on of Aniceto Rossi, also double bass player and important founding member of the Osvaldo Pugliese orchestra, Alcides had, as from the mid- 1950’s, a significant importance in the history of our tango because he played in a large number of orchestras.

He inherited a special way of playing the string bass and a talent of his own that allowed him to adapt himself to different music styles, so opposed like Pugliese’s and Troilo’s for example. Those skills were little by little achieving for him the prestige that his well-known father had reached in the past.

Completely involved in the «Pugliesian» way, his strict marcato a tempo, the «yumba» glissando with the bottom of the bow against the strings, the strong percussion on the body of the bass and the wide use of the bow in the solo passages, were features of his sound, his style within the orchestra style itself.

Above we have said there were many orchestras in which he played. He made his debut in the one led by Cristóbal Herreros, to later switch to the ones of Alfredo Gobbi, Florindo Sassone, José Basso and the one fronted by the singer Alberto Morán, led by the pianist Armando Cupo, and which included important players like Pascual Cholo Mamone, Ernesto Baffa, Luis Stazo, Juan Salomone and Oscar D´Elia (bandoneons); Reynaldo Nichele, Ernesto Gianni, Emilio Fariña and Fidel de Luca (violins).

Thereafter he had to face a quite interesting challenge: joining the great orchestra led by Aníbal Troilo, and his responsibility was no less than replacing Enrique Kicho Díaz. At the same time, along with two fellow players of the orchestra, the pianist Osvaldo Berlingieri and the bandoneonist Alberto García, they put together the Los Modernos trio, for recording with the Polaco Roberto Goyeneche.

When he was appearing alongside Troilo at the Enrique Santos Discépolo’s sainete criollo Caramelos surtidos, in a staging of 1960, his father Aniceto was about to retire and was leaving his place in the Pugliese orchestra. Even though Alcides himself had told his father not to suggest him as substitute, he was summoned to join the orchestra and Alcides, with Pichuco’s encouragement, changed of style.

His debut with Pugliese was in the city of Rosario in the mid- 1960 and he would stay for eight years, cutting interesting recordings like, for example the tango “Canaro en París”, in an arrangement by Julián Plaza for a quartet for bandoneons and double bass, recorded in October 1965 for the Philips label. He also played in the renowned recording of the tango “La mariposa”, in April 1966 for the same recording company.

Another outstanding performance of his is in the tango “Bandoneón arrabalero”, arranged by Víctor Lavallén, in which he backs the entering of the solo part of the bandoneon section with a big sound, playing a “cushion” with the whole bow for the showcasing of the bandoneons.

This brilliant stage of the Osvaldo Pugliese orchestra had these unforgettable figures: Osvaldo Ruggiero, Víctor Lavallén, Julián Plaza and Arturo Penón (bandoneons); Oscar Herrero, Emilio Balcarce, Julio Carrasco –until 1966- and Raúl Domínguez (violins); Norberto Bernasconi (viola), Enrique Lannoo (cello) and Alcides Rossi on double bass.

In March 1968 he embarked on the foundation of the today historical Sexteto Tango, along with Ruggiero, Plaza, Lavallén, Herrero, Balcarce and the singer Jorge Maciel. They established a new music style –close to Pugliese’s-, but with an identity of their own. I dare to say it was the last genuine tango style.

They traveled around the world on successful tours and recorded a series of impeccable records for the RCA-Victor label. In 1987 Lavallén was the first to quit and later, Plaza. Years later, with the deaths of Ruggiero and Herrero, the group was dismembered.

There were some attempts to put it together again but they were in vain. Alcides Rossi played in all their recordings with the qualities we emphasized above. Some renditions, already classics, of the wide repertoire might be the tangos “Rawson”, “Tema otoñal”, “Tanguera”, “Danzarín”, “Nochero soy”, “A fuego lento”, “Bordoneo y 900” , “La bordona” and “El choclo”.

Towards the late 1990’s, he was summoned by Luis Stazo and José Libertella to join them on a tour of Europe with the Sexteto Mayor. He also played with the groups led by Julián Plaza and Víctor Lavallén; and as a special guest artist, contributing with his experience, he joined the Orquesta Escuela de Tango, in some master workshops.

The double bass, that «big one» indispensable in any music group, found in maestro Alcides Rossi a schooled player, a stylist who knew how to enrich it, honoring his family dynasty.