. Eu Vi Um Leâo - Oscar Alemán y su Quinteto de Swing ( Odéon 45973) ( 27 de Junio de 1944) ( Oscar Alemán Discography - Hans Koert )
La segunda parte del álbum, tiene mas baiones y sambas. Delicado, de 1951 es pura proeza guitarrística; y Pa pa pa, compuesto por Alemán, es de los más dulces del disco, tanto en la frase y el solo de guitarra, como en la voz. En mi casita pequeña un samba abolerado, podemos encontrar mas presencia de cuerdas, piano y coros. Saudades es otro instrumental para disfrutar la guitarra de Oscar de principio a fin.
Delicado - Oscar Alemán y su Conjunto de Jazz ( Odeon 55318) (26 - 31 de Octobre de 1951) ( Oscar Alemán Discography - Hans Koert)

Uno de los 3 temas compuestos por Alemán en esta compilación, en este caso junto a José Romero, es Mi amigo. En este samba de 1954 se percibe por primera vez en todo el álbum, la guitarra eléctrica. Yo soy de Río, otro samba pero más festivo, nos deja un solo de guitarra eléctrica con algo de distorsión donde Oscar muestra su velocidad. Conceicao tiene como protagonistas a los vientos, las cuerdas y la voz. Por último, Dedos Duros, de autoría de Alemán, comienza con las cuerdas trazando un complejo hilado por donde la guitarra se va deslizando, y por la mitad de la canción, la cosa se revierte, y es la guitarra quien nos va llevando por veloces caminos. Cronológicamente es el último tema grabado, en el año 1957, y curiosamente funciona muy bien como cierre de la colección.
Les dejo este gran disco, que puede ser muy útil para quienes son ajenos al gran Oscar Alemán, el mejor guitarrista argentino de la historia.
Tony Vardé ( Argentina) ( Escuchate esto!)

Thanks Tony for this review and introduction to Oscar Alemán and his Brazilian rhythms. Love to share the tune Melancolia, as played by Oscar Alemán y su Quinteto de Jazz ( September 1945) and one of the tracks on this great compilation.

Hans Koert
oscaraleman@live.nl

Oscar Alemán - His Brazilian Rhythms

2012-01-22T08:45:00.015+01:00

Oscar Alemán: His Brazilian Rhythm - Tony Vardé (English) Oscar Alemán: Con Ritmos de Brasil - Tony Vardé (Español) Oscar Alemán: Zijn Braziliaanse Ritmen Tony Vardé (Nederlands)

I must confess that the music from Brazil has never fascinated me at all. In spite of it's afro roots, Vinicus, Caetano, or Jobim have never entertained me. Stan Getz might make my feet move, but generally bossa nova and other Brazilian music styles like that, make me boring. Until one day my friend Flavio made me change my mind, at least for a while. He made a present for my daughter, the cd “Oscar Alemán y su conjunto - Con Ritmos de Brasil”. My daughter wasn't able to play the cd herself (she was one year old), so I played it myself. I became fascinated by it and decided to take some time and write about this album of this genius at the guitar Oscar Aleman. For me, his music on this album, opened the door to Brazilian music, although it's played my an Argentinean jazzman.
Negra de Cabello Duro - Oscar Alemán y su Quinteto de Swing. (Odeon 74037) (7th of sep. 1943) (source: Oscar Alemán Discography - Hans Koert)
In the album edited in 2002 entitled Oscar Alemán y su conjunto - Con Ritmos de Brasil, the tracks are mixed. I thought it was convenient to make a difference between the two periods in which they were recorded. Between 1943 and 1947, Oscar was accompanied by the “Quinteto de Swing” (they were more than five) and between 1951 and 1957, the “Orquesta de Jazz”.
Oscar Alemán promo photo. (1950s)I choose in the first place "Negra de Cabello Duro", because during the first minutes of the song, Oscar Alemán shows us his skills as a guitar player. And he also sings. “Tico Tico No Fuba” is an instrumental in Milonga style, in which we can listen to all his virtuosity. In this two tracks from 1943 there are lots of Reinhardt's licks. The first half of “Yo Vi Un Leon” is sung in Portuguese and the second half in Spanish. Here, Oscar Alemán shows that he can swing. “Melancolía” is an instrumental samba that sound mysterious. In “Apanhei Te Cavaquinho” we can find a very rich counterpoint between the guitars, while the piano takes the harmony. The violin leads for the first time in “Vanidosa”, which reminds us more than ever to Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli.
Vanidosa - Oscar Alemán y su Quinteto de Swing (Odeon 22309) (24th of Jan, 1947) (Source: Oscar Alemán Discography - Hans Koert)
The second part of the album, includes more baiones and sambas. “Delicado”, (1951) its a pure guitar instrumental and ”Pa pa pa”, written by Alemán, is one of the sweetest of the whole record. “Mi casita pequeña” it where the samba meets the bolero, and we can find more presence of the strings, piano and chorus. “Saudades” it's another instrumental to enjoy Oscar's guitar from the beginning to the end.

Eu Vi Um Leâo - Oscar Alemán y su Quinteto de Swing ( Odéon 45973) ( 27th of June, 1944) ( Source: Oscar Alemán Discography - Hans Koert )
One of the three compositions by Alemán in this compilation, this time together with José Romero, is “Mi amigo”. In this 1954 samba, we can hear for the first time the electric guitar. “Yo soy de Río”, another samba but more festive, brings us an electric guitar solo with a little distortion where Oscar shows his speed. “Conceicao” is mostly a song with horns and strings.

Delicado - Oscar Alemán y su Conjunto de Jazz ( Odeon 55318) (26 or 31 October 1951) ( Source: Oscar Alemán Discography - Hans Koert)

Last but not least, "Dedos Duros”, also an Alemán's song. It starts with the strings drawing a complex surface in which the guitar goes searching for spots to play, and by the half of the song, everything goes upside down, and it is the guitar who takes us trough fast roads. Chronologically is the final song of the whole recording (1957), and curiously, it works just fine as close for this compilation.
Tony Vardé ( Argentina) ( Escuchate esto!)

Thanks Tony for this review and introduction to Oscar Alemán and his Brazilian rhythms. Love to share the tune Melancolia, as played by Oscar Alemán y su Quinteto de Jazz ( September 1945) and one of the tracks on this great compilation.

Hans Koert
oscaraleman@live.nl

A Danish HMV catalogue

2012-01-05T13:47:00.001+01:00

On the 5th of December, 1938 Oscar Alemán and Bibi Miranda recorded with Svend Asmussen and his Quartet two sides, which would become known and labeled as the Jam Session. Two other solo recordings by Oscar Alemán were released on HMV too.
The 1938 Danish recording band: f.l.t.r. Leo Mathisen piano, Bibi Miranda drums, Svend Asmussen violin, Oscar Aleman guitar
In a previous blog about this special recording session and in a contribution entitled Jam Session I wrote about this recording session: In 1938 he ( =Oscar Alemán) visited Copenhagen with the Josephine Baker revue and some members of the Baker Boys like Bibi Miranda, who was the drummer. The other musicians for the band were selected in Denmark; members of the Svend Asmussen Quartet - a promising young group in the Copenhagen jazz scene. When the show was over, Josephine left for Stockholm, the next stop of the tour, but Oscar and Bibi stayed in Copenhagen for some days and joined Svend, who invited them to be present at a recording session on the 5th of December. Both Oscar and Bibi joined the band during the recordings in a jam session which was later released on Danish HMV as a Danish Jam Session. Oscar played two solo tunes, he also performed on stage: Nobody's Sweetheart and Whispering. ( Hans Koert)
Danish HMV catalogue ( 1939) ( collection Rene Aagaard)
Thanks to René Aagaard I can share with you part of a 1939 Danish HMV catalogue with those two records listed. The Danish text reads (in translation):
In Josephine Baker's ensemble you noticed - during the visit last Fall - especially the guitar-player Oscar Aleman and the percussionist Bibi Miranda - the last one you also will remember with joy from Ciro Rimac's Cuban Orchestre in Nørrebros Teater (a theater in Copenhagen). (translation: Rene Aagaard)
Septeto Anacaona with Ciro Rimac ( late 1930s)
Ciro Rimac was the leader of a group entitled Septeto Anacaona, a seven-piece, all-girl band which was very popular during the late 1930s in South America and which visited Denmark ..... It was a string band with some woodwind instruments. According to the catalogue Bibi Miranda performed as a percussionist during the Danish tour. Ciro Rimac, who was the vocalist, was an international star and the protégée of Cab Calloway.
Part of a reissue cd by Ciro Rimac musical legacy.
The catalogue continued ( in translation): Her you will find a record by these two jazzmusicians, who's superior musicality probably will bring their names out to all interested in jazz. (translation: Rene Aagaard)
An interesting book about the Septet Anacaona was released in German Anacaona. aus dem Leben einer kubanischen Musikerin - Alicia Castro (2002) and Dutch: Anacaona: Het bewogen leven van een Cubaanse muzikante en haar salsaband - Alicia Castro (2006) informs about its career.
Thanks Rene for sharing this great part of the 1939 Danish HMV catalogue
Hans Koert
oscaraleman@live.nl
Oscar Alemán discography

Oscar Alemán - New Publications

2011-10-23T08:50:00.008+02:00

Recently José Iacona sent us an unknown picture from Oscar Alemán with the Argentine vocalist, lady crooner, jazz singer of the bossa nova, Egle Martin, which must have been taken in Buenos Aires during a concert. She was popular during the 1950s or 1960s and seems to be still active nowadays. As far as we know they never recorder together.
A young Oscar Alemán (photo courtesy: José Iacona)
José Iacona informed me that his father Guillermo Iacona, who played with Oscar Alemán during the 1970s, recently passed away. Guillermo, who was a guitar player too, had almost finished his lifework, a biography of Oscar Alemán, the legendary Argentine guitar player which he adored so much. José informed me that he and his brother Estanislao have finished the manuscript, which describes the life of Oscar Aleman in English, French and Spanish and he hopes to have it printed and distributed very soon. The book will be entitled: Tributo a Oscar Alemán.
The guitars of Charlie Christian - Robert Normann - Oscar Alemán - Jan Evensmo (1976) ( collection: Jørgen Larsen)
Books about Oscar Alemán are rather rare and so was info about his life, especially for those who don't live in Argentina and not familiar with the Spanish language. One of the first books to be published in English was a book in the Jazz Solography Series of Jan Evensmo, a Norwegian record collector and jazz historian, a jazz archaeologist, as he labels himself. The small booklet contained a selected discography of Charlie Christian, the bebop pioneer on the electric guitar, Robert Normann, the Norwegian Hot Club guitar player, world famous in Scandinavia (but fully neglected in the rest of the world) and Oscar Alemán. This solography contained a review of some of their recordings, available in Europe. This book, which was published in 1976, is out of print now. The chapter with the Oscar Alemán solos (BTW: no transcriptions!) was limited to the European part of his career, the 1930s, because Jan didn't had access to the musical heritage of Oscar in Argentina, made between 1941 up to his death in 1980. The Rediscovery of Oscar Alemán project, a research project by Hans Koert and Jørgen Larsen, finally opened the door for a "rediscovery" of Oscar Alemán's musical heritage both in Europe as in Argentina. The Oscar Alemán discography - Listatdo de temas - a discography - una discografia (2005) by Hans Koert finally made the info about all Oscar Alemán's recordings available and for the first time his life was told in English to the rest of the world. The Oscar Aleman weblog , you visit now, is a forum for all Oscar Alemán fans.
Oscar Aleman -late 1940s - early 1950s
The Oscar Alemán Discography is now available online and recently Jan Evensmo published a revisited version of his Solography about Oscar Alemán, which includes now a re-written biography by Hans Koert and Jørgen Larsen and reviews of Oscar's recordings both released in Europe and South America. You can find a link to this and more uploads at Jan Evensmo sites.

Hope to be able to review soon the Oscar Alemán Biography by the late Guillermo Iacona, finished by his sons José and Estanislao Iacona.

