“Zurdo” Roizner, the drummer who gave rhythm to almost all genres, has died

Enrique “Zurdo” Roiznerthe long-career drummer who played with artists of the caliber of Vinicius de Moraes, Frank Sinatra, Astor Piazzolla and Leandro “Gato” Barbieri and for years was a member of Kevin Johansen’s band, he died at 84 years old due to a stroke.

The irreversible blow that struck Roizner last Thursday put an end on Sunday to a musical life as intense as it was renowned, in which he put his personal and accurate touch at the service of very different proposals: from Les Luthiers to Daniel Viglietti and from Mercedes Sosa to the Moscow Circus.

The instrumentalist born on December 14, 1939 in Buenos Aires, declared an Outstanding Personality of Culture by the Buenos Aires Legislature in August 2016, is also He joined Anacrusa and the groups led by bandoneonists Lepoldo Federico and Dino Saluzziin a clear example of his flexibility and talent in playing everything and with everyone.

In addition to his musical talent, “Zurdo” he was known for his good humorand he managed to get along with both of them on stage when in the late 1980s he joined the Banda Elástica, that group of jazz musicians who reinterpreted the classics of music and included, among others, Ernesto Acher, Jorge Navarro, Hugo Pierre and Ricardo Lew. .

The musical present of Roizner, who with his drums went through a period in which record label session musicians recorded with artists of very different genres, has also been linked since 2002 to the Tango Orchestra of the City of Buenos Aires. And last April he received a tribute in the Jazzologia cycle.

Recognized as a drummer, however, his entry into music came with another instrument. “Yes. My parents wanted me to study the violin, a historical instrument among the Jews. Basically because it is easy to transport; So when they had to escape somewhere, they just grabbed it. I started when I was five and studied until I was twelve. There I realized that music wasn’t for me and I switched to drums”, he said a few years ago with the humor that characterizes him Clarion.

On that occasion he also said that, despite the years of study, he continued to improve: “I am addicted to studying. Today I study four hours a day. And at a certain point I studied up to eight or ten. But there comes a time when” You have to stop exercising.”

Faced with so much rush between studios and stages, Roizner accumulated anecdotes and experiences of various kinds, such as having played in Frank Sinatra’s historic visit to Argentina in August 1981.

“This has no meaning. What happened is that Palito hired Don Costa’s orchestra to play an hour more than what Sinatra sang, because an hour of show for the $1,000 ticket cost was very little. But Sinatra’s rhythm section refused to play with Costa because he hadn’t called them to record ‘New York New York’. So the producer here looked for a rhythm section, and there I appeared. I say that all these cases happened because “All the good musicians were busy and they had to put someone in,” he recalled that unusual episode.

Roizner, chosen by Johansen to illustrate the cover of his album “Mis Américas Vol. 1/2” (2016), has also recorded and, to name just a part of the collaborations made, with the duo Pastoral, Cuarteto Zupay, Cantoral, Saúl Cosentino, Beatriz Suárez Paz, Claudia Puyó for ?Del Oeste? (1984) and with his admired Domingo Cura in “Percussions in Argentine folklore” (1994).