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Pianist, singer, leader and composer.
(December 18, 1904 - July 14, 1954) |
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He attended a grammar school belonging to the Nuestra
Señora de Buenos Aires parish, where he showed his inclination
towards music and singing, he took part of the Schola Cantorum of the
church.
In 1915, the Club Social América organized a
show at the Cine Teatro Excelsior, where the child Manuel Buzón
with a female partner interpreted with ease and nice vocal abilities
El dúo de los paraguas. On the same show the young boy Elvino
Vardaro played on violin the Ballet fantasies.
In subsequent years he re-edits public performances
as the one held at the parish celebrating May 25th in 1917, when he
presented the comic-musical play "La Risa" (the laughter) with great
success. In 1922, as pianist, he was part of a trio which dug classical
music.
In 1924, the year when he graduated as piano and solfège
teacher, he saw from his house how the antennas for LOY Radio Nacional
Flores station were being installed on Boyacá street, a few meters
from Avellaneda avenue. This spellbound him and so he went to the broadcasting
station to offer his artistic collaboration to Mr.Penella, its owner.
All through 1925 he performed on that station as pianist
and singer. By that time the Orquesta Típica Ziccaro was working
successfully on that station. That year he also participated in an important
festival at the Cine Varela, a cinema on 1136 Varela street where all
the LOY´s artists were featured, among them there was the Quiroga-Páez
Aranda-Palacios trio who played guitar pieces and national songs, the
national actor Federico Mansilla who recited the best of his repertory
and miss Herminia Velich who sang the latest tangos accompanied on piano
by the maestro Rovelli.
In October that year, the Buzón´s orchestra
accompanied miss Rosita Quiroga on Victor´s
recording No. 79571, on the tango "El último cariño",
by A. Marengo and the tango "Calla corazón" by Buzón
himself.
In early 1926, the magazine Reflejos highlighted the
quality of Manuel Buzón´s compositons, nonwithstanding his
merits as chansonnier, by spotlighting his tangos "Calla corazón",
"La maestrita", with lyrics by J.
Martinelli Massa, "Acacia" and the shimmy "Gentil
marquesita".
In July 1926, on LOY station´s second anniversary,
Manuel Buzón held the office of secretary of Artistic Direction
in that broadcasting, what was no obstacle for his performances there,
either as singer or as conductor of the Orquesta Típica formed
by the maestros Antonio
Sureda, Francisco Gomara and Aurelio Ruiz. Announced by the speaker
born in the province of Corrientes, Lorenzo Vico Torrá, the bandoneon
champion Ricardo
Luis Brignolo and the tango singer Elena Piana, accompanied on piano
by his brother Sebastián,
also performed on that radio station.
In February 1927, when Buzón was LOY Artistic
Director, Jaime Yankelevich bought the station which later would be
Radio Belgrano. In that year Buzón premiered his beautiful tango
"Cancionero" which was firstly sung by Azucena
Maizani and with which Agustín Magaldi
later achieved a memorable interpretation.
At the beginning of 1928, he made known his tango "Mediodía"
with lyric by Celedonio Flores. This tango
was recorded for Victor records by Alberto Vila,
a notable imitator of Gardel in
the shows by the "Troupe" Ateniense of Montevideo.
In May 1928 Buzón had his début at the
Villa Crespo cinema leading his orchesta where he was conductor, pianist
and chansonnier. The orchestra was formed by the violinist Ventura Villar,
the bandoneon players Guillermo Lértora and Héctor Baldi
and Agustín Furchi on double bass.
In early 1929, he made his tango "¡Ufa! ...
¡qué secante!" be known, in which he expressed a certain
amount of humor. On May 29, 1929 Buzón embarked on the Conte
Verde towards Spain in the company of an enlarged orchestra integrated
by: V. Villar and J. R. Rodríguez on violins; R. Gargiulo, H.
Baldi and V. R. Fumagalli on bandoneons and F. Dal Molin on double bass.
He was also accompanied by the singer Oscar Carranza (of the Mendía-Carranza
duo).
Buzón´s successful tour started since his
appearance in the Exposición Internacional of Barcelona and continued
in each of the shows in the different Spanish cities he visited, such
as the presentation in the Palacio de Oriente before the Kings. Buzón´s
orchestra appeared in the Principal Palace of Barcelona on August 26,
1929, achieving an outstanding triumph when interpreting: "El
entrerriano", "Pájaro azul" and "Cancionero".