Hans Koert
oscaraleman@live.nl

Les Loups - "Criollita"

2011-09-06T17:15:00.007+02:00

Gastón Bueno Lobo and Oscar Alemán teamed as a duo and had their professional debut in Rio de Janeiro mid-1925. After a tour of Brazil they arrived in Buenos Aires 1926 and soon had success as featured artists in various theatres and other venues labeled as 'Hawaiian Guitarists'. The duo also was featured in radio programs and in 1927 they signed a recording contract with Victor. In December 1927 the first 78 rpm by the duo labeled as Les Loups was recorded and released on Victor 79968 - the A-side containing the tango "Hawayanita", a composition by GB Lobo, the B-side had the waltz "Criollita", also a composition by GB Lobo as shown on the label above. While "Hawayanita" is played in the popular hawaiian style of the time with Lobo as featured soloist and Alemán providing accompaniment on second guitar, "Criollita" has Lobo playing the cavaquinho and again Alemán providing solid accompaniment on guitar. The cavaquinho is the Brasilian ukulele- like small 4-string guitar regularly used by choro and samba ensembles - and the first instrument Alemán learned. The cavaquinho has a more spruce and bell-like sound than a regular guitar with steel strings due to its small size. - The recording of "Criollita" is the only time a cavaquinho is used by Les Loups on a record, and the reason for that may depend on the fact that the tune "Criollita" resembles a traditional Brasilian choro. The two-part melody is performed in a way that re-creates the atmosphere of a small choro ensemble - the lead is played straight and repeated, but the accompaniment provided by Alemán's guitar leaves space for rhythmic improvisation and adds elaborate bass line modulation - a feature tightly connected with choro performed by string ensembles. This specific recording reminds the listener that Alemán's musical foundation is rooted in the Brasilian musictradition of choro and related styles. - Here's a video with the audio of "Criollita" uploaded at YouTube

Jo

oscaraleman@live.nl

Primer Festival de Jazz Oscar Alemán

2011-05-26T20:02:00.007+02:00

Earlier this month the Culture Department of Lanús (Argentina) organized the city's first jazzfestival in honor of Oscar Alemán. Lanús is a town where Oscar Alemán lived with his wife, the actress Carmen Vallejos, during a period of ten years. The festival was scheduled at the 8th of May and had presence of various bands. Special guest performer was Jorgelina Alemán - grandniece of Oscar Alemán - with her band. The festival was a success with the audience and finished with the presentation of an official tribute to Oscar Alemán from the Mayor of Lánus.

Singer Jorgelina Alemán and her band closed the festival. Her band members are her husband Daniel Cossarini (piano,director), Juan Martinez (guitar), Ezequiel Rivas (bass), Willy Bozas (drums) and special guest Juan Manuel Miguez (guitar) - great grandson of Oscar Alemán. The concert by Jorgelina and band included performance of tunes from both her own and Oscar's repertoire and was a great success with the audience.

The actress Carmen Vallejos, Oscar's widow, was present at the concert and was called on stage to recollect memories of the time, when she and Oscar lived in Lanús. She entertained the audience with humourous anecdotes and received appreciation and a big applause.

To finish, the Director of Culture, José During representing the mayor, Dr. Darío Díaz Pérez, gave Carmen Vallejos a plaque in tribute to Oscar Alemán, the official appreciation of the city of Lanús.

It's great to learn that the name and legacy of Oscar Alemán is appreciated and honored in Argentina through events like the 'Primer Festival de Jazz Oscar Alemán' in Lanús.

Thanks to Daniel Cossarini and Jorgelina Alemán for sharing photos and info used in this entry.
Some of the photos above were shot by Claudio Martinez.

Oscar Alemán in concert: A review of the Jazzwereldfeest (1939)

2011-03-25T05:56:00.030+01:00

On the 15th of July, 1939 the 7th Jazzwereldfeest was scheduled at the Kurhaus in Scheveningen, the beach-resort of The Hague. Oscar Alemán was invited to play and billed as de uitzonderlijke negerguitarist.( = The exceptional "negro" guitar player).The Vaderland reported the next day that two performances of the concert, due to its qualities and character, didn't fit into the program ... welke zich door hun kwaliteit en karakter buiten het kader van het geheel geplaatst zagen: the concert by the Swing Papa's directed by Iwan Poustochkine and .... Oscar Alemán. The former created, Will G. Gilbert, jazz critic stated, a kind of jazz that was almost at the same level as one can expect from a band with black people only, who have the right roots - .a kind of level white people never will reach ...... Oscar Alemán was the other outsider of the evening ...... Oscar Alemán is een groot gitarist, ......... (= Oscar Aleman is a great guitar player), Gilbert continued, but ...zijn werk (kunnen we) niet geheel en al rangschikken onder datgene, wat wij hier als jazzmuziek verstaan. (= but his playing can't be labeled as, what we call Jazzmusic here in our country). His music can be best labelled as a South-American variety with "negro" influences, which can be heard unmistakable in the poly-rhythmical aspects ( = Er zijn invloeden te bespeuren, welke echter eveneens negersch zijn, ook al is hier een Zuid-Amerikaanse variëteit aan het woord; onmiskenbaar is het polyrhythmische aspect.).

De Jazzwereld no. 8 ( August 1939) (photo courtesy: Hans Koert)

Gilbert is fascinated by his finger picking techniques of Oscar's right hand and compares him to Andrés Segovia (1893-1987), a classical Spanish guitar player, who is considered to be the father of the modern classical guitar movement by most modern scholars ( quote: classicalguitar.net ). ( = Technisch is vooral zijn rechterhand ontwikkeld: de onafhankelijkheid der vingers is zoo ten top gevoerd, dat wij meermalen moesten denken aan de vaardigheid van een Segovia, dit zonder overdrijving. )

Head of De Jazzwereld no. 8 (Aug. 1939) ( source: Dutch Jazz Archive)

In De Jazzwereld of August 1939 the major article was entitled Het Zevende Jazzwereldfeest dat de meeste vroegere Jazzwereld-Kurhausavonden overtrof! ( = The Seventh Jazzwereldfeest, that surpassed all previous Jazzwereld-Kurhaus nights!). The author, probably again Will G. Gilbert, who was one of the editors of the magazine ( others were Bob Schrijver who was the producer of the Jazzwereldfeest and Mr. C.(= Constantin) Poustochkine, the elder brother of the leader of the Swing Papa's: Iwan Poustochkine - one of the bands of the festival and reviewed in the article). Fact is that the article has the same rhetorical language so typically for Gilbert. In inimitable long sentences he sings around Oscar's praises, pointing again to the fact that his music might not be labeled as Jazz, although it has zuivere jazzmuzikale elementen ...., daarnaast nog Spaanse- en Zuid-Amerikaanse elementen. ( = pure jazz elements and, beside that, also Spanish- and South American phrases.). Oscar Aleman is praised for the fact that he loved to make musical jokes, but never wanted to be funny or to use gimmicks for the effects ....
Kurhaus (jaren dertig)

Gilbert points to the fact that Oscar's music seems to be more related to the music of Segovia then to the gypsy music of Django Reinhardt ( = ... dat Aleman's guitarspel meer aanknopingspunten heeft met den gevleugelden stijl van Segovia dan met den Zigeunersch-sentimenteelen en zwaarderen speeltrant van een Reinhardt.) Oscar played tunes like Men of Mine (sic) (= Hombre Mio), which would become his signature tune, Whispering, Nobody's Sweetheart and Black Dreams. In the latter, Black Dreams, one of his own compositions, Aleman tapped with his fingers on the wooden resonating body of his guitar as if it was a rhythm instrument ( = .. het suggestieve begeleidende rhythme, met de vingers tegen het houten instrument geslagen!).

Whispering - Oscar Aleman - recorded in Copenhagen, 5th of December, 1938 ( Leif Bjerborg collection)
We are lucky that the two solo tunes Whispering (= Susurrando) and Nobody's Sweetheart where recorded half a year earlier during a Danish His Master Voice sessions, organized by Svend Asmussen, in Copenhagen December 1938. Charles Delaunay compared these tunes with some of the Eddie Lang solos from the 1920s and 1930s: ... though they are quite different in style. "Jazzy" rather than "Jazz", they are showcases for Oscar Aleman's finger-picking, with no improvisation but ornamentation around the melodic line..... Both songs are full of Latin American guitar licks such as false harmonics and tremolos, not usual at all in jazz ( quote: Tomas Mooney "Oscar Aleman Swing guitarist ( Jazz Journal vol 35-4 (Apr. 1982). Both tunes were part of the 1938 Josephine Baker revue and performed by Oscar at an intermezzo during the show.
Part of the review by (prob.) Will G. Gilbert in De Jazzwereld.( source: De Jazzwereld no. 8 (Aug 1939)( thanks to the Dutch Jazz Archive) (negative image) (click on the photo to enlarge)

Part of the review by (prob.) Will G. Gilbert in De Jazzwereld. ( source: De Jazzwereld no. 8 (Aug 1939)( thanks to the Dutch Jazz Archive) (negative image) ( click on the photo to enlarge)
The final act of the evening was a jam session, which was a great success. Het alleruitbundigste applaus van dezen avond mocht de Jam-session oogsten ( = The Jam-Session was honoured with an exuberant applaus). The most important musicians, who joined this jam were, of course, guitar player Oscar Alemán, trumpet player Johnny Claes, vocalist Annie Xhofleer, piano player Jaap Feijten, drummer Jaap Cune and the members of the Swing Papa's. Both Annie Xhofleer and Oscar Alemán were the stars, but the audience was especially impressed by the fact that the music played during the jam session was fully improvised, with dozens of solo ( sommige vrij geslaagd, andere maar matig) (= some great, but some moderate ones).
The only picture of the Jazzewreldfeest jam-session which remained: f.l.t.r.: Annie Xhofleer - Joop Stoutjesdijk - Joost van Os - J(aap). de Veen - Jaap Feijten - Oscar Aleman - (Theo) A. Tremio - T. Versteeg and Johnny Claes. (photo De Jazzwereld) ( thanks to the Duttch Jazz Archive) (click on the photo to enlarge)

When the concerts at The Kurhaus ended, the musicians moved to the Paviljoen at The Pier, one of the attractions in the North Sea just opposite the Kurhaus. In the Paviljoen the Jazzwereldfeest was closed with a ball, which featured Paul Kluger's Pintonians and the Swing Papa's and was scheduled up to three o'clock in the morning. During some more informal jams both Oscar Aleman and drummer Maurits (= Maurice) van Kleef impressed. Maurice Van Kleef was the best drummers of the decade, who played in the Coleman Hawkins - Freddy Johnson Trio. Another member of the jam session noted was Johnny Fresco, who had a regular job during the summer season of 1939 playing at the Palais de Danse, next to the Kurhaus. Although Gilbert, neatly commends, that not all solo's impressed, the audience liked it .........

Part of the review of the Jam Session at the Paviljoen ( source: De Jazwereld no. 8 ) ( negative image) ( Thanks to the Dutch Jazz Archive)

In Oscar Aleman en andere jazzmuziek in Het Vaderland, Gilbert comes with the conclussion that it was ... een wonderlijk muzikaal genot, met één feilen: het was te kort! ( = a great musical pleasure with one err: It was all too short! (

Please enjoy the complete article as published in The Jazzwereld no. 5 of August 1939, entitled Het Zevende Jazzwereldfeest dat de meeste vroegere jazzwereld-Kurhausavonden overtrof!! (Thanks to the Dutch Jazz Archive)

The first part of this article is entitled Oscar Alemán: The Start of the 7de Jazzwereldfeest in Scheveningen (1939).

Het voorgaande artikel: Oscar Alemán: De Ster van het 7de Jazzwereldfeest in Scheveningen (1939) kun je, samen met deze recensie vindt u in het Nederlands op de Keep Swinging blog.

Hans Koert
author of the (online) Oscar Aleman Discography
keepswinging@live.nl

Oscar Alemán: star of the 7de Jazzwereldfeest in Scheveningen (1939)

2011-03-19T09:04:00.015+01:00

One of the first major jazz festivals in The Netherlands, must have been the Jazzwereldfeest, a one-night festival organized by the first Dutch Jazz magazine De Jazzwereld. In 1933 the Jazzwereld organized a concourse which featured the Lumirex Mike Serenaders ( directed by J.A. Dienske ) and the Rhythm Harmonists directed by André Eschauzier ( they played the St. Louis Blues), who both received the first prizes.

The Jazzwereld ( 1931 - 1940) - a Dutch Jazz Magazine
In July 1939 Het Zevende Jazzwereldfeest, the " 7th Jazzwereld party", was scheduled at The Kurhaus in Scheveningen, the beach-resort of The Hague. One of the guests invited was Oscar Alemán, then playing with his band at the Chantilly-dancing in Paris. Oscar Alemán, the Argentine guitar player was born in Argentina and moved to Europe as part of the Les Loups duo. During the 1930s he was active in Europe, or better said, in Paris as guitarist and later leader of Josephine Baker's Baker Boys. With her revues he toured along Europe and northern Africa and between the shows he performed in Paris clubs and venues, like the Chantilly-dancing. You can learn more about this part of his career in Oscar Alemán - His European career

Fragment of the article: Medewerkenden aan het 7e Jazzwereldfeest ( 15 juli in het Kurhaus) ( Het Vaderland 11th of July 1939 Avondblad C) (negative image)
Oscar told later that he was surprised to be asked as one of the major stars of the Zevende Jazzwereldfeest. First the festivities were planned on Friday evening, the 14th of July, 1939, but as this day happens to be a French national
holiday ( Bastille Day or simple Quatorze Juillet) he had to perform at the club - when the Dutch moved the event to Saturday night the 15th of July, Alemán could except the invitation. In Het Vaderland, a Dutch evening paper, Oscar Alemán was introduced as an all-round musician: De guitarist Oscar Alemán, dien men als solist en als deelnemer aan de internationale jamsession zal hooren, is een all-round musician ( = Guitar player Oscar Alemán, who will perform as a soloist and as a member of the international jamsession, is an all-round musician). The fact that Oscar couldn't read music, was pointed out: Hoewel hij behoort tot diegenen, die alles "op het gehoor" spelen, is hij toch zoo veelzijdig dat hij bv. het geheele klassieke repertoire van den beroemden guitarist Andres Segovia kan naspelen (= Although he is one of those musicians that plays "by ear", he is so versatile that he can play the complete classical repertoire of the famous guitar player Andres Segovia by heart). ( quote: Medewerkenden aan het 7e Jazzwereldfeest ( 15 juli in het Kurhaus) ( Het Vaderland 11th of July 1939 Avondblad C).

