The Trío Argentino was formed by Lucio Demare (b. 1906) on piano, and the voices of Agustín Irusta (b. 1902) and Roberto Fugazot (b. 1902).
Demare was a prodigy, playing the piano from an early age. In a 1974 interview with Osvaldo Soriano, Demare detailed his childhood and adolescence, and told how his father Domingo, a violinist, initiated him in music. The young Lucio started playing at the Tabarís Club at the age of 17. There he was a pianist in the Carabelli Jazz Band and met Francisco Canaro, who recorded several shimmies composed by Demare. Incidentally, there Demare also met and became friends with José Bohr.
Demare was a prodigy, playing the piano from an early age. In a 1974 interview with Osvaldo Soriano, Demare detailed his childhood and adolescence, and told how his father Domingo, a violinist, initiated him in music. The young Lucio started playing at the Tabarís Club at the age of 17. There he was a pianist in the Carabelli Jazz Band and met Francisco Canaro, who recorded several shimmies composed by Demare. Incidentally, there Demare also met and became friends with José Bohr.
In April 1925 Canaro was invited to play in Paris, and traveled with his brothers Juan and Rafael. The Canaro Orchestra was a huge success at the Florida Dancing at the Théâtre Apollo. When Canaro asked him to join him as an alternate pianist, Demare went to Paris with his father. Demare told Soriano that he met Rudolph Valentino, and this helps to place the date of Demare's arrival in Paris at January 1926. Demare also told Soriano of seeing Paul Whiteman at the Ambassadeurs in July 1926. Demare and his father worked to bring his mother and brothers, soon fater the family was reunited in Paris. Canaro recounted in his memoirs that Valentino suggested to him that the Orchestra visit New York.
From October to December 1926 Canaro and his brothers played at the Mirador Club in New York. Canaro's other orchestra continued to play in Paris, at the Florida and at the Thé Dansants that Harry Pilcer ran at the Hotel Claridge on the Champs-Élysées. In November Comœdia magazine published a glowing review of The Black Bottom Follies at the reopening of the Apollo, where the Canaro Orchestra was opening for Sam Wooding's Jazz players.
Francisco Canaro arrived in Buenos Aires on December 7, 1926. Juan and Rafael Canaro, and pianist Fiorivanti di Cicco, returned to Paris after Christmas. The Canaro Orchestra in Paris, now with two pianists, continued playing at the Florida and at the Claridge. Demare was in Paris when Charles Lindbergh landed in his Spirit of St. Louis on May 21, 1927, "the whole city was awake" he told Soriano. On June 2 the Canaro Orchestra was in a big South American Gala at the Opera, and in August they went Biarritz and played at the Pavillon Royal.
In Buenos Aires the same year, from March through late September, Francisco Canaro recorded extensively for Odeon, with newcomer Agustín Irusta as his chansonnier. He also recorded a handful of tracks with Fugazot and Irusta singing duet. Canaro and Irusta recorded their last track that year on September 30. Canaro then decided to return to France, and bring the singers to support the Orchestra. He also brought his younger brother Mario who played the bandoneon. Canaro said in his memoirs that he did not travel as an engaged musician, or even as director, that he was "mostly on vacation". But it's possible Canaro was also there for business, as the Apollo had changed hands, and the Florida engagement was no more.
On October 5 the Canaro Orchestra sans Canaro debuted at the Teatro Maravillas in Madrid. After conquering France the Canaros were finally coming to Spain. But Demare was not with them, he stayed in Paris playing for one "Orquesta Granados". Francisco Canaro arrived in Boulogne-sur-mer on October 18 on the Cap Polonio, and in Paris soon after, with Fugazot and Irusta in tow. The group reunited then traveled from Paris to Madrid in Canaro's Renault, and Canaro floated the idea of forming a Trío. Demare was just over 21-years old.
Since early November, the Canaro Orchestra had moved to the Maipu Pigall’s in Madrid. On November 25, 1927, the Trío appeared for the first time at the Maravillas, in a vignette entitled “Aires pampeanos”, as part of the revue “Noche loca”. They were an instant success. They also started singing at the Maipú Pigall's with the Canaro Orchestra.
Gardel returned from Buenos Aires to Barcelona on November 9, and in early December he moved to Madrid where he sang at the Romea. The Morocho spent New Year's Eve with Canaro, and singing with the Trío. On Wednesday January 11, 1928, the Trío and the Canaro Orchestra organized a monster party in honor of Gardel. Gardel then went back to Barcelona where three days later he recorded Demare’s tango Dandy.
Gardel then moved on to the Basque country and to France. Canaro soon returned to Buenos Aires, and his Orchestra folded at the Maipu Pigall's. The Trio played at the Maravillas until February 26. It was rumored that the management of the theater wanted to throw a party in recognition of their success, but apparently the offer was rejected. With this the Trío entered the Spanish lore, their life stories became the stuff of gossip columns in Spain.
