Homage | Osvaldo Fresedo
From "El portal del tango"  the recognition to one of its biggest protagonist; on the 17º anniversary of his death. A sad November 18th, for all the tango lovers.
 
Bandoneon player, director and composer
 
He was born on May 5th, 1897, In his house situated in Lavalle 1606, his parents were:  Nicolás Fresedo and Clotilde García; he moved to La Paternal in 1910, and he was known as: "El pibe de la Paternal”) The boy of La Paternal). He studied music with Pacho Desrets and bandoneon with Manuel Firpo. In 1913 he began to play in public in a Juvenile triplet with his brother Emilio in violin  (he would be, later on, the lyricist of most of his tangos) and Martín Barreto in guitar, they acted in   "Open Door", in Paulín Café and in itinerant performances. Then, in company of Antonio Basso and Enrique Modesto, he acted in  “Café Maldonado”, in A.B.C.   (situated in Córdoba and Canning street) and he presented himself in Ventirita and Tontolín situated in Triunvirato Street. In  1913 his composer side woke up with the song:  “El espiante”(The spy) (Also called  “La ronda” (The beat), it was sang for the first time by Augusto Pedro Berto in Corrientes street café. In 1915 he played in the different dancing places with José Martínez and his brother Emilio. In 1916 they acted in “Cabaret Montmartre” with Francisco Canaro and Martínez. The presentations began to grow as his popularity; he was hired to perform with Celestino Ferrer and Vicente Loduca. With Loduca he recorded for R.C.A. forming an anthology duet. In 1918 he was hired to perform in Julio de Caro´s group with other important interpreters and they acted in “Casino Pigalli”, but in 1919 he had to leave the group to travel to USA and then he would be the director of a smaller orchestra called: “La Típica Select”, with   Roccagliata in violin and Enrique Delfino in piano, recording in USA. with this orchestra he recorded several albums for Víctor company. In 1921 he formed his fliles again, the ones who played there were:  Cobián, Roccatagliatta, Francia, Alberto Rodríguez as second bandoneon and   Leopoldo Thompson in bass,  (some time later other musicians were incorporated to the orchestra). They recorded and acted in Mar del Plata in  “Abdullah club” of the town, in Victoria theatre and in sophisticated places. In 1924 and 1925 he continued recording, as director, for   Victor company, who registered his first album totally Argentine, and for Odeón, with Carlos Gardel. In 1928 he traveled to act in the following cabarets from Paris: “El Garrón”,  “Lido” and “Ambassadeurs”. In 1930 he returned to New York as an orchestra director, just as in 1934, to play in the city theatres and in the NBC. Precursor in the introduction of the cello, the harp, the drums and the vibraphone, in the typical orchestras and owner of an elegant and unmistakable style. He acted in several radio stations and he recorded for Víctor and some other companies. He acted in all kind of sceneries inside and outside the country. He composed several tangos such as: “Panchito”, “Oro y Seda”(Gold and silk), “Muchachita de Montmartre”(Young girl from Montmartre), “Cielito mío”(Heaven of mine), “Arrabalero”,  “Perdón”(Pardon), “Viejita”, “Meneguina”, “7 pelos”(7hairs), “El cuco”(The cuckoo), “El matecito”, “Sollozos”(Sobs), “Desde las nubes”(From the clouds), “Lina”, “Ídolos”(Idols),  “Hablamos claramente” (Speak clearly), “La ratona”(The mouse), “Pinturita”(Painting), “Porque?”(Why?),  “Ronda de ases”, “Rosarina linda”(Pretty Rosarina), “Una gota de rocío”(Drop of dew),    "Pimienta" (Pepper), "Tarila", among others. He liked the   sport aviation examples of that were his tangos,  "Desde las Nubes" (From the clouds) and "La ratona"(The mouse) (The name of his light plane). In his orchestra participated several remarkable artists such as: Carlos Gardel, Agustín Magaldi, Ada Falcón, Mercedes Carné, Tito Schippa, Pedro Vargas, Roberto Yarnes, Daniel Riolobos and Roberto Goyeneche. He recorded “Dos 78” (Two 78) with the American Trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie, creator of the  “bebop”, and a jazzy modality of advanced. Several collegues dedicated some tangos to him”: Cara Sucia"(Dirty face) (Francisco Canaro), "Chacarita" (Julio De Caro) and "Milonguero viejo" (Carlos Di Sarli. This remarkable man, who had a very peculiar way of playing the bandoneon, continued working until 1981. He left us, very beautiful tangos, but nothing had overcome his orchestra sound, a sound in which it was reflected his refined temperament and his instrumental balance. For his trajectory he obtained a privilege place civic  music. He died in Buenos Aires on November 18th, 1984
 
His musical style, according to himself:
 
 “I believe that the thing we must do, is to give to the audience a simple music, without complications, as for the melody, it must be well understood, and at the same time to increase the sonority, but without strange sounds. The difficult thing is to find the sound balance of a group. It is not difficult to have a solo of  violin, or bandoneon and to keep the rest doing abreast. All the orchestra must sound good. Here the director begins to play adding a little bit of taste. The people"

 
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