The Scheveningen Kurhaus (1939)

As the announcements learn Oscar was soloing during the evening program which started at 8.00 pm at The Kurhaus in Scheveningen. Oscar was scheduled after the opening performance by the Belgian band of Jacques Kluger en zijn Pintonians, a "new" orchestra directed by Jacques Kluger, featuring the English-born trumpet player Johnny Claes, piano player Gun Finlay and reed player Maurice Pinto. After a short intermission act by tap-dancer Marco Palmer accompanied by Jaap Feijten at the piano, Oscar Aleman was scheduled to play some solo guitar pieces. After the break, the well know Dutch Swing Papa's were scheduled. The finale was announced as a jam session.

Oscar Alemán ( 1909 - 1980)

This part of the concert was unique, as it was the first time that a "jam-session" was organized at the Jazzwereldfeest. In an article entitled Wat Is een "Jam-session"? (= What is a jam-session?), subtitled Het 7e Jazzwereldfeest in het Kurhaus zal het ons leeren.( = The 7th Jazzwereldfeest in the Kurhaus will teach it to us) the author explains this unknown phenomenon. For those people who wonder: Wat is het nou precies? (= What is it actually?) the article explains that original Jazz or Jazz-related music is based on improvisation ............. In an extensive lecture the magazine wants to prepare the audience to what they can expect. Oscar Alemán is already nominated as the "sensation" of the jam session. Deze neger(!)guitarist wordt door kenners en meester op zijn instrument geacht te zijn, terwijl hij als eenige neger (!) bovendien het authentieke element in deze voorstelling zal brengen. ( = This black ( negro) (!) guitar player is a master on his instrument connoisseurs can tell you and he will bring the authentic element, being the only black man at the Jazzwereldfeest).

Advertisement ( Het Vaderland 12th of July, 1939) ( negative image) ( click on the picture to enlare)

The author of this article, Will G. Gilbert, born as Willem van Steensel van der Aa, is known for his often dubious publications, is here way off the truth. Oscar might have had a rather darkish skin, but he was born in Argentina with Indian roots. For the people who are a layman in this field, Gilbert explains, that a jam-session is not a "sticky" event. You won't have to dress your sons and daughters in "overalls" instead of their best clothes. It remembers me to a cartoon I once found by Frits Müller entitled "Het zogenaamde "jammen" ( = The so-called "Jamming") in which three musicians are fighting with jam jars in their hands.

Fragment of: Wat is een "Jam-Session"? ( Het Vaderland - 5 July, 1939) ( negative image) ( click on the picture to enlarge)

Next time I hope to continue with a review of the 7th Jazzwereldfeest in The Kurhaus, especially about the concert of Oscar Alemán on that 15th of July, 1939.

Dit artikel zal ook geplaatst worden in het Nederlands in de Keep Swinging blog

Hans Koert

author of the (online) Oscar-Alemán Discography
keepswinging@live.nl

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Delicious, Delicate - Delicado!

2011-02-20T16:30:00.002+01:00

In late October 1951 (26. or 31.) Oscar Alemán y su Conjunto de Jazz featuring Alberto A. Barbera (p),Oscar Alemán (dir, g vo),Alberto Ramos(g) and Arminio Raguza (dm)recorded Waldir Azevedo's baion "Delicado" for Odeon, released on a 78 rpm (mx 18250, Odeon 55318A). This recording belongs to one of Alemán's best recordings from the Odeon catalogue. His solo work on this particular recording is unique, inspired and has never been better, at least in my humble opinion. Well, you may judge for yourself, of course. Finally the audio of this magnificent recording has been uploaded at YouTube, so I find it approbiate to celebrate Oscar's 102th anniversary by inserting this video below - Enjoy the genius at work!

Jo

The Oscar Alemán Blog 5 Years!

2011-02-13T18:05:00.002+01:00

Today the Oscar Alemán blog has been on the web for 5 years. Let's celebrate this great initiative initiated by Hans Koert, editor of the blog and director of El Redescubrimiento de Oscar Alemán/The Rediscovery of Oscar Alemán

Oscar Aleman: some new reissues spotted

2010-12-26T09:53:00.013+01:00

Last year, 2009, we commemorated the fact that Oscar Alemán was born 100 years ago. This year seems rather quiet, but that doesn't mean that there is no news for those visitors who collect or are interested in the musical heritage of the grand maestro. One of the last records released I learned about, was fully dedicated to the music of Oscar Alemán. The album Oscar Alemán - Ritmo Loco - El Rey de la Guitarra Swing was released by Saga Jazz and contains two dozen tracks all from his Argentine period ( 1941 - 1957) - a great compilation for those collectors who haven't heard Aleman during his post-war career. I mentioned this album in a previous blog. Saga Jazz also released some records in the series Jazz á la Gitane and both volume 2 ( Saga 59) and volume 3 ( Saga 63) has tracks by Oscar Aleman too. Are there more records in the Saga Jazz series that contain Oscar Alemán tracks?

I found some other albums, most compilations, which contain Oscar Aleman tracks, like the Properbox no. 9, entitled Hittin' On All Six, which I recently purchased ( it was released a couple of years ago) with a reissue of the standard Jeepers Creepers, a Swing record from May 1939 by his trio and an Argentine track from November 1942 recorded by his Quinteto de Swing: I Got Rhythm.

Last year a budget 2 cd-album was released, entitled Gypy Jazz which contains two tracks by Oscar. First of all you can find the solo record Whispering, played by Oscar Alemán in Copenhagen December 1938; a second track was Jeepers Creepers again, as to be found in the Properbox too.

One of the weirdest Oscar Alemán reissue I found, was on a 2cd album, entitled Theme Time Radio hour - season 3, which was released a month ago. Well, weird isn't actually an accurate word here, as the album contains the tune: Bye Bye Blues played by his Quinteto de Swing, originally recorded as Blues del adios, November 1942. It's the album that surprised me. The album, released by Ace Records, is the third one in a row of, up to now, three Theme Time Radio Hour compilations, each one with tunes played during the Theme Time Radio Hour, a radio program hosted by Bob Dylan.

Click on the photo to enlarge if you love to read this page.

This radio program Theme Time Radio Hour (TTRH) was a weekly, one-hour satellite radio show hosted by Bob Dylan which originally aired from May 2006 to April 2009, Wikipedia explains - Each episode was an eclectic, freeform mix of blues, folk, rockabilly, R&B, soul, bebop, rock-and-roll, country and pop music, centered around a theme. The record on this 2cd album were selected for the 3rd season, so they must have been on the air a few years ago. Thanks to sites like the Oscar Alemán blog, hosted by my friend
and one of the Alemaniacs, Jørgen, research and my online Oscar Alemán discography information about this record could be listed on page 23 of the beautiful designed booklet ( Thanks ACE for this jewel!!) inserted, the producer informed the listeners about Oscar Alemán. The fact that they used ( with permission) a photo by Oscar from ca. 1930 ( the record used was more then 10 years younger) can be noted, but never mind - it's great that Oscar is to be heard on this great compilation. Isn't it great that the music of the old maestro is selected for this compilation of "pop" music, with artists like The 4 Deuces, Buddy Guy, The Crickets and Elvis Presley? In the liner notes Lavinia Freenlaw explains how these tunes were selected. Lavinia Greenlaw says: A song can be the sum of its circumstances. It happened to be playing when you first kissed or drove into that sunset or sat up all night with you infant child. Or it might mean nothing but persist in the memory like someone you passed in the street who still comes to mind long after you've forgotten where you were that day or why. Nothing was said or done and the encounter didn't seem important at the time. you cannot forget it ...........

Well - I'm sure - Oscar would have smiled ………

This contribution will be released in Dutch at the Keep Swinging blog.

Keep Swinging
Hans Koert

keepswinging@live.nl

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It Takes Two To Tango?

2010-11-25T14:12:00.004+01:00

'La cumparsita' is a musical piece written by Gerardo Matos Rodríguez, an Uruguayan musician, in 1917. It is among the most famous and recognizable tangos of all time. The tune quickly gained success and has been recorded by numerous orchestras and artists all over the world. The music exhibits the soul of the tango and this is taken advantage of by tango dancers to express the needed passion in performance

Oscar Alemán recorded 'La Cumparsita' in August 1928 together with Gastón Bueno Lobo, the record was released by Victor as one of the first recordings of the piece and contributed to the success of the Les Loups duo.

During his career as a performer excelling in swing and popular tunes of the day from 1940 to 1960 Alemán did not record tango pieces, however, there exsist private recordings from the 1960s and 1970s of live performance in radio and TV where he plays 'La Cumparsita' as a solo piece for guitar in between other popular music. On his last album recorded for the Redondel label September 1974, OSCAR ALEMAN EN TODOS LOS RITMOS (RED-809), he finally recorded a version of 'La Cumparsita' as a solo piece for guitar. Let's celebrate this great version by the maestro, and let it forever contradict the saying that 'it takes two to tango'!

Jo

Tempus Fugit - Time Flees

2010-10-13T23:54:00.003+02:00

Sed fugit interea fugit irreparabile tempus, singula dum capti circumvectamur amore* (Virgil)

Maestro,

The challenge that causes us to do this and remain true to details is in fact that time flees. You left us 30 years ago in a desert of unsubstantial entertainment and indifference. Only a handful of devoted followers and researchers this side of the ocean knew about your exsistence and cared to share your legacy - your absence was hardly noticed by the media and people, who should know. A long dry spell followed until light was set upon your remarkable destiny, a documentary collecting bits and pieces about your life and career added details to the picture of a unique artist and human being. That is like it ought to be, however, details are still missing, but your name and legacy is now known, even to new generations, that is even better. But, as said, time flees - we will continue to add missing details to the picture as we find them so that future generations will keep remembering your name and legacy with enlightened souls and hearts full of true, substantial joy.

* "But meanwhile it flees: time flees irretrievably, while we wander around, prisoners of our love of detail."

The Alemaniacs,
14.10.10

The Debut of Les Loups in Rio de Janeiro 1926

2010-09-27T14:19:00.005+02:00

Thanks to the extensive research of Jorge Carvalho de Mello we now have solid information about the professional debut of the Les Loups duo. Les Loups was formated some time during 1924-25 in Santos, Brazil, after guitarist Gastón Bueno Lobo had discovered Oscar Alemán in that city and made him his partner in a duo set-up that would showcase the two musicians as Hawaiian styled guitarists. The name of the duo, Les Loups (- in Portuguese: Os Lobos), probably was chosen to underline that G.B. Lobo was head of the duo; in fact he became a sort of a stepfather for Alemán and is forever to be remembered as the single person, who initialized Alemán's professional career as a muscian. From previous research of Alemán's early years we have knowledge about the adventures of Les Loups in Europe as part of Harry Fleming's company from early 1929 to early 1931, but only few details about the duo's professional debut have been discovered until now. It is known that Les Loups went on tour in Brazil before arriving in Buenos Aires 1927. The duo had its professional debut in Rio de Janeiro performing as Hawaiian guitarists, but until now the exact dates and places in Rio haven't been known. However, thanks to a new article by Jorge Carvalho de Mello, "LES LOUPS NO RIO DE JANEIRO" published a couple of days ago at his blog we can now add some details about this matter.

Researching names of guitarists performing in Rio de Janeiro during 1926 by studying newspaper articles and publicity ads of the period Jorge Carvalho de Mello found mentioning of Les Loups from October that year. The duo was featured in the Cinema Theatro Central as part of a spectable with other artists on 12. October; the cinema had live-performance on stage by various entertainers after or before the screen play of films, a common arrangement of the time. Among the other artists participating in the show that day was Pablo Palitos, the Argentine comedian who later would engage Les Loups and take the duo to Buenos Aires in 1927 after a tour of Brazil. - On 15. October Les Loups is mentioned as part of a radio program transmited at Radio Club do Brasil featuring light music by Orchestra da Radio Club and the duo, labeled as 'guitarristas havayanos'. Again on the 20. October Les Loups is presented in another transmission at Radio Club do Brasil. - The last mentioning of Les Loups in Rio during October 1926 is from 26. October, again in an ad for the the Cinema Theatro Central as part of the live entertainment accompanying the films at the cinema - the duo is presented as 'celebres violonistas'.

