Recognition for Oscar Aleman

The “Legislatura de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires”, the local government of the city of Buenos Aires has decided to place a plaque at the house where Oscar Aleman lived. Thanks to diputado, delegate, Mr. Guillermo Smith, Mariana Smith, Eduardo Donadío and Bárbara García, together with Jorgelina Alemán, a tribute to the great artist, Oscar Alemán, was organized on the 13th of June 2008, which included a show in which friends and colleagues brought an homage to the great Argentine guitar player.

Carmen Vallejo - Ricardo Péllican ( Photo courtesy Daniel Cossarini and Jorgelina Alemán )

The show began with two songs played by guitar player, Ricardo Péllican and his son, the bass player Andrés Péllican. The first song was: Mr. Swing, an original composition by Ricardo Péllican, a tribute to Oscar Alemán, and then they played a Django Reinhardt song. On a large screen a fragment of the documentary “Oscar Alemán Vida con Swing” by Hernan Gaffet, who was in the audience, was showed and after that the people were introduced to Oscar’s granddaughter Jorgelina with her band; this time enlarged with Ricardo Péllican and Chachi Zaragoza. The band played "All Of Me” and “Exactly Like You” with Oscar Linero who had been Oscar’s drummer.

Jorgelina invited sax player Enrique Varela, to play "Besame Mucho", a tune Oscar Aleman loved to play. Cao Bornes, a Brazilian singer, sang “Garota de Ipanema”, and talked about the years he met Oscar, who often performed in Brasil. Cao was then a young singer at the beginning of his professional career.
On the screen a fragment of the film “Historia de una Carta” in which Oscar was one of the protagonist actors, and where India Morena Aleman, his daughter and Jorgelina´s mother, also played a part at the age of ten. India recited the verse of “Les Feuilles Mortes”, as she did sometimes with her father and Jorgelina sang the tune, which released emotions.

Ricardo Péllican - Jorgelina Alemán - Juan Martinez - Willie Bozas ( Photo courtesy Daniel Cossarini and Jorgelina Alemán )

Next, two tunes were played, "Route 66" and "I’ve Got Rhythm" and Carmen Vallejo, Oscar’s ex wife, shares some personal remembrances about her relationship with Oscar and introduced her ( and Oscar´s of course) great-grandson, Juan Manuel Miguez, who is 11 years old, who made his debut in public with the tune "De Buen Humor" together with guitar player Juan Martinez. Jorgelina sung with her band the song “Hombre Mio”( = “Man Of Mine”), the tune that almost became Oscar’s signature theme. Jorgelina wrote the lyrics for that tune.
Jorgelina sung, at the end of the show, one of the tunes of her new album “Cada trago de ron”, with the participation of the dancers Daniel Bartra and Carol del Castillo”. The last tune became a kind of jam-session with the participation of all the musicians, titled “When the Saints Go Marching In” and it became an impressive finale of the tribute dedicated the greatest artists of our country and perhaps of the entire world.

Together with the deputy Guillermo Smith, representative of the local authorities, Oscar’s family went to the front part of the building to take of the covering of the plaque.
Other musicians that participate in the show were: Daniel Cossarini-piano, Julián García-bass, Willie Bozas-drums, Adrián Lucio-guitar-Javier Fernandez-guitar-Betty Griffith-vocals, Miguel Sinagra-trumpet, Lus Segura, Gisela Lepio and María Cabral-backing vocals.
Some of the assistants where: Selva Alemán, El diputado Guillermo Smith, Carlos Insillo, Guillermo Vadillo, Hernan Gaffet, Estanislao Iacona y Jose Iacona etc.

Daniel Cossarini – Jorgelina Alemán
Buenos Aires - Maipú n° 359 - 13th of June 2008
(translation: Daniel Cossarini and Hans Koert)

You can find more pictures of this event, on the 13th of June 2008, at the Reconocimiento a Oscar Aleman site.

This contribution is also published at the Keep Swinging web log and other contributions about this subject were El gran maestro Argentino de Jazz and Fundamentos.

Promovido por la Legislatura de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires a través del Sr. Diputado Guillermo Smith, Mariana Smith, Eduardo Donadío, Bárbara García y junto a Jorgelina Alemán, se organizó un merecido homenaje al gran artista Oscar Alemán, colocándose una placa en el frente del edificio donde el maestro vivió los últimos años de su vida, y ofreciéndose un show musical en su honor: Reconocimiento a Oscar Aleman

Keep swinging

Hans Koert

keepswinging@live.nl

Reconocimiento a Oscar Aleman

Promovido por la Legislatura de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires a través del Sr. Diputado Guillermo Smith, Mariana Smith, Eduardo Donadío, Bárbara García y junto a Jorgelina Alemán, se organizó un merecido homenaje al gran artista Oscar Alemán, colocándose una placa en el frente del edificio donde el maestro vivió los últimos años de su vida, y ofreciéndose un show musical en su honor.

