ue to his characteristics he could have been a singer with Juan D'Arienzo, but he wasn’t, not even was he close to join him. But why do I say this? Because he was a baritone with a small voice and a nice phrasing in a quite porteño way that reminds me, at times, of Alberto Echagüe’s style.

He had a good intonation and was a correct vocalist and even in his time he joined Julio De Caro but that was not enough for him to stand out. In fact, it was very difficult to stand out by that time when so many great vocalists appeared, maybe the best ones of all times.

However, we think that all these boys who longed to be singers contributed with something to the history of the genre and, in the case of Taibo, we can mention as example two magnificent interpretations: the tangos “Para Corrientes”, a not very well-known number in the De Caro’s oeuvre and the classic “Esta noche”, both recorded with the maestro’s orchestra.

In his career he joined a large number of orchestras. He made his debut with the one led by the bandoneonist Luis Moresco. He joined the Miguel Padula’s aggregation. In 1940 he was vocalist in the group headed by Daniel Álvarez and, a little bit later, in the outfit fronted by Roberto Dimas that played at the mythical Café Ebro. Furthermore, for over a year he appeared at the cabaret Ocean Dancing in the riverside area —Leandro N. Alem Ave. and Sarmiento— as vocalist of the Félix Guillán orchestra.

In 1945 he was summoned by the violinist Antonio Arcieri and, two years later, he was at the Tango Bar on Corrientes Street with the Enrique Mora quartet with which he also appeared in Mar del Plata and in large number of venues of the Greater Buenos Aires and at the interior. Mora was the one who named him Roberto Taibo, his definitive stage name.

In the early 1949 he began his most important stage when he was summoned by Juan Cambareri to share the bill with the other vocalist of the aggregation, Alberto Casares. In October that same year he made his debut on record with two numbers for the Uruguayan label Sondor —teaming up with Casares— the waltz “Dime que no me olvidas” by Cambareri and words by Santiago Adamini, and the tango “Destellos”. But the best was yet to come.

In the early 1951 Orlando Verri split with the Julio De Caro orchestra and, to replace him, the bandleader hired Taibo. The other singer was Roberto Medina, well-remembered author of the tango “Pucherito de gallina”.

In July he recorded, teaming up with Medina, the waltz “Esmeralda”, written by De Caro with lyrics by Horacio Sanguinetti. In February 1952 he recorded “Para Corrientes” and, in August of the following year, he entered the recording studios for the last disc that Julio De Caro would cut. It included on the A side: “Derecho viejo” and on the other side: “Esta noche”, a tango that features him again. The singer had reached his peak.

In 1953 for a brief period he appeared with the Lorenzo Barbero’s aggregation in his appearances on Radio Belgrano. Thereafter he made a tour of the Atlantic coast with the Juan Polito orchestra.

In 1956 he made another tour of Brazil with the orchestra led by Juan Canaro and on his comeback to Buenos Aires he appeared at the cabaret Tabaris with the Talián brothers. In 1957 he sang again with Enrique Mora with whom he recorded “El llorón” (1958) and the waltz “Mascotita de marfil” (1959).

Between 1960 and 1964 he joined the Juan Sánchez Gorio orchestra with which he made tours throughout the interior, appearances on Radio El Mundo and two recordings: the foxtrot “La canción del linyera”, by Antonio Lozzi with words by Ivo Pelay and the tango “Qué vachaché”.

When he quit the latter aggregation he started a tour of the Argentine territory and, in the early seventies, he withdrew from all show business activities.

With this short portrayal remembering the figure of Roberto Taibo, we express our sincere homage to all those good singers who were not lucky as to become stars but who greatly contributed to our beloved tango.