It would certainly be interesting to learn more about the reception of the Les Loups by the Cariocan public of the time, but until further details about this issue may be discovered it is very satisfying to have solid information about the exact dates and places of the professional debut of the duo. The sources of the above mentioned details are stated at the end of Jorge Carvalho de Mello's article.

Jo

Guitars of Oscar Alemán

2010-08-12T20:01:00.007+02:00

A competent musician can play any instrument of the chosen type and make the sound his or her own, the individual musician combines the 'output' with his or her personal 'touch' and thus conducts the sound of the instrument to his or her personal taste. However, sometimes the sound of a musician is tightly connected with his or her prefered instrument, and this is just the case when considering the sound of Alemán's guitar(s). Throughout his recording career Oscar Alemán is known to have used at least two different types of guitars, the steel body National resonator model (- the Tricone, Style 2, see picture below) and the Selmer-Macaferri 'D'-hole ('la grande bouche') originally favoured by Django Reinhardt.

This entry is not intended to be a technical description and evaluation of the two mentioned types of guitars used by Alemán, however, from time to time we get questions according this matter and therefore we thought it a good idea to introduce the subject in this blog.- The shown National tricone, style 2 is described here and you can find further info about the National steel body instruments in the highly recommended book on the subject by Bob Brozman. - Generally, Alemán played and recorded with his National tricone in the 1930s, unfortunately, he did not have it with him when going back to Argentina, as it was confiscated by the Nazis in 1940. To give you an impression of the sound of Alemán's National tricone, here's the famous solo recording of "Nobody's Sweetheart" from December 1938, recorded in Copenhagen

The sound of the steel body National tricone is quite unique and for the well trained ear it is easy to differentiate from other guitars thanks to the more 'metalic' sound (- originally it was intended to be used by Hawaiian-style guitarists playing slide). The choice of this instrument may first of all depend on its build-in resonators that are intended to amplify the sound; before electric guitars, microphones and amplifiers emerged, the resonator guitars were an acoustic solution to problems with amplification of the instrument, especially when played in an orchestra where the sound of a guitar often would drown by the sound of other instruments. The same story can be told regarding the Selmer-Macaferri 'grande bouche' that originally was constructed with a similar acoustic amplification system inside the wooden box of the body, but later changed to a more conventional 'box'. Alemán played and recorded with a Selmer-Macaferri 'grande bouche' replica build by the Argentine luthier Sergio Repiso 'copied' from Alemán's original Selmer-Macaferri that he had brought with him from Europe (see picture below of a Repiso 'grande bouche').

The Selmer- Macaferri type guitars are commonly prefered by Gypsy-style guitarists and you can read more about these instruments here

The sound of Alemán's 'grande bouche' guitar model is to be heard in all of his recordings made during the 1940s and 1950s, from around 1954 electric amplification is added with the help of a Stimer-like pick-up (-attached in the sound hole of the instrument) and used throughout live-performance and recordings from the 1960s and 1970s. Here's an example of the 'grande bouche' model without amplification from Alemán's late '40ies recording of the tune "Blue Skies"

To end this small feature on the guitars played by Alemán, here's an example of the 'grande bouche' added electric amplification, the tune is "Tono Nº 1" from the 'Alemán '72' album

Jo

Hombre Mio by Jorgelina Alemán

2010-06-15T23:06:00.002+02:00

Last year, November 2009, Jorgelina Alemán, singer and granddaughter of Oscar Alemán, released a cd, 'Morena', which included a version of 'Hombre Mio' with lyrics by Jorgelina. Click on picture above to read the text. Recently a score in standard notation of this version of 'Hombre Mio' has been published and is free available here. You have the opportunity todownload a copy in .pdf.

Jo

Anno 2010 - Finger Picking

2010-05-14T13:46:00.003+02:00

From time to time it's historically important to remind people, who finally have opened their ears for Oscar Alemán and his musical genius, that his style of playing the guitar was rooted in a technique known as 'fingerpicking' in American tradition. Fingerpicking simply means that the guitar is picked using your fingers instead of being plucked with a plectrum. However, this technique is not of American origins only, it has always been the 'natural' way to approach the instrument in times before the plectrum plucked guitar emerged as a solution to sound amplification in a jazz context. At an early age Alemán adapted the fingerpicking technique from playing the cavaquinho, the four stringed Brasilian ukulele-like instrument, and his approach certainly was unusual for the average player of that instrument. Unlike other cavaquinho players Alemán adapted a fingerpicking technique more commonly used by Brasilian guitarists, the size of the instrument fit his fysical abilities at his age, thus he employed the technique he had watched guitarists using taking on a learning process that depended on what he heard and what was possible to do with the instrument. An individual attitude to playing he kept for the rest of his life, refined to the level of virtuosity and adapted to the six string guitar. - It's a thrill to listen to Alemán's first musical effort, the tune 'OA 1926', played on the cavaquinho using fingerpicking technique, the tune sounds like a ragtime piece that could have been a part of the standard book of any of the American ragtime guitar players of the time, but the difference of course is that Alemán picked the tune on a cavaquinho and only had four strings at hand. How would this tune sound, if picked on a six string guitar? I just found an example of an answer to that question at YouTube that I like to share below. - From a live performance recently at 'La cuadrada' (Mar del Plata, Argentina) Agustin Luna plays a solo recital of a medley of tunes from the Alemán book including a reading of 'OA 1926' - Enjoy!

Jo

The Death of Gastón Bueno Lobo

2010-04-14T23:33:00.002+02:00

The article by Jorge Carvalho de Mello mentioned in the previous entry has for the first time published a copy of Lobo's death certificate, shown above. In this document the time, place and actual cause of Lobo's death is officially documented. Moreover, de Mello has tried to reconstruct Lobo's last hours alive and what happened immediately afterwards from consulting newspaper articles covering Lobo's death. Further, his research also has revealed a few other interesting details about Lobo's personal life at the time of his death. Of importance, he mentions that Lobo at the time lived a married life with his wife, Dna Iracema Lobo (aged 35), in Ramos, a suburb of Rio de Jainero, and even the exact address is noted. Some sources further state that the couple lived a life in harmony and had good relations with everybody that knew them, the marriage had no infants.

On the 2nd of June 1939 Lobo left his home in Ramos in the morning, well dressed and by his own car obviously heading for his job at Radio Mayrink Veiga. However, he did not go to work but went along in his car following the highway from Rio in direction of São Paulo and stopped the car at a quiet place (- the exact address is stated in the death cerificate) where he left the car and sat down nearby. He had brought with him a jug containing a toxic liquid which he then svallowed, this caused his death immediately. His body was found by a bypasser a little later, the police was called and the corpse was identified by a police superintendent. Meanwhile, his wife had searched for him at Mayrink Veiga, at hospital and even the morgue but without results. - In the pocket of Lobo's jacket was found two handwritten notes, one of them expressed disillusion with his life, quote (-in Portuguese):

"O lugar onde me encontro não tem importância, apenas procurei um lugar tranquilo. E assim se resume uma existência de atribulações. (a) Gastão Bueno Lobo." [- in English approximately reads: 'The place I am found is of no importance, only that it's tranquil. And hereby a life of tribulations is summarized. (signed) GB Lobo']

The other note in Lobo's pocket reads, quoute:

"Levo uma grande saudade de minha esposa. Enfim, lá nos encontraremos." [in approximate English: 'I led a big longing for my wife. Finally, there [- in death] we will find ourselves [- be united]']

The secound note seems to hint at a troublesome marriage, but this contradicts the above mentioned statements from newspaper articles claiming that Lobo and his wife led a life together in harmony. Whatever the exact meaning of the message in Lobo's note, we only know his wife's testimony regarding his suicide. She was quoted for telling the authorites that her husband had felt depressed for some time following bad news from his work at Mayrink Veiga, however, the exact circumstances were unknown. Lobo's supposed depression was confirmed by colleages at Meyrink Veiga, but no one had expected such a drastic end. - The funeral of Lobo was held 03 June, all expenses were covered by Radio Mayrink Veiga and friends and colleages followed the cofin to rest at the cemetary of São Francisco Xavier. A colleage was quoted saying: 'Miserable of Gastão! I knew him and lament his so deplorable end'.

There's a tag or coda to the tragical end of Lobo's life at 48 years of age. The police not only found the two mentioned notes in his pockets but also a page of handwritten musical notation of a composition titled 'Se Recordar é Viver' (- in English: 'If Remembering Is Living') by Gastão Bueno Lobo and Laurindo Almeida. This composition was recorded by vocalist Roberto Paiva on 10 August 1939 and released on Odeon 11848-A in May 1940 as a tribute to Lobo despite the somewhat ironic title commenting his life and tragic end.

---

The above and the previous entry summarizes the main contents of Jorge Carvalho de Mello's mentioned aricle, we owe his detailed research great respect and gratitude. If readers of this summary in English are tempted to read the original text in Portuguese, we encourage you to pay a visit at de Mello's blog by clicking here.

Jo

Gastón Bueno Lobo (1891-1939)

2010-04-14T22:45:00.008+02:00

Researching the early years of Oscar Alemán's career we have earlier put focus on his relationship with the Brasilian guitarist Gastón Bueno Lobo, as this relationship had an enduring impact on Alemán. The relationship between Lobo and Alemán was discussed in an article devoted to Lobo, but since the publishing of that article new info on Lobo's life and career has unearthed thanks to the research by Jorge Carvalho de Mello, professor at the University of Rio de Jainero. The first results of de Mello's research was published a couple of years ago and is available in an article translated into English at Daniella Thompson's website with the title 'The Man Who Introduced The Banjo to Brazil'. However, recently de Mello has published further info on GB Lobo at his blog revealing previously unknown details in a new article (- in Portuguese) with the title 'GASTÃO BUENO LOBO - o homem que introduziu o banjo e a guitarra havaiana no brasil- seus mistérios, sua vida.' - This article is the background of this and the following entry that aims to summarize the now documented info on the life and career of GB Lobo. For details on the sources of the info below the reader is pointed to de Mello's article including extensive notes. Further, some of the inserted pictures here are copied from de Mello's blog.

From published newspaper articles related to the death of GB Lobo in 1939 his year of birth is stated to 1891 and the place to the city of Campos in Brazil. However, no info about his family and infancy is available from these or other known sources, further no info about how he got involved in music. The first reference to his musical career is found in articles mentioning his travel to Hawaii where he likely learned to play the Hawaiian guitar from natives. The time of this adventure is stated to the first decade of 1900 further supported by a saying of Pixinguinha, who claimed that Lobo was the person that introduced the banjo in Brazil around 1910. This saying also points to the suggestion that Lobo visited the US mainland during his travel to Hawaii; the banjo was a novelty instrument at the time and an American invention. The next chronological mentioning of Lobo is from an article in a book describing the bohemian nightlife of Rio de Jainero in the first decades of 1900, here Lobo is listed as one of the persons participating in gatherings of poets, artists and musicians at Cariocan night cafés. At this time Lobo apparantly was living in Rio de Jaineiro, but still no actual details about his personal life and musical career. Another article about famous guitarists in Rio at the time also lists Lobo together with the names of Canhoto, João Pernambuco, Jaci Pereira, a.o.

It is generally known from the documented details on Oscar Alemán's early years that he met Lobo in Santos, Brazil, and the year 1924 has been mentioned as the time of their first encounter. However, we still don't have info about the circumstances that brought Lobo to Santos, if he was living there at that time or just passed through that city to seek jobs as a musician. Whatever the circumstances, the encounter with Alemán resulted in a partnership and the formation of the Les Loups duo. The duo had its professional debut in Rio de Jaineiro 1926 that was followed by a tour of Brazil including performance both in Bahia and Pernambuco, North East of Brazil. During this tour Les Loups were engaged by Argentine commedian Pablo Palitos, who brought the duo with him to Buenos Aires, Argentina, for engagements at theatres. Les Loups were also featured at radio and had success with their performance as a Hawaiian duo, which resulted in a contract with the Victor record company. A series of 78 rpms were recorded 1927-1929 as listed in the online Alemán discography
In 1928 Les Loups were engaged by Harry Flemming's company that toured Argentina with the 'Hello Jazz' show, and in February 1929 Les Loups went with Flemming's troup for a tour of Europe, which brought the duo to several countries performing as Hawaiian guitarists in Fleming's show. The tour ended in Spain early 1931 where Les Loups left Flemming's company. For some time the duo tried to find work on their own but had little success which resulted in Lobo's travel to Paris, France where opportunies of finding work might be better. Alemán was left behind in Madrid where he tried to find work on his own as a soloist or sitting in with various bands for gigs. While in Paris, Lobo went for a rehearsal as a guitarist with the Josephine Baker orchestra, but was put down by the members of the band. Some of the musicians in Baker's orchestra, however, knew his former partner and proposed that Alemán had the job instead of Lobo, which Josephine accepted and had arranged. The circumstances concerning Alemán's decision to accept the offer from Baker is well known, at first he wouldn't accept out of respect for his partnership with Lobo, but in the end he choose to say yes - and was hired. What happend to Lobo after he was rejected by Baker's musicians, however, has been rather undocumented in sources about Alemán, but the research of de Mello has unearthed interesting details.

