Unlike other middle-aged groups that play city music, Amores Tangos has a particular banner: saves the musical style from a happy side and does not appeal to melancholy. This proposition is reflected again in his fourth studio album, universal milongawhere in his sound he walks does not bet on absolute purism, but on an energetic blend with other genres.
Afternoons of tiring rehearsals and exhausting heat in the middle of spring were the ones this week in his rehearsal room in Palermo, because This Friday, November 18, they present their new work and also take the opportunity to cap a successful 2022 at La Trastienda de San Telmo, with tickets sold out.
José Teixido (44) is the guitarist, musical director and spokesman of this orchestra born in 2008, which as a basis proposes dance and audience participation in its recitals, something never seen before in the current local two by four scene.
Another transcendental consideration of this orchestra has to do with the number of friendly singers who attend the records and even their recitals. From Cucuzza Castiello As far as lemon cheesecloththe Falotic black or Osvaldo Peredo They were part of the team when it came to grabbing the mic.
Or getting closer to the present, Sandra Mihanovich also recorded a song with them, besides the notable Ligio Pirò. Therefore, the artist’s typical ego is not something that is part of his group philosophy.
How to choose a singer
“When we choose someone to sing, something human must unite us. Anyone can be the voice of Amores TangosWe are not centralists, but it depends on the connection. For example, let’s think of Sandra for the theme Silencedrank and came. Everything she touches beautifies”, says the guitarist as soon as the relationship begins.
The genesis of this orchestra occurred by chance in gatherings and gatherings at dawn in Almagro, at a time when youthful milongas abounded in the hundred neighborhoods of Buenos Aires.
“The mix started at the Sanata bar. After our work, we would get together to play whatever we wanted. They were waltzes, cumbia, Brazilian songs, but always from the point of view of the Río de la Plata tango. We have a DVD, ten trips to Europe, we are happy because the public is responding after so many years together”, says the artist born in Mar del Plata.
A past associated with a present
The origin of Amores Tangos has a lot to do with José’s musical past since his childhood. “We see, I come from a musical family, but they are lawyers. At home we listened to all kinds of music and tango was present, that’s how I fed myself. My grandmother was a kindergarten teacher and she wrote songs. Dad used to sing at parties where there were also consecrated people » she says, smiles and thinks.
Then he adds: “The Beatles, Silvio Rodríguez, Astor Piazzolla, folklore, we listened to that at home. I liked the movie disc South. Astor on one side, Roberto Goyeneche on the other. ‘This is the bomb!’, I thought. I wanted to have a band to play what I wanted. I wanted tango, candombe, Los Olimareños, Rubén Rada. Or, Emir Kusturica of gypsy times. Combine all this with milongas”.
But it’s not all about his youthful desires. “I remember when I was five years old and my father sang at the Festival of Convicts-Disappeared which was held at the Mar del Plata skating rink. I was very close to Silvio Rodríguez, Serrat, Mercedes Sosa. My parents were young, they were twenty-five, they confronted those grown-ups, I saw everything”.
Then came adolescence where it was inevitable to face rock for a generational issue. “I bought myself a bass and the first band was called Los Cerdos del Camino. My singing partner was Pepo San Martín, from Científicos del Palo. In fact I was the first bass player in his band. Thirty-one years later, Pepo featured on our last album,” he recounts with a broad smile.
However, his great engine within the two by four was his father, who took him to play with him every two nights in the halls of Mar del Plata. “Dad was about to sing and he asked me to accompany him. “I don’t know tangos,” he told her. And he replied: ‘It doesn’t matter, look at my hand on the guitar and follow me’. That’s how I learned. we played orange blossom Y Exchange“, points out.
Buenos Aires, the great challenge
With some musical experience to spare, Teixidó came to the big city to study Political Science, but eventually dropped out of his degree and ventured fully into the study of music.
“At the end of the nineties, when I arrived, we went with a colleague to play on the subway, at Estación Tribunales. The tango we played the most was Return. People gave us a peso and we ended up collecting ten pesos each. We used to hang out eating at Coto’s which was in Talcahuano which had a restaurant. Lunch costs a peso. I mean, we raised funds for ten meals with the proceeds”.
Experimenting, learning and chasing dreams hasn’t been so easy since José left the coastal city. The familiar comfort was gone. You had to fight for your dreams and make an effort.
“Actually, when I finished high school, I first went to live in Mendoza for a while, returned to Mar del Plata and then came to Buenos Aires. At the time I went to Europe, I did well there, but to play the tango I had to settle in Buenos Aires”, the musician still reflects today, years later.
But having your own roof wasn’t easy and, according to what he says, lived in many places and also in artistic community. “I arrived at the Constitución Station with a backpack, an agenda and a guitar. I walked into a booth and called a friend of dad’s. He came looking for me and I stayed at his house in Mataderos for a while. Then I went to live in Congreso with other artists”.