Chachi Zaragoza - Jorgelina Alemán ( Fotografías cortesía Daniel Cossarini y Jorgelina Alemán )

El show comenzó con dos temas interpretados por el guitarrista Ricardo Péllican y su hijo, el bajista Andrés Péllican, que tocaron, Sr. Swing, tema de Ricardo Péllican, dedicado Oscar Alemán y un tema de Django Reinhardt.
A continuación, se proyectó un fragmento de la película Oscar Alemán vida con swing para luego presentar a su nieta Jorgelina Alemán, que junto con los músicos de su banda, Ricardo Péllican y Chachi Zaragoza, quien fuera segunda guitarra de Oscar, interpretó “All of me” y “Exactly Like You” donde se sumó el baterista Oscar Linero quien fuera baterista de Oscar.

Betty Griffith - Jorgelina Alemán - Enrique Varela - Daniel Cossarini - Carmen Vallejo (Fotografías cortesía Daniel Cossarini y Jorgelina Alemán)

Luego se sumó el saxofonista Enrique Varela para hacer una versión de Bésame mucho. A continuación, el cantante brasilero, Cao Bornes, cantó Garota de Ipanema, haciendo referencia al paso de Oscar por su país donde hizo sus primeros pasos como guitarrista.
Finalizado éste tema, se proyectó un fragmento de la película, “Historia de una carta”, donde Oscar es uno de los protagonistas, y donde actúa su hija India Morena Alemán cuando tenía menos de 10 años, quien a continuación recitó el verse de la canción “Las Hojas Muertas”(como lo hicera con Oscar en algunas oportunidades) para luego cantar Jorgelina el resto de la canción generando un clima muy emotivo.
Luego de interpretarse Ruta 66 y Tengo Ritmo, Carmen Vallejo, ex esposa de Oscar, dijo algunas emotivas palabras sobre su vida y relación con el, por lo cual fue muy aplaudida, para luego dar lugar a la participación del pequeño guitarrista Juan Manuel Miguez, su biznieto y de Oscar , quien tiene 11 años y tocó por primera vez en público, interpretando a dúo el tema “De buen humor” junto con el guitarrista Juan Mártinez.

Guillermo Smith - Selva Alemán - Carmen Vallejor - India Alemán - artist - Jorgelina Alemán (Fotografías cortesía Daniel Cossarini y Jorgelina Alemán )

A continuación, Jorgelina con su banda más Ricardo Péllican y Cao Bornes, interpretaron el tema “Hombre mío” cuya música es de Oscar Alemán y la letra de Jorgelina Alemán.
Para finalizar el show musical, Jorgelina interpretó un tema de su nuevo CD que se llama “Cada trago de Ron” donde participaron los bailarines Daniel Bartra y Carol del Castillo, para luego, a modo de cierre y con la participación de todos los músicos que habían tocado durante el show, hacer una versión de Cuando Los Santos vienen Marchando, donde se sumaron además tres cantantes para hacer coros y un trompetista haciendo de éste cierre una verdadera fiesta en honor a uno de los más grandes artistas que tuvo nuestro país y tal vez el mundo.
Seguidamente, el diputado Smith y la familia Alemán se dirigieron al frente del edificio, para descubrir la placa.

Fotografías cortesía Daniel Cossarini y Jorgelina Alemán

Participaron además del show, los siguientes músicos: Daniel Cossarini-piano, Julián García-bajo, Willie Bozas-batería, Adrián Lucio-guitarra-Javier Fernandez-guitarra-Betty Griffith-canto, Miguel Sinagra-trompeta, Lus Segura-coros, Gisela Lepio-coros, María Cabral-coros.

Entre los asistentes se encontraban además: Carmen Vallejo, Selva Alemán, El diputado Guillermo Smith, Carlos Insillo, Guillermo Vadillo, Hernan Gaffet, Estanislao Iacona y Jose Iacona entre la innumerable cantidad de gente que asistió al evento.