The shown picture of Lobo above was shot after Les Loups had dissolved, according to the quoted source in de Mello's article it was made in Monte Carlo where Lobo had a career as a tap-dancer for some time and even won contests that declared him a king of tap-dancers. The same source (- a newspaper article from 1938) also mentions that Lobo, when asked about his partnership with Alemán, never would mention his name again! According to the quoted source, Lobo thought that Alemán had given himself up in favour of the show-biz world of Europe. This, if anything, points to Lobo's disappointment following the rejection by Baker's band and the successful career of Alemán in Europe!

Lobo returned to Brazil in 1932 - not because of a decease as suggested by some researchers, but probably because of disappointment with the European music scene and lack of opportunities of finding a steady job. His return to Brazil seems to have been a clever decision as he soon found work again, both as a featured musician on radio and as a recording artist. An extensive documentation of Lobo's activities from 1932 to 1938 is given in de Mello's article from research of radioprogrames and available discographical data in Brasilian archives, however, here we'll just list some of the most notable events.

First Lobo is featured with other musicians and vocalists on 08 May 1932 in a program at Radio Phillips do Brasil and again on 05 June, but from October 1932 he apparently changed to Radio Mayrink Veiga, the biggest and most prestiguous radio station of Brazil at the time and situated in Rio . Lobo is featured first time on Radio Mayrink Veiga on 23 October 1932, again togther with other artists, among them the renown Ary Barroso, and from then on and to the end of his life he stayed at Radio Mayrink Veiga and gradually advanced from featured performer to organizer of studio ensembles and even conductor of his own Original Orquestra from 1934. - At the same time Lobo's recording career started again. He cut 10 sides in 1932, 8 for Columbia and 2 for Victor, the recordings are listed in de Mello's article with available info on personnel. Some of them have Lobo as a soloist playing Hawaiian guitar in performance of music that both covers pieces by others and compositions by Lobo alone or in co-operation with others, an example of this is featured on the above shown 78 rpm disc by Os Namoradas da Lua, in which Lobo plays the Hawaiian guitar in a string ensemble setting.- However, his advancing career at Radio Mayrink Veiga seems to have stopped his recording activity on a regular basis from 1933 on. In 1933 he is a featured performer at Radio Mayrink Veiga in a couple of programs March and April, but from March 1934 he has advanced to director of his own Original Orquestra. Next notable step is taken in June 1935 when the Conjunto Havaiano was presented for the first time on 04 June as part of a music program. Lobo probably had taken the initiaive to the formation of the ensemble that was featured regularly with success in programs at Mayrink Veiga 1935-36 and beside Lobo had Garoto, Laurindo Almeida and Aimoré as regular members, all well known and highly respected musicians at the time. In 1937 Lobo then formed a Concert Orquestra at Mayrink Veiga and was its director during progams on-air, three times this orquestra accompanied Laurindo Almeida as a soloist playing the Hawaiian guitar under the direction of Lobo.

Lobo's co-operation with Almeida continued in 1938 and included his last recording session. On 20 May 1938 Lobo and Almeida accompanied by guitarist Tute cut two sides for Odeon issued on a 78 rpm (Odeon 11.649), one side contained the composition 'Inspiração' by Almeida with Lobo as featured soloist on Hawaiian guitar, the other side had Almeida as a soloist on guitar in his own 'Saudade que Passa' accompanied by Lobo and Tute. - However, in 1938 Lobo's activities at Radio Mayrink Veiga decreased, he was only featured in three programs during January to March that year, either as a soloist or accompanying other featured artists. His previously dvancing success at the prestiguous radiostation seems to have stopped rather abrupt and unexpectedly. Maybe this was the actual background of his suicide in June 1939. At least some information regarding this tragical end of his life and career point in that direction according to de Mello's published research of this final event.

(to be continued)

Jo

'OA 1926', Alemán's Roots of Swing

2010-03-09T21:45:00.007+01:00

When young Oscar was left alone as an urchin to his own survival in the streets of Santos, Brazil after his family had broken up - his father and mother had died following tragic circumstances and his siblings had rejected him as their equal for unknown reasons and were taken to an orphanage, - he had to find a way to survive from day to day like countless other homeless children at the time. He had odd jobs as a shoeshine or newspaper boy, took part in arranged street boxing contests and earned tips from cleaning windows of parked street cars, and from a street vendor he had a banana a day for free to keep from starvation. The money he earned were saved to have enough for his biggest wish: to buy a cavaquinho he had seen exhibited in a store window of an instrument maker. One day he was told that the instrument maker had died and that the store was closed down, young Oscar was out of his mind, the possibility of buying the cavaquinho now had vanished from one moment to the other,as he still had not saved enough money to buy it before it was too late. But the instrument maker had noticed Oscar every day glancing at the wanted item in front of the storewindow and in his will it was stated that this eager kid should have the cavaquinho for the amount he was able to pay. Thus, Oscar was handed over the wanted instrument by the widow of the instrument maker in exchange of the few coins he had saved. The small four stringed instrument, a Brasilian ukulele, was kept away during daytime at Oscar's shelter in a basement of a restaurant where he was allowed to sleep at night, and when returning to this place at night Oscar would start learning to play the instrument all by himself. After some time he had taught himself to play a selfcomposed tune and was noticed by the manager of the restaurant one night when he was in need for someone to entertain his guests. Oscar was encouraged to entertain the guests, which he did with success -: he had to play his tune several times and gained applause and tips enough to make a decision for his future destiny, he would become a musician and earn a living from entertaining people! The cavaquinho was not only the first instrument Oscar owned and played (- he kept it for all of his life), but it was also the tool that opened the ears of the world for his talents.

In 1924 Oscar was spotted in Santos by Brasilian guitarist Gastón Bueno Lobo while performing his selfcomposed tune on the cavaquinho and a partnership with Lobo was soon arranged, they formed the Les Loups duo and toured Brazil together, had success and then went to Buenos Aires where the duo performed at several venues, was featured in radio programs and later had a recording contract with Victor. In 1926 the duo was engaged by Harry Fleming's company as a novelty act of the show during the company's performance in Buenos Aires. Dressed in white suits and with flower leis the duo performed with success as a Hawaiian speciality act playing fox trots, waltzes and tangos on their stringed instruments as part of the company's show . It is not known, if Oscar had the chance to perform his self taught tune during these performances, but there is an anecdote from this time telling how the tune had its title, 'OA 1926'.

While the Fleming troupe had its performance in Buenos Aires, the members were staying at an ocean liner in the harbor of the city, and in leisure time at the ship there was arranged boxing contests between the men and the crew of the ship. One day Oscar participated in such a contest and won the fight, and to celebrate this event afterwards Oscar played his cavaquinho performing his self taught tune, which from then on was titled 'OA 1926'. The 'OA' had a double meaning, pointing to both the initials of his name and to the place, where the tune was christened -: on board a ship at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean (- Oceano Atlantico!).

It may seem somewhat strange that Alemán did not record the 'OA 1926' tune until late in life, but there exists a transcription disc recording from the 1950s or early 1960s documenting that he played the tune during live performance as a solo act in between tunes played with his orchestra de Jazz. Listening to this transcription disc that has been saved by keen collectors an explanation of the missing commercial recording of the tune during Alemán's hayday as an entertainer or earlier as part of the Les Loups duo could be connected with the fact that the music style resembles a two-part ragtime piece of the Tin Pan Aley period of the 1920s not suitable for the Latin market at the time, but no matter what Alemán had the chops to make it swing! When he finally recorded the tune in 1972 as part of the 'Alemán '72' album he played it at a slower tempo, but the feeling of swing is intact and supported by a rhythm gained by his stomping feet and further spelled out during his scat vocal chorus. - Enjoy the audio of the recording from the'Alemán '72' album in the uploaded video below to end this small entry on how the roots of swing was initiated in Alemán's playing right from the beginning of his career:

NB! The drawn illustrations above are copied from Gani Jakubi's marvellous artwork on Alemán's life and career in 'Le roi invisible' (2009).

Jo

Oscar Aleman - born 101 years ago

2010-02-20T10:22:00.003+01:00

¡ Feliz cumpleaños ! Oscar Alemán

Oscar Alemán ( drawing Gani Jakupi in Le Roi invisible)

On the 20th of February, 1909 Oscar Alemán was born in the small town of Machagui in the republic of Argentinia. Last year this event was celebrated in Argentina and the Oscar Alemán blog dedicated numerous blogs to honor this little "giant" on the guitar.

Love to point you to a less known number of Oscar titled Sonido de Carilion recorded by a group featuring Oscar Alemán on the guitar and cavaquinho, Dario “Johnny” Quaglia, Walter Malosetti and Anibal Fuentes guitars , Jorge González on bass, Norberto Minichillo on drums recorded in Studio 1 in Buenos Aires September - October 1972 and released on the LP album Alemán '72 ( source: Oscar Alemán discography - Hans Koert ( 2004-2010) )

If you love to learn more about Oscar and his musical career you can find some recent blogs below. Enjoy it:

Oscar Alemán (1909-2009) His European Career His Argentine Career Live and Private Recordings Report of a Tribute (Oscar Alemán 100 year)

Mind that most of the blogs, presented above in the English language, might be available too in the Dutch or Spanish language.

The Alemaniacs

Hans Koert - Jørgen Larsen

keepswinging@live.nl

HOMBRE MIO - Man Of Mine

2010-01-21T11:10:00.010+01:00

'Hombre Mio' (in English: 'Man of Mine') was the signature tune of Oscar Alemán during his career in Argentina from 1940-1980. The tune was composed by Alemán in 1932 with another title, but according to some sources it was renamed into the now known title by Josephine Baker during Alemán's cooperation with the diva during the 1930s in Europe. Alemán, however, did not record the tune until much later, but it may have been part of his repertoire or set list when performing solo in Baker's stage shows. Further, the tune may have been among the stock of music scores used by Baker's orquestre, as there exists a handwritten copy of the tune in standard notation from this period. The handwritten music is penned out and given the title 'Man of Mine' by none other than Spencer Williams, the well known composer, musician and publisher from New Orleans, renown for composing jazz classics like "Basin Street Blues","Mahogany Hall Stomp", "Royal Garden Blues", "I Found a New Baby" and "Squeeze Me" (with Fats Waller) a.o.
Spencer Williams (1889-1965) had come to Paris in 1925 where he wrote songs and arrangements for Josephine Baker 1925-1928. After a short return to the US where he made several recordings for Okeh Records 1930, Williams took permanent residence in Europe from 1932. He was back in Paris 1932 with Fats Waller and later relocated to England where he stayed until 1951. His last years Williams lived in Stockholm, Sweden.
In one of the anecdotes told about Alemán from his stay in Paris it is said that during a stage performance in 1939, which was attended by Louis Armstrong in the audience, the famous trumpet player was highly enthusiastic and felt inspired to join Alemán in a performance of 'Hombre Mio/Man of Mine', but as he had not brought his trumpet, he choose to blow just the mouthpiece, which he always carried in his pocket. Still according to the anecdote, it is said that Armstrong improvised over 40 variations of the tune blowing his mouthpiece, the situation is mentioned in Hernán Gaffet's documentary on Alemán,"Vida con Swing" (2002), and it is further illustrated as shown above in the artwork by Gani Iacubi from his book, 'Le roi invisible'(2009).

The initial recording of 'Hombre Mio' was made 2 June, 1942 by OA y su Quinteto de Swing at the third session by the group for Odeon and was released on the above shown Odeon 78 rpm disc (Odeon, 45800-B) with the English title, 'Man of Mine'; the other side of the disc featured andother Alemán original, "Rezeze", recorded at the same session. - The Odeon disc, however, is not the first recording of 'Hombre Mio/Man of Mine', as there exists a transcription disc featuring 'Hombre Mio' recorded at the Teatro Casino in B.A. from 14 October 1941; it was recorded during a transmitted live performance by 'Oscar Alemán y su Quarteto de Cuerdas' and was saved as a test recording by Discos Ayacucho. We have not been able to hear this transcription recording, it was never issued for commercial purchase and has not shown up among collector so far, thus, it's not possible to decide, if the performance of the tune differs from the initial Odeon recording from 2 June 1942.

The second time Alemán recorded 'Hombre Mio' for Odeon was at a session featuring OA y su Orquesta on 29 September 1952 where 3 other tunes were recorded, too. As shown above, the tune was released on Odeon 55511-B, the other side of the disc featured a recording of 'Tengo Ritmo'. This version of 'Hombre Mio' differs from the initial Odeon recording by the quintet, it is played at a slower tempo, the theme and second section is performed by violins only and Alemán is mainly present in front through his improvisation half way through the recording. Nevertheless, this version of 'Hombre Mio' belongs to one of the best and most inspired recordings by OA y su Orquesta, as the recording represents a balanced rendition of the tune, both marking the contributions by the ensemble and the well executed and economical solo by the leader, indeed, a worthy rendition of Alemán's signature tune!

