Quartet Cedrón and Mederos Trio: a proposal that unites two worlds of the tango universe

It is a meeting of two universes within popular music and a clear example of its inexhaustible wealth.Bandoneonist Rodolfo Mederos and guitarist and singer Juan “Tata” Cedrón they illustrate with their interpretations a past of tango with an attentive look at the present.

Every Saturday in August and next October, in Torquato Tasso, Mederos Trio and the legendary Cedrón Quartet they come up with a proposal that unites, without sharing the stage, two intelligent and personal visions of popular music.

“It’s a proposal that has the story and that personal tone that our music has,” said Mederos, an emblematic 82-year-old bandoneon player.

While Medero focuses on deepening a repertoire that has as its axis the golden age of tango, from the 1940s to the mid-1950s, Tata Cedrón traces the history of her legendary quartet, founded in 1964.

“I like sharing the stage; I make a repertoire that tries to be fun and that is sufficiently representative of the quartet, “said the 83-year-old guitarist and singer.

Both Medero and Cedrón aim to give this proposal an evident emotionality not only for the repertoires, but also for that sentiment that unfolds in their interpretations. Different repertoires with an emotional background that brings the audience closer.

A moving memory

Kidron’s repertoire has an emotional aspect in which the classics of the genre are juxtaposed to his compositions, some of which have their genesis from poems that he set to music as the plum, based on a poem by Bertolt Brecht that artists such as Paco Ibáñez or Dina Rot, among others, have performed.

“We do it too In the courtyard of a barrackswith poems by Omero Manzi, Low-Rise Flag, A Lola Mora and Los Ladrones Y I put 20 cents in the slot, by Raúl González Tuñón (1905-1974). When I make this last theme I can’t help but forget that this poem is 100 years old; Tuñón wrote it when he was 17. It is precocity and when I sing it still moves me. I recorded this song in 1972, fifty years ago, and today, in its centenary, I continue to perform it, ”Cedrón pointed out.

green grass Y What a night, by Agustín Bardi, they are also part of the classics that continue to be heard in his repertoire.

Review of the hand of Mederos

“Let’s take a look at the history. From time to time modernisms appear, reversals, behaviors that I don’t understand well, what we play is music from the 40s because I feel that up until that moment the tango, with a swollen chest, has made its way. Later, and without so much chest swelling, he shrunk and today he could be walking around the retirement home, “said Mederos, founder of one of the most interesting musical expressions, Generation Cero, in 1976.

And he added: “It will happen to all of us who don’t want to die young. We shouldn’t be afraid of that future. I’m just describing what happens with all things, they have their moment of expansion, then a plateau and then a decline.” If we don’t see it this way, it is because we have entered a magical world of memories that are not good for anyone. Let’s see, I would tell you that the golden age of tango lasted until ’55 “

“I review the music of the old guard and some of the new ones, playing compositions from that golden age, from the 40s to the 55s. I think I’m from the last generation who knew how to play and drink from those great artists”, Ha added.

“It is also true – he admitted – that I am at a time when I can no longer go up and play The Cumparsite no matter how much variation you put into it. I feel it’s not the thing there; you have to look for a sound that at least matches what is happening today. I have to look ahead but I don’t want anyone to feel hurt, I don’t deny the tango, it’s quite the opposite, I put it in its place “.

“We make songs by Augusto Berto (1889-1953), Arturo De Bassi (1890-1950), Angel Villoldo (1861-1919) and, of course, by Aníbal Troilo (1914-1975) and I also do a section that I call ‘Músicas de Patio ‘, which are the songs we used to listen to at home when my parents played the famous Circle Tango Glostora“, She said

“My training comes from there. And I remember that all of a sudden they passed The Pulpera of Santa Lucia or the chamamé Mary Janemusic that I really like and that I feel like a kind of tango, which hosts me as a drunk companion with my old folks who are no longer there “, concluded Mederos.

El Tata Cedrón performs with Daniel Frascoli on guitarrón, Julio Covierllo on bandoneon and Federico Terranova on viola; The Mederos trio is composed of Armando de la Vega on guitar, Sergio Rivas on double bass and Negro Falótico on vocals.

a personal story

Although Cedrón and Mederos have never shared a proposal, there is a little story behind these artists.

“I have a personal history with Mederos; in 1963 we went to Cordoba with Juan Gelman and Paco Urondo to do a recital. He didn’t have whole songs yet, for example, he sang a little and Juan said a poem, sang another piece, and Paco said another It was in that period that I met Mederos with a quintet he had, in 1965 he came to Buenos Aires on the advice of Piazzolla and I did the concert at the Gotán café (Talcahuano and Corrientes) where he performed with Eduardo Rovira, Piazzolla, Tarantino and many others also played at that time ”, recalls Tata Cedrón.

Information: Cuarteto Cedrón and Trio Rodolfo Mederos perform on Saturday 20 and 27 August at 10pm and Saturday in October at Torquato Tasso, Defensa 1575. Tickets $ 3,500 via Passline.co

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