Due to the success achieved and the renewal of contracts,
Buzón enhanced his repertory with new pieces, among which we
can number: "Malevaje",
"Alma en pena",
"Mama, yo
quiero un novio", "Piedad",
"La cumparsita",
"Alma tanguera", "Cachadora",
"Duelo criollo",
"Vayan saliendo". The waltzes: "Cuando llegue el amor",
"Soledad", "Ilusión". The zambas: "Por
el camino", "Tu corazón". The tonada: "Las
margaritas" and the milonga "Idilio campero".
They also performed in the Teatro Cómico and
at the Radio of Barcelona and recorded for Victor under the label "His
Master´s Voice", the disc Nº AE 2810, with the zamba "La
Tupungatina", sung by Buzón and Carranza and the tango "Cancionero",
sung by Buzón. He also recorded the disc AE 2811 with the tonada
"Las margaritas" sung by Buzón and Carranza and the
instrumental tango "El entrerriano".
In September 1929, he said goodbye to Barcelona at
the Principal Palace with a great end of party.
In October 1929 he had his début in Madrid at
the Maipú Pigall's nightclub, then continuing with his performances
at the Real Cinema. Afterwards in 1930 he appeared at the Teatro Principal
in Madrid, later at the Central Cinema in Murcia, at the Central in
Alicante and at the Café Central in Cartagena. Finishing his
successful tour he inaugurated the monumental Salón Moderno in
the International Expo in Sevilla.
In February 1930, Manuel Buzón embarked towards
Buenos Aires with some of his partners.
In spite of the success attained in England and due
to the financial situation of our country when he returned, he did not
find the conditions to continue with his successful artistic career.
During that year he devoted to composition and made to be known his
numbers "Madrugada", "Ojos negros" and "Tarde
gris"; but especially the tango "Bigotito"
with lyric by Ismael
R. Aguilar and J.
Martinelli Massa, published by Perroti.
Only in August 1930 he appeared with his orchestra
at the Teatro Rívoli on Triunvirato Street in Villa Crespo.
In February 1931 he began his radio performances on
the broadcastings LR2, LR9 and LS2 of the Radio Prieto´s programming,
subsequently switching to Radio El Mundo. He also appeared at the Teatro
Marconi on 2230 Rivadavia Street, with the chansonnier Teófilo
Ibañez, both achieving a great success with the zamba "Por
el camino". Besides his work on radio, Manuel Buzón and
his sexteto típico coreado played daily at the Bar-Billares "Río
de la Plata" on 1114 Gaona Street at the corner of Parral Street.
On August 17, 1931, the newspaper "Jornada" organized
an artistic programme in front of its building on Avenida de Mayo broadcasted
by Radio Prieto to entertain the audience gathered there to listen to
the megaphoned report of the fight between our "torito" Suárez
and Rossi. The event commenced with the Buzón´s orchestra
interpreting the tangos "Buen
amigo" and "El entrerriano"; later the waltz "La
serenata de ayer" sung by Teófilo Ibañez and
closed his show with the tango "Bigotito"
sung by Osvaldo Moreno.
In September 1931 Buzón appeared with his orchestra
at the famous radio show sponsored by Vino Toro (a brand of wine) on
Radio Prieto. At the same show, the following artists performed: Virginia
Vera (the rancheras´ queen) and her guitarists, the brothers Rodríguez,
Amanda Ledesma with the guitarists Canattaro
and Pedretti, Teófilo Ibáñez with the guitars of
Barone, Barbieri and Lynch, Charlo with the
guitars of Besada, Alonso and Arrieta and the humoristic Gedeón
Trio.
In March 1932, at the show "El tango porteño"
held at the Teatro Nacional and which intended to portray the history
of our song showing its musical evolution, Manuel Buzón appeared
with his orchestra representing the then (we are talking of 1932) today´s
tango. Yesterday´s tango before the bandoneon appearance (so the
notice advertised) was impersonated by the Guardia Vieja (old school)
orchestra organized by Juan
Carlos Bazán and integrated by: Ernesto
Ponzio, Enrique Saborido, José
Luis Padula, Juan Carlos Bazán, V. Pecchi, E. J. Muñecas,
A. Palavecino, E. Aspiazú, E. Arbal, D. Pizarro and F. Polonio.
In April 1932 he performed on the broadcasts LS4 Radio
Porteña and LS9 La Voz del Aire.