Next time Alemán recorded a version of 'Hombre Mio' was not until after his rediscovery around 1970, the tune was now featured on the album 'Alemán '72' (REDONDEL SL-10508) from Sept-Oct 1972 and performed in a quintet setting once again. This version has Alemán in front throughout the tune, the accompaniment by three rhythm guitar players, bass and drums sets the contributions by Alemán in focus - the music is laidback and his solo, resembling the one at the initial recording from 1942, is particularily well executed and incorporates many of the finesses in his playing known from this period of his career. A video featuring the audio only of this recording has been uploaded at YouTube - enjoy!

Among the several unissued recordings from live performance in radio, TV and concert saved by keen collectors on tape 'Hombre Mio' is frequently played as part of the set list, in ensemble or occasionally also as a solo performance by Alemán alone with his guitar. Further, it is from these saved airshots and live performance fragments we know for sure that 'Hombre Mio' was Alemán's signature tune. The theme of the tune was most often played by the accompanying musicians when the speaker of a radio or TV program introduced Alemán, this way 'Hombre Mio' of course would be immideatly connected with the performer now in focus, a signature to be remembered.

It is also worth mentioning that Alemán re-used first section of 'Hombre Mio' and transformed it into a tango in the 1970s in another original composition dedicated as a tribute to his long time friend, Horacio Salgán, the famous pianist, composer and bandleader renown from his contributions to the 'concert tango' tradition in Argentina. The composition by Alemán, 'Al Gran Horacio Salgán', was recorded as a solo guitar piece on the 'En Todes Los Ritmos' album from Sept. 1974, issued by the Redondel label.

Last year, November 2009, Jorgelina Alemán, singer and granddaughter of Oscar Alemán, released a cd, 'Morena', which included a version of 'Hombre Mio' with lyrics by Jorgelina. Click on picture above to read the text. At her official website Jorgelina Alemán has uploaded several mp3 files of recordings made at live performance in 2003, among them is a recording of her version of 'Hombre Mio', available by clicking here. - The music of 'Hombre Mio' lives on added a new dimension through the lyrics by Jorgelina Alemán, a great tribute to Oscar Alemán with due respect to the original version of the tune.

Jo

Who Was The Composer of 'Guitarra Que Llora'?

2010-01-07T13:46:00.009+01:00

According to the info available in the Oscar Alemán online-discography Les Loups (Gastón Bueno Lobo, haw g & Oscar Alemán, g) recorded the shown 'Guitarra Que Llora' (Victor 80839 - A, mx BAVE-44058A-2) on c. May 2nd, 1928 for Victor in Buenos Aires. This was the initial recording of the tango, on the label it was credited to 'Gastón B. Lobo' as the composer. Up till now this was the only known version of 'Guitarra Que Llora' featuring Les Loups, but another version from about the same time with added lyrics by Enrique Cadícamo and sung by vocalist Augustín Magaldi is also said to feature Les Loups as accompanying guitarists.

This version of 'Guitarra Que Llora' was recorded for Victor on May 25,1928 according to discographical info including scan of the label supplied by Johan of tangoteca@telenet.be. The shown label, however, does not mention Les Loups - only 'Solo con guitarras' is stated, but among tango discographers it has been assumed that the guitar accompaniment with Magaldi's vocal was performed by Les Loups, further sustained by statesments that claimed this version was "una revolucionaria versión en la que utilizó una guitarra hawaiiana" (in English: 'a revolutionary use of the Hawaiian guitar'). However, when listening to the recording, no audible sign of a Hawaiian guitar is registered by this listener, only a conventional guitar picking the accompaniment supported by another guitarist playing chordal rhythm, barely audible. The picking style of the audible guitar resembles the one supplied by Oscar Alemán on the Les Loups recording of 'Guitarra que llora', but it could as well be another guitarist, who had learned the accompaniment from listening to the version by Les Loups or by studying the written score that was published. From the profile of Augustin Magaldi at Todo Tango we know that Magaldi's regular accompanying guitarists in 1928 were Diego Centeno and Ángel Domingo Riverol.

Further, we had the following message from Sam Brylawski of the Victor discography project (http://victor.library.ucsb.edu): ""I wish that I could assist you with "Guitarra que llora" on 80944. I do know that the matrix number was BAVE-44269-3, but can't confirm Les Loups at the session. The Victor blue history card, the source of the matrix number, states only, "con acc. Guitarra."." - It seems that it's not possible to draw the conclusion that Les Loups participated in Magaldi's recording of 'Guitarra Que Llora', but the assumption that Les Loups actually were in the studio with Magaldi on May 25, 1928 may depend on the shown Victor label of the issued record. Here 'Guitarra Que Llora' is credited to 'G.B.Lobo - O.M. Alemán - E.Cadicamo', the latter known to be the writer of the lyrics. However, this info further makes things complicated, as you now have both G.B. Lobo and O.M. Alemán as composers of the music. On the label of the recording by Les Loups shown above only Lobo is credited as composer of the music! The score of 'Guitarra Que Llora' as shown above also gives credits to both G.B.Lobo and O.M. Alemán as composers of the music.

To make things even more complicated regarding the composer of 'Guitarra Que Llora' Johan of tangoteca@telenet.be also forwarded scans of the shown version of the tune by vocalist Angel Vargas accompanied by orchestra directed by Armando Lacava recorded July 9,1954. On the label the composition is credited to 'Enrique Cadicamo - Oscar M. Alemán', the former wrote the lyrics, while Alemán is credited to be the composer of the music. Johan further mentions another recording by Angel Vargas of 'Guitarra Que Llora' with accompaniment by Angel D'Agostino orchestra from June 15, 1942 that also only states Alemán as the composer of the music. Moreover, Johan has searched the SADAIC (the Argentinian author and composer's organisation), but could not find registered composer information on 'Guitarre Que Llora'.

We urge readers to supply further info, if possible. Who was the composer of 'Guitarre Que Llora'?

Jo

Oscar Alemán 2009 - a memorable year

2009-12-31T10:51:00.004+01:00

On the last day of 2009, the year we celebrated Oscar Aleman's 100th birthday, we love to share with you a fragment of a concert by Waldo Fonseca y los muchachos de Hot Club de Boedo: Heldo Fonseca, Martín López Goitía, Alejandro de Salvo and Julián Pierangeli dedicated to Oscar Alemán scheduled on the 5th of December, 2009 in the Club del barrio de Mataderos Glorias Argentina, Buenos Aires ( Argentina).

En el Club del barrio de Mataderos Glorias Argentina vemos el recital del grupo de Jazz Hot Club de Boedo, en diciembre de 2009. Al puro estilo de Oscar Aleman.

Hot Club de Boedo

Ricardo Pellican and Juan Manuel Miguez in concert

Jorgelina Alemán with her grand father's guitar.

Love to say thanks to Jorgelina Aleman and Daniel Cossarini; Ricardo Pellican, Juan Manuel Miguez; Jon Larsen; Waldo Fonseca and the members of the Hot Club de Boedo and numerous others, for visiting our Oscar Alemán blog and their efforts sharing the musical heritage of Oscar Alemán during this memorable year.

Oscar Alemán ( 1909-2009) Recognition ( summer 2008) Oscar Alemán - 100 años: Una Leyenda Oscar Alemán 100: Report of a tribute

The Alemaniacs ( Joergen Larsen - Hans Koert )

keepswinging@live.nl

New Info On Les Loups

2009-12-28T16:56:00.003+01:00

Yesterday we received interesting new info on Les Loups from one of our readers. As much of this info is new to us, we have decided to publish it here as quoted from the source.

Our messenger, Johan of tangoteca@telenet.be, informs that the recordings by Les Loups as listed in the online-discography might be extended with recordings by tango vocalists recording for Victor, as the duo is listed as accompaniement with female singer Rosita Quiroga in a session from May 2nd, 1928. - Johan stated:

"Roberto G. Miglio wrote a set of 4 books "El Tango y Sus Intérpretes" with discographies of many tango singers. In the discography of Rosita Quiroga he mentions that for 2 recordings she was accompanied by Les Loups ("Les Loups, con guitarra hawaiana"). Unfortunately, I never could obtain these recordings (a vals "Mis Pobres Ilusiones" and a tango "Mal rumbeada") both recorded on 02-05-1928. We know from your discography that Les Loups were present in the Victor recording studios on that day !"

It would be much helpful, if some of our readers can confirm this info and perhaps supply further details regarding the possible participation by Les Loups with other recording vocalists for Victor, audio examples, discographical data, scans of records etc. would be much appreciated.

Johan further writes about the first recording by Augustín Magaldi of 'Guitarra que llora' with lyrics by Enrique Cadicamo and Oscar Alemán/Gastón Bueno Lobo credited as composers from August 25, 1928 refering to the above mentioned work by Roberto G. Miglio:

"Miglio doesn't give much accompaniment details in the Magaldi discography, but many times it has been said that in the first recording with lyrics of "Guitarra que llora", Magaldi was accompanied by Oscar Aleman (Les Loups are not mentioned as such). Recording date: 25-08-1928. The record, 80944-B, just mentions "solo con guitarras" - as was usual in these days. As the "many sources" may just be copying from each other I leave it open if it was Alemán or not...- (it has been claimed that it was "una revolucionaria versión en la que utilizó una guitarra hawaiiana", but the version I have just sounds like a "plain" guitar... - as far as I know, the hawaian guitar was Lobo, not Alemán)"

The conclusion drawn here seems a reasonable consideration, however, it would be great to have a copy of the recording to compare with other recordings featuring Les Loups.

Johan also has a question on the discography of Les Loups regarding the August 8, 1928 session, he wrote:

"A question on the discography : could it be that the recording date for the record n°47014 "ca 8 Aug 1928" is an error ? Victor switched from the 79/80xxx numbers to the 47xxx numbers somewhere mid november 1928. From the disc number early 1929 seems more likely (unless there was a long time between recording and actual editing - which would have been unusual at that time)".

Again a very reasonable consideration with new info on Victor's switch of serial numbers November 1928, which speaks in favour of the suggested recording date as later than the one stated in the online-discography. We had the recording dates of all listed Les Loups sides from a discography elaborated by Guillermo Oliver, but many of these data were only approximate. Can someone supply the exact dates for the listed session, then it would be much appreciated.

Finally, Johan discusses the session featuring Trio Victor when 'Amante sonador' and 'Recondita' were recorded. In the online disco it is stated that it is not confirmed that Les Loups participated as accompaniment with Elvino Vardaro as soloist. The recording date is stated as 1929, however, Johan wrote:

" Both the record and master number indicate 1930 as the recording year (e.g. Orq. Típica Víctor recorded "Mejorando Lo Presente" on 29-04-1930, master number 60174, issued on record n° 47408) - there are more examples of april and may 1930 recordings with record and master numbers in that range). Reason to doubt, as you wrote, that Alemán and Lobo (already touring in Europe ?) were still part of the Trío Víctor."

The conclusion drawn here again seems reasonable, at least we know that Les Loups left Argentina February 1929 as part of Harry Flemming's company for a tour of Europe. But then, who are the accompanying guitarists with Vardaro? From the audio forwarded to us from Johan it is not possible to conclude, if it were Alemán & Lobo playing - or some other staff musicans at Victor, the way of accompanying early tango soloists already had found a common scheme at the time of the recording, we assume.

---

Thanks a lot, Johan, for providing the above quoted info. We urge readers of the blog to comment and forward further details, if possible.

Jo

Les Loups label scans complete

2009-12-22T07:00:00.004+01:00

Thanks to Han Enderman (The Netherlands) the online Oscar Alemán Discography ( http://oscar-aleman.opweb.nl ) has developed into an essential database with numerous label scans. His search for label scans ( not only Oscar Aleman's !) on the internet during the past years, makes that the online Oscar Alemán Discography became a unique and indispensable record scan collection. Thanks for that Han. Today he sent me two 1928 Victor label scans (Victor 80950 ) from records recorded by the Argentine guitar duo Les Loups.

Les Loups: Oscar Alemán g, Gastón Bueno Lobo (haw)g

Recorded in Buenos Aires, ca 30th of August, 1928

44280-1 RAMONA - Vals (Mabel-Wayne)

Released as Victor 80950

Reissued on: Beer Records 78s = Bolzan coleccion
(Online Oscar Alemán discography - Hans Koert)

Les Loups: Oscar Alemán g, Gastón Bueno Lobo (haw)g

Recorded Buenos Aires, ca 30th of August, 1928

44281-2 QUE VACHACHE - Tango (E. Discepolo)

Released as Victor 80950

Reissued on: Beer Records 78s / Bolzan coleccion

(Online Oscar Alemán Discography - Hans Koert)

The Les Loups duo featured Oscar Alemán ( left) and Gaston Bueno Lobo ( right). They formed Los Lobos or Les Loups as a duo that performed in Argentina in the late 1920s, labeled as Extraordinados guitarristas hawaianos or Dúo de guitarras Hawaianas - a music style very popular during the late 1920s and early 1930s. They recorded for the Argentine Victor company. In 1930 they moved to Europe with the Harry Fleming revue. When Oscar Alemán joined Josephine Baker the duo was broken. Gaston Bueno Lobo returned to Brasil, his native country.