Daniel Cossarini – Jorgelina Alemán
Buenos Aires - Maipú n° 359 13de junio de 2008

Fotos tomadas durante el acto de descubrimiento de la placa dedicada a Oscar Alemán el 13 de junio de 2008

This contribution is also published at the Oscar Alemán web log and other contributions about thissubject were El gran maestro Argentino de Jazz and Fundamentos.

The English version of this blog will be published tomorrow.

Keep swinging

Hans Koert

keepswinging@live.nl

Montmartre Blues

70 years ago, on the 13th of June 1938, Oscar Alemán took part as a sideman in a recording session in Paris for the Swing label. The session may have been organized by Charles Delauney, head of Disques Swing and HCF. The recordings were labeled as EDDIE BRUNNER ET SON ORCHESTRE and were issued on three 78 rpms, SW 30 , SW 41 and SW 55. Five tunes were recorded: IN A LITTLE SPANISH TOWN (mx OSW-27-1), I DOUBLE DARE YOU (mx OSW-28-1), BAGATELLE (mx OSW-29-1), MONTMARTRE BLUES (mx OSW-30-1) and MARGIE (mx OSW-31-1, a second take was rejected). According to available discographical info participating musicians were as follows: Eddie Brunner (cl ts dir), Bill Coleman (tp), Alix Combelle (ts), Noël Chiboust (ts), Herman Chittison (p), Oscar Alemán (g), Roger Grasset (b), Tommy Benford (dm). Check online Oscar Alemán discography for further details, click here

The five recorded sides belong to the memorable recordings by Oscar Alemán from his stay in Europe, although he only has a brief solo on MONTMARTRE BLUES, which is one of his first recorded solos showing off his unique concept of jazz guitar playing. Norwegian jazzcritic, Jan Evensmo, commented Alemán's contribution in the session this way:

"It is a waste of talent to let Alemán concentrate on accompaniment. However, he has one interesting solo on "Montmartre Blues", where he proves his originality. His sound bears the stamp of latin music and the long tradition of the Spanish guitar, it is ripe and very beeautiful. First he plays an original single string phrase around the basic rhythm, and then he changes to mainly chords. These are highly personal and identify their creator immediately."

The music on all five sides is top class Euro-Swing of the late 1930s, reissued on the shown cd below.

Leader of the pick-up band was Eddie Brunner,as labeled. Eddie Brunner (1912-1960) was the most important Swiss hot-jazz soloist of his time, his playing of the saxophone and clarinet was influenced by the style of Coleman Hawkins and Eddie Miller.He began his career working with local bands. Then, in 1931, he joined saxophonist Rent Dumont's orchestra in Berlin. In 1933, he recorded with brothers Jack and Louis de Vries, and violinist Marek Weber band; during 1936-'37 with the Goldene Sieben; and in 1939 with Louis Bacon. From 1938 onwards, he occasionally recorded as a leader,- usually playing Clarinet. During 1936-'39, he lived in Paris, France, returning to Switzerland at the outbreak of World War II, where he joined Teddy Stauffer's Original Teddies as a tenor saxophone soloist. In 1941, Stauffer left and Brunner took over leadership until disbanding in 1947. During the 1940s, he recorded prolifically, both with the "Original Teddies" and under his own name. In 1944, he recorded with Philippe Brun. In 1948, he led his own sextet, playing and recording well into the 1950s. He also worked in the radio and television studios.

Eddie Brunner composed and arranged MONTMARTRE BLUES and BAGATELLE from the mentioned session above, and especially MONTMARTRE BLUES remains a memorable recording regarding Alemán's contribution, a worthy sign of his genius left to posterity, lasting for as long as a plaque of honor on the wall revealed on the 13th of June 2008, we do hope.

Jo

Fundamentos

( En Espanol.)
The local governement of Buenos Aires, Argentina, decided that on the 13th of June 2008 a plaque will be unveiled on the wall of the apartement where Oscar Aleman lived. I told you about that in my contribution El gran maestro Argentino de Jazz. In a small article dedicated to the career of the great Argentine guitar player they give account to that. I love to share this Fundamentos ( in translation) with you.

The young Aleman's on stage.

Oscar Aleman was an extraordinary gifted Argentine jazzmusician and composer. The local authorities love to honor him with a plaque at the wall of his apartement, to inform next generations. The guitar is a well known instrument in Argentina used in folk music and Oscar Aleman used it to share his music all around our country and abroad. He was born in the El Chaco district at the 20th of February 1909. His father, also a gifted musician on the guitar, playing folk and vaudeville music on his instrument, gave his kids the love for music and learned them to make the first steps in showbiz.

