t an age when children usually begin to play he had already fell for the Buenos Aires music. Because of that Jorge Valdez belongs to the group of great vocalists that dared to be in touch with the elves of tango.

Owning an inborn sensitivity, Leo was born in Buenos Aires in the neighborhood of Villa Urquiza. Since an early age his encounter with music began because when he was ten years old his mother advised him to study piano playing. His gifts as player and his great personality allowed him to make a fast progress in his studies. So five years later he appeared, on four occasions, at the radio program El Piano en la Argentina.

However, his greatest passion was singing and he started to “display his inclination” by singing at family parties and meeting with friends, to later perform at locals in the city.

Carlos Lazzari, bandoneonist of the Juan D’Arienzo Orchestra, heard him sing at the Aconcagua cinema theater of Villa Devoto and soon later he introduced him to the leader. He auditioned for the latter and sang the tangos “Eras como la flor”, “Remembranza” and the waltz “Quemá esas cartas”. He passed the examination and in 1957 he joined the orchestra led by the Rey del Compás under the sobriquet Jorge Valdez to sing along with Mario Bustos, replacing the consecrated Alberto Echagüe and Armando Laborde. He recorded his first record, the tango “Andate por Dios”, on May 8, 1957. Later came “Destino de flor”, “La calesita” and “El reloj”, a tango version of the famous bolero.

During his tenure in the orchestra he recorded 117 numbers, thirteen of them in duo, firstly with Mario Bustos and later –in chronological order– with Horacio Palma, Héctor Millán and Armando Laborde, who in 1964 had joined the orchestra again. Among the pieces recorded by Jorge Valdez in a duo setting, the most successful was milonga “Baldosa floja” with Mario Bustos as the other singer.

Among the recordings with D’Arienzo, we remember: “Adiós Chantecler”, possibly his best rendition, “Remembranza”, “Estrella”, “La calesita”, “En el cielo”, “Casita de nácar”, “Hasta siempre amor”, “Se llamaba Eduardo Arolas”, “Ave de paso”, “Clavel del aire”, “Adiós corazón”, “Un solo minuto de amor”, “Marinera”, “Tu noche es mi noche” and “Chirusa”, the most popular.

As for the latter piece we would like to explain that “Chirusa”, composed by Juan D’Arienzo and Nolo López in the twenties, was recorded by his author three times. The first one in 1928 with the refrain sung by Carlos Dante. The second on May 17, 1940 with Alberto Reynal and the third on October 29, 1958 with Valdez.

Divine Fat Man or Cuore, as was called by his close friend the singer Roberto Mancini, had an easy unmistakable phrasing with a tenor-like voice, warm and melodic. He was like a skylark producing “falsettos” plenty of rich overtones.

He cut his last tango with Juan D’Arienzo, “Amor de verano”, on November 18, 1964. The following year he split with the orchestra and was replaced by Osvaldo Ramos. The latter sang with Florindo Sassone keeping his true name: Osvaldo De Sanctis.

Subsequently he recorded with maestro Osvaldo Requena, with whom he reprised songs of his repertoire and also added “Gricel”, “En esta tarde gris”, “Carillón de La Merced”, “Verdemar” and “Nubes de humo”, among others. Later he recorded with the accompaniment of the orchestea led by Alberto Di Paulo nice renderings of “Barrio de tango”, “Fuimos”, “La canción de Buenos Aires”, “La vi llegar”, “Mimí Pinsón”, “Por una cabeza”, “Una piba como vos” and “Cuando un amigos se va”.

To further highlight the great sensitivity of Jorge Valdez, we have an anecdote that Rafael Brescia told us. The latter accompanied him with his guitar group on many occasions. In the nineties Brescia had recorded a tape with Carlos Gardel’s voice but had replaced the guitars that usually accompanied the latter by other five that the former led. «On a day I was taking Jorge in my car I made him hear the tape. While he listened I saw a tear roll down his face. That was the best reward for my work.»

During his career as soloist Valdez joined different “tango embassies” together with Carlos Dante, Alberto Morán, Floreal Ruiz and Ricardo Ruiz and with Jorge Dragone as orchestra leader. These tours allowed him to appear on different stages and venues throughout America.

His records, since the period he performed with D'Arienzo, made him very popular in Colombia. Its people regarded him as an idol and his performances at theaters, coliseums and bullfighting arenas even today are remembered with love and admiration. Raúl Iriarte, former vocalist with Miguel Caló and successful impresario in Bogotá, as well summoned him to appear alongside Juan Carlos Godoy, Armando Moreno, Jorge Ortiz, Oscar Larroca and Roberto Mancini. His last stint at that country was in 2001. He also appeared in Australia. The cities of Melbourne and Sydney enjoyed his voice and his unmistakable style.

Prior to all this, in April 1990, Jorge had a severe car accident on the new Buenos Aires-La Plata highway, near Dock Sur. He had several injures and was taken to the Fiorito hospital. His tongue had a deep cut and after a long period of medical treatment he recovered.

By then Jorge was quite disappointed and felt like quitting the singing business. But his friends encouraged him to go on and made him follow new and demanding exercises of re-education and voice emission. He appeared again at the Rincón de los Artistas, a classic tango local placed on Álvarez Jonte and Boyacá. But he feels that he is not the same as before. So much so that once he finished his show on the stage, angry at his performance he told his partners: «I'm deceiving people. And that's what I don't want to.»

In spite of that Jorge continued with his re-education drills in order to place again his voice at the level of his normal range. But it was not easy because his style demanded a great effort. He was a singer with a treble range, he was not a “diseur” grown accustomed to whisper lyrics. His inborn technical facility and his strong will helped him to leave behind that bad situation so as to return to the world of singing.

However, Jorge Valdez that had overcome all the consequences of that sad episode, was unable years later to pull himself together after his wife Laura's death. Even though he had the support of his friends and the love of his daughter, instead of making an effort, he gave in and fell into a deep depression.

He continued to appear at tango venues in Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata and Tucumán, but he was no longer the same and then with his broken heart he died of a liver ailment in the Sanatorio Colegiales of the Federal Capital.

He composed two pieces: “Por favor no vuelvas” in collaboration with Celso Amato and lyrics by Raúl Hormaza, and “Olvidemos todo” with lyrics by Santiago Adamini. He recorded both numbers with the Juan D'Arienzo Orchestra.