Around 1930 Les Loups had recorded 24 sides released on 12 Victor records
and, thanks to Han Enderman's last find and the recent downloads by Joergen Larsen all Victor record labels has been traced now.

Thanks to Sam Brylawski from the Victor discography project (http://victor.library.ucsb.edu) compiled by the University of California, Santa Barbara, we could share some worth full information regarding missing matrices and recording dates. Two winning teams ………. Thanks Sam for sharing this and success with your research.

Thanks Han, Sam and Jo for sharing the Oscar Aleman record labels with us.

Hans Koert
keepswinging@live.nl

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Oscar Alemán in Jazz on Record

2009-11-15T13:32:00.013+01:00

Oscar Alemán, Argentine guitar player, vocalist and entertainer, has been a mystery figure for a long time. His European career in the 1930s was known here in this part of the world, but what happened with him after he left for Argentina early 1940s? That period was unknown and in a lot of biographies this part became underexposed. But few encyclopedia of jazz listed him. His records are now listed in the one and only online Oscar Alemán discography, compiled by Hans Koert and is free available for everone who wants to know what records Oscar made during his lenghtly career - not only in Europe but also the hundreds made in Argentina. You can find it at a new address - easier to remember: http://oscar-aleman.opweb.nl The well known jazz historian and writer Scott Yanow wrote and excellent book, titled Jazz on Record, subtitled The First Sixty Years and a few weeks ago I could obtain a copy of it. The book isn't just an encyclopedia of Jazz like so many other reference books. It contains, according to the cover: The complete story of all of jazz's significant artists and their recordings through six decades of music. - Explores thousands of artists and their recordings, year by year - plus the birth and growth of jazz in the pre-recorded era 1894 - 1916. It is interesting to learn what Yanow writes about Oscar Alemán and his recordings:

Cartoon "Le Roi Invisible: Gani Jakupi ©

In chapter four: 1933-1938: Swing's the Thing ( p. 171-172) he lists Oscar Alemán together with Alix Combelle and Svend Asmussen.

Oscar Aleman was in the unfortunate position of being a soundalike to Django Reinhardt, although he always claimed that Django was not an influence on his guitar playing. Aleman was born in Argentina, moved to Europe in 1929 where he played in a show featuring tap dancer Harry Fleming and settled in Paris around 1932, leading Josephine Baker's band on and off during the decade. Aleman recorded with Freddy Taylor, Danny Polo and Bill Coleman. However, when he was offered a job with Duke Ellington's Orchestra in 1933 ( during Ellington's European tour), Josephine Baker persuaded him to turn it down. Aleman did have an opportunity to lead his own band in Paris, but was overshadowed by his good friend Django Reinhardt. Aleman recorded four numbers in December 1938 ( which are included in the two-set Swing Guitar Masterpieces, covered in the next chapter), including unaccompanied solo versions of Nobodoy's Sweetheart and Whispering. Perhaps if he had taken the job with Ellington, Aleman would have escaped his eventual obscurity. Cartoon "Le Roi Invisible - Gani Jakupi ©

Yanow compares Svend Asmussen with Oscar, saying: While Django Reinhardt's existence made it difficult for Oscar Aleman, Svend Asmussen never received the fame give Stephane Grappelli. Asmussen has been one of jazz's top violinists since the early 1930s. And, by the way, he still is: this year he released a new album: Makin' Whoopee .... and Music

Cartoon "Le Roi Invisible" Gani Jakupi ©

In chapter five: 1939- 1944: The war years ( p. 230) he lists Oscar again with Svend Asmusssen and the Svenska Hotkvintetten. Yanow writes about this period: Argentinean guitarist Oscar Alemán who worked in Paris during the 1930s, recorded four titles as a leader in 1939. He left France in 1940 as world War II intensified. Rather than immigrate to the United States where he might have gained some worldwide fame, Aleman chose to move back to Argentina and was not heard from again in Europe ( other than a 1959 tour) or the United States. However, he did work and record regularly in Argentina for decades, sticking to the swing music that he loved, recording as late as 1974. Then Yanow introduces the Swing Guitar Masterpiece ( Acoustic Disc-29) 2CD with music from his European and Argentine period. Although in later years he showed more individuality, Aleman always sounded fairly close to the style and sound of Django Reinhardt.

Well, you could disagree about these final conclusion, but fact is that Yanow wrote a rather complete short biography about an artist that seems to be almost forgotten by other biographers and jazz critics.

Thanks Yanow.

The cartoons are from the drawn biography Le Roi Invisible - Un portrait d' Oscar Aleman by Gani Jakupi.

This contribution will be posted in Dutch later at the Keep Swinging blog.

Hans Koert

keepswinging@live.nl

Oscar Alemán online discography:

http://oscar-aleman.opweb.nl

Oscar Alemán weblog:

http://oscar-aleman.blogspot.com

Friends of the Keep Swinging blog:

http://keepswinging.opweb.nl/friends.htm

Jorgelina Alemán - Morena

2009-10-31T21:27:00.004+01:00

click on the photo to enlarge

online OSCAR ALEMÁN DISCOGRAPHY DISCOGRAFIA

http://oscar-aleman.opweb.nl

Oscar Alemán 1930 - 1931

2009-10-10T14:10:00.020+02:00

The earliest history of Oscar Alemán's life and career has been discussed in the contribution His European Career recently released on this Oscar Alemán blog. In the Dutch Doctor Jazz Magazine ( DJM 206 - September 2009) Christian Van Den Broeck published an article titled Robert de Kers ( 1906-1987) which contains some new information about the period Oscar left the Harry Fleming Band and started as a member of the Josephine Baker Baker Boys. As the article was written in Dutch most of you won't have access to this source, I'll post the info today in this small contribution.
Another article, Harry Fleming - "Der Dandy aus Harlem", written by Rainer Lotz gives some detailed information about the Harry Fleming band and the participation of Oscar Alemán in this group. This one is in German, so a good reason too to translate the info into English. I've combined both articles to introduce you some new info about this period.
The family name of Harry Fleming is written as Fleming or Flemming. I have chosen for the former, which seems to be the eldest form: Fleming.

In the winter of 1928-1929 Harry Fleming performed in South America and on the 24th of January 1929 his revue Hello Jazz got its premiere in Teatro 18 del Julio in Montevideo ( Uruguay). Les Loups, Oscar Alemán and Gaston Bueno Lobos, were one of the acts. In Februari - March of 1929 the revue came to Europe and in March 1929 they performed in Paris, where Ray Butler, an American saxophone and clarinet player, joined the group. In June 1929 they performed for the very first time in Spain in Hello Jazz - Das horas en Nueva York in the Teatro del Gran Kursaal from San Sabastian.
They also performed the month to follow in Barcelona, Saragossa and Valencia. In July 1929 Sam Wooding y Alabarderos joined the group for a series of performances. The Harry Fleming revue played at the Exposicion Internacional in Barcelona ( summer 1929) and several more gigs in Spain. Rainer Lotz lists it all. In April 1930 Harry Fleming played in Brussels at the Palais d'ëté and mid-June 1930 in Amsterdam.

Robert De Kers ( photo courtesy: Jean Robert archive)

The article about Robert De Kers starts to tell about Robert De Kers earliest career, playing in the Hot Pickers directed by Gianni Del Dello, an Italian band, and his return to Belgium in September 1929 to play with the Candrix brothers. (Fud and Jozef). He played in the Merry Grill, a club in Brussels, that was closed in 1930. Robert started in Cabaret - Theatre des Dix Heures with the Harry Fleming band, featuring Egide Van Gils, Rene Compere, Jules Testaert and a guitar duo, named Los Lobos ( Les Loups) with guitar player Oscar Alemán.

The next month the Harry Fleming band played at the Varieté Theater Die Drei Linden in Leipzig-Lindenau. During this period they performed at a gig at the Hannover Tivoli during the second half of July 1930 and a month later Harry Fleming was billed as .. mit seiner Amerikanischen Yazz-Varieté-Schau (sic) in the Hamburger Hansa-Theater.

In the program the guitar duo Les Loups was mentioned as one of the parts of the program. At that time the Harry Fleming group was labeled as the 16 Blue Birds-Yazz. In October 1930 the Harry Fleming revue Hello Jazz performed at the Nürnberger Apollo Theater and now Les Loups is billed as ... die berühmten Hawaiian-Gitarren-Spieler (sic). During the month of November and December 1930 the revue was playing at the Hamburger Hansa-Theater again. In December 1930 the band performed also in Berlin and it is interesting to learn that three Dutch musicians from the Ramblers Dansorkest were performing as a vocal trio (!): Maurits Dreese, Eddie Meenk and Wim Poppink.

In January 1931 the revue played at the Saarbrücker Apollo and late January 1931 they were in Mailand, San Remo and Genova. In May 1931 they performed at the Teatro Nuevo in Barcelona as the Follies de 1931 and in the Teatro Romea in Madrid. It must have been around this time that Los Lobos left the Harry Fleming band.
The Harry Fleming band, a very successful band, in artistic way, but financially a mess. While in Spain the band had to be discontinued. Roy Butler, an US musicians who played with Harry Fleming since March 1929, when he joined the Fleming band in Paris, said about Harry Fleming: Personally, he wasn't a bad fellow, just a bit unwise. He was always overspending money he didn't have. He'd hire a show into a city without having enough to get them there. ....... We never knew if he was going to get enough money to get to the next theatre or not ( Storyville no. 71 June-July 1977 ) The Roy Butler's Story (Peter Darke and Ralph Gulliver)(p. 184).

Robert De Kers, real name Robert De Keersemaecker, started his own band, the Cabaret Kings, with Mike Ortuso, banjo player, Jules Testart, Carus, Chacarra, R. Echapare and two Spanish saxophone players. Also Oscar Aleman became part of the band, that played at the Alcazar and the Stambul in Madrid. Rainer Lotz tells that Gaston Bueno Lobo traveled to Parish to play for Josephine Baker. Robert De Kers ( Rainer Lotz names him René De Kers, which seems to be wrong) should have introduced Gaston Bueno Lobo to Josephine, but the members of Josephine’s band didn't want Lobo. They loved to have that brilliant other guitar player that had stayed in Spain, Oscar Alemán. And so it happened. Gaston Lobo returned to Rio de Janeiro, desperate and depressed. He became a musician for the Radio Mayrink Veiga in Rio for which he played up to 1937. He recorded in 1932 for Columbia and in 1936 for Odeon with the guitar player Laurindo Almeida, who was playing since 1936 for that same Brazilian radio broadcast networks. Gaston Bueno Lobo passed away in 1939. It is said that he had suffered from cancer and committed suicide. Jørgen Larsen wrote about that in a contribution New Info on Gaston Bueno Lobo. As told, Oscar Alemán, together with Jules Testaert found a job in the revue band of Josephine Baker, The Baker Boys, directed by Leon Jacobs. There were nine Belgian musicians in that band. Oscar Aleman also started to perform with his old Harry Fleming colleagues Rene Compere and Jules Testaert and when Josephine Baker asked Robert De Kers to form a new band, Robert traveled to his native country, Belgium and engaged several musicians: The new band was called The 16 Baker Boys and contained Jean Omer on sax, Jules Testaert on trombone, Pierre de Bom at the drums, Robert De Kers on trumpet ( and of course musical director), Fritz Stammer at the piano, Michel (Mike) Ortuso and Oscar Alemán at the guitars, Gabor Radics violin, Arthur Saguet sax, Fernand Coppieters piano, Francois "Sus" Seluppens bas, tuba and sousaphone, David Van Wezel trumpet, Lucien Devroy piano and J. Brys violin. With this 16 Baker Boys Robert De Kers joined Josephine Baker on tours along France, Algeria, Tunisia, Italy and Switzerland. The article reads that in January 1933 Robert De Kers restarted his band The Cabaret Kings, without Oscar Alemán, and performed at the Kursaal in Oostende ( along the Belgian coast), The Century Hotel in Antwerp and the Atlanta in Brussel.

This article wil be posted in Dutch at the Keep Swinging blog later this year.

Hans Koert

keepswinging@live.nl

CABEZA HINCHADA

2009-09-05T15:24:00.005+02:00

When Oscar Alemán resumed his recording career for the Odeon label in May 1951 after a hiatus of more than three years where no new recordings were made or released, it was with a new formation of his band. The previous formation, labeled OA y su Quinteto de Swing (- from 1943 to 1947, in fact a sextet), had been dissolved and the new group, now labeled OA y su Conjunto de Jazz or OA y sus Orquesta de Jazz on records, had new members, most often a band consisting of the leader and an octet of three violins, clarinet, piano and rhythm. With this formation (- a kind of OA with strings) Alemán recorded 60 sides for Odeon from May 1951 until June 1957, the most prolific period of his recording career following great success with the public
through frequent live performance and radio work at Radio Belgrano. The repertoire of Alemán's new formation continuously included popular swing tunes, often coupled with a popular Latin ditto on the flip side of records to increase promotion of the band to a larger audience. The Latin repertoire was carefully picked out with due respect to the charts it seems, probably a policy approved of by the financial management of Odeon. Following this procedure several Brasilian mega hits were also recorded by Alemán and his band, always with Alemán's personal touch and arrangements that would distinguish his version from other recordings of the tune.