It was with this group of artists that he shared his retirement and a multitude of experiences that are a clear reflection of the life of the typical artist who starts in the underworld and then plays first class.
“We went to the Homero Manzi Cultural Center and into the world of murgas. I ended up living with artists I admired. There was Galileo Bodoc, who always put together his festivals, and Guillo De Posfay, who was the first writer to publish books in a self-managed and artisanal way. We put together magazines, books and then sold them in Plaza Serrano,” he points out with some pride.
Along with the talented and famous
Years go by and the experience gained becomes an extra value for other musicians who notice his talent and mastery. This is how he wrote music for international ballets or accompanied part of the career of the actress and tango singer Soledad Villamilwith which he achieved great success and recognition.
“With Soledad we won two Gardel awards, we traveled five times to Europe, Brazil, the United States, we toured Argentina from start to finish. He came on stage and it was a storm. I made three records with her as arranger and wrote songs as well. She is a great artist, I learned a lot from her. In addition, the musicians of Amores Tangos came from his band ”, remarks the guitarist and singer.
On the other hand, it is worth noting something important that José himself considers essential in his career.
“I had important connections thanks to what was done in Mar del Plata. I was associated with the Royals, I studied piano with them. At one point, Luis Reales came to Buenos Aires to play for seven years with Rubén Juárez. At that time I was playing in Hombres de Tango with Luis, Pato Quinteros and Daniel Robles. Juárez took us to play at the Teatro Argentino de La Plata. It was all very unusual, the place was packed.”
Plays for Mick Jagger
It is probably one of the most important experiences for José and his companions. It was a night in 2006 when they played for Mick Jagger in a bar in Palermoon one of the Rolling Stones’ many visits to Argentina.
When José remembers that moment, his eyes light up immediately.
“It was cute and fun. I have two memories. The first is since we entered singing canary in paris. We were Perrone, Limón Garcia and me. then we sing Things next door. The Stones keyboardist’s wife would ask us what the words meant. The same thing happened with the black showgirl. She then she became a milonga, a bandoneon, singing and at the same time telling what the songs were about ”.
But that’s not all and José underlines what happened with greater emotion: “We sang too Healed, which is our homage to the Sanata bar. At that moment, I exclaimed to my partner: ‘Fat man, Mick Jagger is filming us! I can not believe it'”.
That short impromptu historical show was supposed to consist of two songs, but ended up lasting forty minutes.
“The food arrived, we said our goodbyes and left. They immediately asked us to come back. When we returned, we asked the manager if we could take a picture. “Talk to him,” she replied. I walked up to Jagger and my legs were shaking. He stopped, smiled, said yes and took the picture. Whenever Mick moved, the bodyguards were very attentive,” recalls José.
Gathering applause in Europe
Amores Tangos is one of the most internationally recognized orchestras. Mainly sound fusions are what strongly attract attention in European countries, where they are often toured.
“I have many travel anecdotes. For example, one time we were in Italy and they took us to play in a bizarre geriatric-style hospital. We didn’t understand anything, ”she recalls.
And another: “We went to Granada and they took us to a small village with a whole audience of octogenarians. It was in a gymnasium and half the city was in that show. The older ones ended up dancing the cumbia. C “There were 300 people, mostly with sticks, but happy. That’s when we understood the universal language of music,” he says.
Then he broadens his reflection: “I thought the following. We are really far from Buenos Aires. here they sing Things next door. And on top of that they know what the song is about!
Among a cascade of anecdotes, José insists on mentioning one in particular in Germany.
“It was in a small town, a show was in the middle of the field. I thought no one would go. Who will go in the middle of the field for a tango show? Of course, voice to voice the data passed and all the people who lived in the countryside gathered to see us. we sang kiss Me a lot Y From a head. I swear people sang lines of From a head… The common point always exists”.
Look to the future
As for the projects that Amores Tangos has left unfinished, José considers himself a boy with too many dreams, but firmly planted on the ground.
“I want things that I can satisfy. My wish is to perform a concert with a string orchestra. Also register with many guests. We are in a healthy moment. Saxophonists joined, violinists singing. There are new challenges. And we want to get more and more people involved,” she says.
-José, don’t you miss Mar del Plata, where was your relationship with music born?
-Mar del Plata is beautiful. I miss the sea. I miss my grandkids, not being able to be there for their birthdays or watch them grow up. But when I go I take the opportunity to see my family and I’m with friends because I have a lot of them there.
Not long ago we went to play at the Teatro Auditorium and after the recital we immediately went to eat at El Argentino, the bar of my friend Daniel Robles, with whom I played as a boy. We always do the same when I go back to my hometown.
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Source: Clarin