In May that year he played during the first important
raffle of coupons provided by "Caranchos" cigarettes which took place
at the Teatro Onrubia on Victoria Street at the corner of San José
Street. In June he played on LR4 Radio Prieto at shows sponsored by
Vino Toro on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays sharing the radio show
with the Gómez-Vila duo. On Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Saturdays the show was shared with Adhelma Falcón
and the Corrao Triay duo.
In October 1932 the radio and theater Programming is
started from the Monumental, where the artists are: Buzón´s
orchestra (Alfredo Gobbi on violin was added
) and the singers Osvaldo Moreno and Félix Gutiérrez;
the orquesta típica Caló with
the singer Carlos Dante; Nelly
Omar with guitarists Canattaro and Pedretti; the típica infantil
Favero, with four precocious musicians and the child singer Enrique
Santillán; the Trío Gedeón with comic parodies;
Adhelma Falcón with the guitarists Aguilar,
Barbieri and Riverol; Mario
Pardo and his guitar unit and the dancing partners Domínguez-Espeche;
the Cobián quartet with Juan C. Cobián
on piano; Ignacio Corsini and the guitars
of Pagés, Pesoa and Maciel, and the orchestra led by Julio
de Caro with the singer Rodríguez
Lesende.
The Buzón´s oechestra played in November
1932 on LR9 Radio Fénix and had his début in December
at the Cine familiar Villa Crespo on 835 Triunvirato Street.
In early 1933 at the Luna Park stadium is held a contest
to establish the best tangos of the year. The newspaper Crítica
was in charge of the scrutiny in March 1933 and the voting threw the
following result: first prize (3.000 pesos) "El mareo" by
Julio de Caro; second prize (1.000 pesos)
"Octavio" by Octavio Portela Cantilo; third prize (consolation
price) "Después hablamos" by Manuel Buzón; fourth
prize (consolation prize) "El tábano" by Baliotti and
Ginzo. The party intended to award the winners was held at the Teatro
Onrubia, where the first semifinal for dancers was also held in the
First National Tango Championship with the participation of the Nueva
Pompeya, Vélez Sarsfield, Parque Patricios, Boca and Barracas
champions.
In March 1934 Buzón played on Radio París
and in December he included the singer Roberto Zheman. In 1935 he played
on LS9 La Voz del Aire radio station with a big orchesta composed by
the following musicians: J. C. Horiasol, M. Fernández, D. Loria,
A. Vázquez, J. Ferreyra, F. Mancini, A. Ruiz, A. Marraccini,
J. Corleto and the singer Roberto Delmar.
The orchestra premiered his tango Viejo penar and later
in October performed on LS1 Radio Municipal, now with the singer Oscar
Carranza.
In 1936 he played on LS10 Radio Callao and Radio Municipal.
In June he required the inclusion of the singer Amadeo Mandarino who
had been singing in the cuarteto Melodía. In 1937, always with
Mandarino he appeared on LR4 Radio Splendid and on Radio Rivadavia.
In 1938 the orquesta Buzón played at the carnival
balls for a banking institution in Bahía Blanca.
Manuel Buzón continued his artistic work across
the country until he reappeared in 1942 on Radio El Mundo. In this year
he made known the milonga "Mano
brava" with lyrics by Enrique Cadícamo
and the tango "Al cerrar los ojos" with lyrics by César
Vedani.
In 1943 he carried on his activity on Radio El Mundo,
and irregularly appearing in subsequent years at places such as the
Club Haedo Juniors for the carnival balls in 1947.
Between 1942 and 1943 he recorded numerous renditions
for Odeon records.
Manuel Buzón died on July 14, 1954, leaving
an invaluable page in the history of our popular music.He made a cult
of tango and he fought here and abroad to spread the pure essence of
Argentine tango. An inspired composer of great evocative quality, he
will be remembered as one of the links who bridged two unequaled periods
of our urban music.
Published in:
Músicos de Tango en los Barrios, six. Interjuntas, 1997. |
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