The first session recorded by OA and his new formation was scheduled at 16. May 1951 where just two tunes were recorded, a swing/fox trot arrangement of RIO SWANEE (Stephen Foster)(mx 18012) and Alemán's rendition of the baião CABEZA HINCHADA (Hervé Cordovil) (mx 18013). The session was released on the shown Odeon 78 rpm (Odeon 55240) and had CABEZA HINCHADA on the A side, which was a clever choice by the management of Odeon, as this Brasilian tune was highly popular at the time - a hit tune designated to draw the attention of the record buying public.

The tune CABEZA HINCHADA was composed by Hervé Cordovil (see picture) in 1949 as 'Cabeça inchada' with added lyrics in Portuguese and was recorded in Brazil for the Continental label March 1951 featuring vocalist Carmélia Alves, who had a hit and was a success with her issue of the song. You may hear this recording in streaming audio from the online facility at Instituto Moreira Salles by clicking here

'Cabeça inchada' was labeled as a 'baião' in terms of the musical style of the tune. The baião is a Northeast Brazilian rhythmic formula that became the basis of a wide range of music like forró, côco, and embolada. The baião originated with the native peoples in the Northeast of Brazil incorporating elements of indigenous, mestizo, African, and European musics and is most associated with the State of Pernambuco, just north of Bahia. The baião is very much a rural music and for a long time was eschewed by the urban upper classes in Brazil, but around 1950 this musical style was discovered and brought to the attention of the music industry in Brazil thanks to musicians like accordionist Luiz Gonzaga who almost singlehanded introduced the baião to a broader audience after moving to Rio de Jainero. Composer Hervé Cordovil was one of several others to take advantage of the craze following the introduction of the baião in Rio, and his 'Cabeça inchada' remains a classic of the genre with more than 50 different re-recordings of the tune.

If you listen to Oscar Alemán's version of the tune (- reissued on the OA con Ritmos de Brasil cd, EMI, 541686), you'll have yet another rendition of 'Cabeça inchada' or - as it was titled in Spanish - CABEZA HINCHADA ( meaning 'swelled head' in English!). Compared to the initial recording by Carmélia Alves Alemán's is played at a slower tempo, has an introduction of the melody through a very delightful guitar solo showing off Alemán's ability to create an intimate mood further underlined by his singing voice following the guitar solo - it's almost softspoken near whispering. The lyrics are sung in Portuguese like the original issue, and the accompaniment further frames the intimate mood of the tune - only piano, bass and drums are featured on the recording. With this recording of 'Cabeça inchada' Alemán was introduced as a crooner, a singing fashion of the time popular all over the world, but today his rendition is worth remembering thanks to his very tasteful guitarsolo on the recording, I think.

Alemán obviously had success with his version of 'Cabeça inchada' judging from the comments of the announcer of the Radio Belgrano fragment of 28. June 1952 saved on acetate. At that occasion a live-recording of the tune exists, almost similar to the issued recording by Odeon. Furter Alemán has a short demonstration of the baião style at this session playing solo. Without doubt, the baião also had success with the Argentinian audience, and as a follow-up of this success Alemán was to record more baião tunes during the next sessions for Odeon. Already the next session scheduled at 11. July 1951 has a recording of another mega hit by Hervé Cordovil, the baião PÉ DE MANACÁ, which you may listen to in the original issue by Hervé Cordovil featuring vocalist Isaura Garcia by clicking here

However, the best known baião recorded by Alemán probably is his version of Waldir Azevedo's 'Delicado' (mx 18250, Odeon 55318) from 26. or 31. October 1951. You can read more about Azevodo's version here

Show Time!

2009-08-08T14:12:00.003+02:00

Today, when people, who didn't have the age and good fortune to experience Oscar Alemán live on stage, are listening to his records, they may seem to forget that Alemán's success as a musician largely depended on his ability to entertain audiences attending his live performances. Reports and tales from people, who actually experienced his live stage acts together with his Quinteto de Swing or Orquesta de Jazz, often have pointed to Alemán's good humor and joking on stage. Earlier, this was a natural part of entertainment to keep up the high spirits of the audience so that people would not get bored with the show. In Alemán's case humor was an integrated part of his concept of 'good music', this aspect is detectable in many of his solo contributions as small quotations from unexpected tunes within the actual tune being played. Further, some of his vocal contributions on records also reflect a good sense of humor, - humor thus seems to be the well of aqua vita, from which great entertainers and stage acteurs get their inspiration to stand the pressure of staying in the spotlight at ease.

To illustrate what good humor means in entertainment I found an uploaded video at YouTube reflecting the subject and further refering to a tune also recorded by Oscar Alemán - Enjoy John Reynolds and The Ditty Bobs performing "You Made Me Love You" sung in Spanish like Alemán's version ("Estoy Enomorado") and with great whistling and guitar playing

To end this small entry you may enjoy another uploaded video, this time featuring the original sound track from Alemán's recording of "Estoy Enamorado" - WARNING: The accompanying moving pictures are for gents only, but I think ladies will forgive them - and me, as well - having a healthy laugh following the 'naughty' but rather 'innocent' show on screen from anno dazumal. Anyway, I hope you to enjoy

Dedos Duros

2009-07-03T13:16:00.010+02:00

On June 17 1957 Oscar Alemán recorded his last registered session for the Odeon label in Buenos Aires, 4 tunes were recorded with accompaniment by Alemán's regular Orquesta de Jazz, two fox-trots - DE BUEN HUMOR (In The Mood) & OSCARINADAS, a composition by Alemán, - and two Brasilian pieces: a samba by Jair Amerin & Dunga, CONCEIÇAO, and Alemán's own DEDOS DUROS, a choro that demands the skills of a master guitar player to be performed fluently. The title of the choro means 'hard fingers' in English, but I think most other guitarists with lesser skills than Alemán would prefer 'sore fingers' as a more proper title! The piece really is a finger buster to master - if you are a guitarist, you have the opportunity to study a transcription of the tune by following the links here

DEDOS DUROS was issued on a Odeon 78 rpm (Odeon 74343) . As mentioned, the tune is a choro and draws inspiration from this typically Brasilian instrumental musicstyle including long scales of notes picked rapidly in succession involving a technique more suitable for the Brasilian bandolim or cavaquinho than the conventional guitar, indeed. The composition has two parts only that are repeated, but it's only after introducing the melody by the violins that Alemán's guitar dives in the solo, halfway during the recording. Thus, at first the arrangement seems a bit disappointing, as the violins' part of the game steals the attention of the listener from the start by introducing the tune, but you could also say that the strings build up a tension in the recording setting the guitar solo in focus - an intension supported by the closing of the recording, which again has the strings repeating the melody with Alemán in the background playing chords and fill ins as during the start of the recording.

Whatever your taste of the recording, the arrangement is paying its due to the traditional way of playing choro in an ensemble, and this is a crucial point in appreciating Alemán's efforts. He always had great respect for the Brasilian music tradition and never mixed up the rules in performance of tunes connected with this tradition, a fact that is underlined in the recording of DEDOS DUROS, which has no improvisation of the melody. Alemán may be considered a straight jazz guitarists of the Gypsy tradition by many, but his concept of how to handle a tune properly is of Brasilian origins, even when it comes to improvising during some swing standard tune - this is one of the aspects, that makes Alemán's guitar work unique, I think. He was the first to naturally incorporate Brasilian elements of playing in his guitarstyle decades before the bossa nova wave fused the concept of modern jazzguitar playing.

I was thrilled by finding a live-performance of DEDOS DUROS at YouTube, here performed by a guitarist of the same origins as Alemán, Omar Mambrin - a small profile in Spanish is available here

From a concert at Complejo cultural Guido Miranda 24 May 2009 Omar Mambrin performs his rendition of Alemán's DEDOS DUROS - enjoy!

Just A Little Swing

2009-05-19T15:45:00.008+02:00

In a historic perspective, but with a contemporary understanding, it may seem strange and truly unjust that Oscar Alemán only had the opportunity to record under his own name one single time while living in Paris, France throughout the 1930s. We could have expected that his position as a featured artist with Josephine Baker and director of her famous live-orchestra, the Baker Boys, would have given him the chance to sign a contract with a major record company like Columbia that in fact issued the recordings of Mdm Baker. Moreover, he had contributed with great guitarplaying on records recorded by expatriate American musicians like Freddy Taylor and Bill Coleman, and he had showed off that his skills as a musician also included mastering of popular genres like the French musette as a member of accordionist Gus Viseur's l'Orchestra Victor. Outside Paris he had participated in a Danish Jam Session recording with violinist Svend Asmussen and at the same session cut two guitar solos, four 78 rpm sides in all that forever will stand out as a highlight of recorded string swing jazz in Europe of the 1930s. However, still reflecting the historic view, we must not forget that Paris in the 1930s was the scene for another guitar genius, Django Reinhardt, who was heavily promoted as the star of string swing with the QHCF and frequently recorded by Charles Delaunay's Swing-label. Thus, Django may have been the only guitar star to be noticed by record company deputies as well as the general public thanks to the promotion provided by Charles Delaunay, while other guitarists like Oscar Alemán were left outside the spotlight. However, a historic view must not forget the fact that it also was Charles Delaunay's Swing-label that finally offered Alemán the opportunity to record under his own name in 1939.

On April 5, 1939 Alemán went into the studio of the Swing label in Paris and recorded 4 sides in a trio setting; the session was issued on two 78 rpms, Swing 59 and Swing 213, and included recordings of three standards: "Russian Lullaby" (OSW-68, iss. Swing 59), "Dear Old Southland" (OSW-70, iss. Swing 213), "Jeepers Creepers" (OSW-71, iss. Swing 59) and one original tune by Alemán, the above shown "Just A Little Swing" (OSW-69, iss. Swing 213). The trio consisted of Alemán on lead guitar, Wilson Myers bass and vocal, John Mitchell on rhythm guitar. Alemán's sidemen in the trio were both members of reedplayer and director Willie Lewis' orchestra that hosted several expatriate American jazz musicians during the 1930s and had success in Paris and on tours all over Europe and North Africa.

Wilson Myers had arrived to Europe with Lucky Millinder's Orchestra and settled in Paris where he joined Willie Lewis. Myers began his career as a drummer with Bessie Smith mid-1920s, then joined King Oliver as a string bass player; he also played banjo and guitar professionally and was a member of the highly popular string/jive ensemble Spirits of Rhythm early 1930s contributing with vocal and string bass on recordings by the group. - John Mitchell's professional career began early 1920s in New York City where he strummed banjo accompaniments in a band led by Johnny Dunn accompanying singer Edith Wilson, then he joined Sam Wooding's orchestra and went with the band for a stay in Europe from 1925. In Paris he switched to Willie Lewis' band in the early 1930s as a member of the rhythm section holding the band's rhythm guitar chair.

The four sides cut by Oscar Alemán Trio may sign Alemán as the leader, but Wilson Myers almost steals the show on the three standards adding great vocal and string bass playing to the arrangements, however, the lead guitar contributions by Alemán are inspired and well executed as well, strongly supported with great accompaniment by Mitchell's rhythm guitar. The highlights of the session are "Russian Lullaby" and Alemán's own "Just A Little Swing", which on the record label also is attributed to a second composer, J. Rancon, whom I have not been able to locate - maybe some of the readers of the blog can help and provide info? - Both "Russian Lullaby" and "Just A Little Swing" have great solo contributions by Alemán, who seems to have swithced his commonly used steel body resonator guitar in favour of a more conventional wooden box for this session. Both tunes were later recorded again by Alemán, "Just A Little Swing" had a new arrangement with his Orchesta de Jazz in 1953 and was recorded on the Odeon 78 rpm shown below, while "Russian Lullaby" was recorded in a slower version without vocal on the Redodel album "Alemán '72".

The 1939 trio session by Alemán belongs to the memorable swing recordings of this almost invisible guitar great from his stay in Europe, all four sides have been re-issued on the 'Swing Guitar Masterpieces' double-cd by Acoustic Disc (ACD-29).

Nega do cabelo duro

2009-04-26T01:10:00.004+02:00

Recently I noticed the shown sheet music for purchase at eBay, a standard piano version of the tune 'Nega do cabelo duro', a Brasilian batucada by David Nasser and Ruben Soares composed for the carneval in 1942. The lyrics (- in Portuguese) mock vanity and the black female hair-style in vogue at the time:

Nega do cabelo duro

Qual é o pente que te penteia?