Informal gathering of the Oscar Aleman Quinteto de Swing. (1940s) (photo courtesy Sara Gonzalez )

At the age of six little Oscar danced with his brother Carlos and sisters Juana and Jorgelina in cafés and bars. When Oscar was ten the Aleman family moved for Brazil, but, due to personal disasters they were left alone by their parents, living on the streets of Rio. With help they could later return to Argentina again. In 1920 Oscar performed on the streets with his smal four string cavaquinho and later, aged fifteen, he's active as a boxer and Malambo dancer at the Teatro Nuevo now in San Martin. Thanks to his musicality and the fact that he could play all kinds of music on his guitar ( he could sing as well as (tap)dance) he got a lot of work in small clubs and bars, alone and in duo with another popular artist Gaston Bueno Lobo.

Oscar Aleman in a TV-studio ( 1960s)

The well known black entertainer, Josephine Baker, in France in the 1930s, became fascinated by Oscar Aleman's musical talents. Thanks to her he came into contact with musicians like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Django Reinhardt, who introduced him to the authentic jazz. With the experiences in jazz he learned in Europe, Oscar returned to Argentina in 1940 and played his own unforgetable swinging music, like Rosa Madreselva ( = Honeysuckle Rose), a very popular number at that time.
In his apartement at Maipu 359 (Buenos Aires) he taught several generations of musicians the way how to play the jazz. He passed away at the 14th of October 1980.

(Fundamentos: part of Proyecto de Reolucion published by the Legislatura de la Ciudad Autonomia de Buenos Aires Argentina. 2008)

This Fundamentos is also published at the Keep swinging web log in English and Dutch.

Keep swinging

Hans Koert

keepswinging@live.nl

Espanol ( To the English translation )

Don Oscar Alemán fue un destacado guitarrista y compositor argentino que se destacó en un género tan especial como es el Jazz. Reconocerlo a través de un homenaje mediante la colocación de una placa en el domicilio en el cual vivió, es una forma de que su trayectoria quede plasmada en el tiempo, y qué mejor que sea nuestra Legislatura, en representación del pueblo de la ciudad de Buenos Aires, la que rinda este homenaje.

La guitarra magnificó instrumento de cuerdas tan ligado al folklore nacional, fue la herramienta musical que utilizará Oscar Alemán para trascender fielmente con sus interpretaciones no sólo en nuestro país sino en el extranjero. Nació en la Provincia del Chaco un 20 de febrero de 1.909. Su padre también un eximio artista de la guitarra en el género folklórico supo transmitir a sus hijos el cariño por la música, su interpretación y ejecución. Muy pequeño a los 6 años formó un conjunto con sus hermanos Carlos, Jorgelina y Juana actuando en diferentes escenarios.

(photo courtesy Sara Gonzalez )

A los 10 años y en oportunidad de haber viajado al Brasil por desgracias familiares queda solo y con algunas ayudas vuelve a Buenos Aires. En 1.920 actúa en espectáculos callejeros con el "caquinho" pequeña guitarra de cuatro cuerdas. A los 15 años se desempeña como bailarín de malambo, actuando en el Teatro Nuevo, hoy Municipal San Martín.Su genialidad musical y habilidad para los instrumentos y la interpretación, su formación en el zapateo y el canto le permiten desempeñarse con gran solvencia en diferentes escenarios de cafés, boites y teatros formando dúo con otro destacado intérprete llamado Gaston Bueno Lobo.

Incursionó en la música del tango, siendo autor junto a Agustín Magaldi, también en Europa con Carlos Gardel y Enrique Santos Discépolo. La gran actriz de color Josephine Baker, en Europa en el año 1932, fue deslumbrada por la genialidad de Oscar Alemán dándole su apoyo artístico. Allí conoció a Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington y Django Reinhardt quienes lo introdujeron en el auténtico Jazz. Con esta formación musical regresa en el año 1.940 a Buenos Aires y descolla en el jazz melódico a través de inolvidables interpretaciones en el género del swing con un tema que lo hiciera famoso "Rosa Madreselva", en aquella década.Alterna sus interpretaciones con la enseñanza, a través de clases en el domicilio de la calle Maipú Nº 359 (Buenos Aires). Allí formó a toda una generación de intérpretes del jazz. La muerte lo sorprende el 14 de octubre de 1980.

(Fundamentos: part of Proyecto de Reolucion - Legislatura de la Ciudad Autonomia de Buenos Aires Argentina. 2.008)

This Fundamentos is also published at the Keep swinging web log in English and Dutch.

Keep swinging

Hans Koert

keepswinging@live.nl

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