On January 20 the magazine Nuevo Mundo published a review about the new interest in Tango in Madrid awakened by the presence in the city of Carlos Gardel and the Trio. The article records the first photo of the formally constituted Trio. "Did you hear them at the Maravillas singing El Boyero?".
Along with their success in Madrid, came a recording contract. They moved to Barcelona and recorded their first track, Por el camino (Zamba del boyero), on February 28, 1928. For the next 3 years the Trío recorded for La Voz de su Amo, Gramophone UK’s subsidiary in Spain (His Master’s Voice). The critics loved their repertory full of Argentine folk songs, from Gatos to the "Pericón Nacional". Their recordings sold like hotcakes, "El boyero" was a hit and became one of their signature songs.
Spring of 1928 was a very busy season, a veritable Tango-fever took over Barcelona and all of Spain. Amongst others Bianco-Bachicha played at the Teatro Nuevo, with their star violinist Agesilao Ferrazzano and singer Teresa Asprella. The impresario Francesc Buxó signed the Trío and on March 10 they debuted at the Principal Palace in the Ramblas. The Trio came along with "their" new Orquesta, initially called it "Alma Criolla". Demare lead from the piano; his younger brother Lucas, Héctor Artola (formerly with Bianco-Bachicha), Pedro Polito and [???] played on bandoneons; Víctor Hugo and Jesús Fernández violins; and Romualdo Lo Moro on drums and bass. The Trío and the Típica also played at the cabaret Eden Concert, which was run by Buxó.
To get his "Alma Criolla" going Demare had "poached" LoMoro, Polito, Hugo and Fernández from Canaro's company. LoMoro had been with Canaro in Paris since 1925, it seems more plausible that Canaro was part of the deal as his brothers had too much work in France. Artola soon returned with Bachicha. During the following three years other musicians joined the Típica, such as Antonio Romano and Alberto Celenza on bandoneon; Samuel Reznik on violin; and Oscar Roma and Bernardo Stalman on double bass. But in general it seems the formation was fluid, with many Argentine players joining temporarily as they came to Europe and stopped in Barcelona. The name was soon simplified to "Orquesta Típica Argentina".
They played at the Principal Palace and the Eden Concert until mid June. Before going on a tour they recorded Demare's classic Mañanitas de Montmartre. In Summer they played at the Olympia in Valencia and the Concert Café in Alicante among others. The poet Enrique D. Cadícamo, known as the lyricist of hits by the Trio, arrived in Barcelona that Summer in the company of the singer Luis Scalón.
In Fall 1928 Buxó brought them back to the Eden Concert and to the Teatro Nuevo. The press kept talking about them, in November there was a melee in a cabaret where they were performing because Irusta had publicly expressed his sympathies for a local soccer team. Cadícamo went to Paris where Gardel was reaping new triumphs.
The Trío and the Orquesta spent sometime in the studio, and recorded Osvaldo Fresedo's Madre mía, which got plenty of playtime on radio. Perhaps coincidentally Osvaldo Fresedo and his orchestra had briefly touched ground in Barcelona a few days before on their way to Paris. The Típica also recorded a stunning version of Brignolo's Chiqué that shows that, without doubt, Demare was taking the orchestra in directions that Canaro never suspected. The energy of the players, their connection, the interplay of their instruments is truly ahead of its time.
Barcelona was then visited by a new contingent of Tango musicians and composers from Buenos Aires that tagged along the success of the Trío. The young Cátulo Castillo came with a full orchestra that included luminaries like the Malerba brothers, Roberto Maida and Miguel Caló (who used to play the bandoneón for one of Fresedo's orchestras in Buenos Aires). Cátulo's father, the writer and lyricist José González Castillo, also went to Barcelona too, as did the theater companies of Camila Quiroga and Rivera-de-Rosas.
The composers of Adiós muchachos, César Vedani and Julio Sanders, and the composer of La Cumparsita Gerardo Matos Rodríguez were in town too. And the singer Juan Giliberti also formed his own orchestra, Los Siete Ases. The press commented that there were more Argentine artists in Spain than in their country of origin. These orchestras enjoyed limited success while touring Spain for a few months, and then split.
In January 1929 they returned for a month to the Principal Palace in Barcelona, and in early February they recorded two Movietone videos in Parc Güell which are apparently lost. In these shorts they sang their popular songs Por el camino (El boyero), El carretero and Dandy.
Then they went on a small tour of Spain, with shows in Reus, Tarragona, Vilafranca, Lérida and Zaragoza. All of Spain was enthralled with them, their songs played on radio all over the peninsula. Their extensive repertory set them apart from other orchestras of the era, they changed it from day to day. In April 1929 they played for a couple of weeks at the Cine Avenida in Madrid, and were guests at the final show of the Compañía Rivera-De Rosas. The tour continued with shows at the Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo, the Teatro Arriaga in Bilbao and finally the Teatro Bretón in Logroño (La Rioja).
On April 23 Gardel returned to the Principal Palace in Barcelona for a short engagement. After 6 months singing at the Apollo in Paris. Gardel was back in yet another city that adored him, it was a sold out crowd every day until Sunday May 12. From May 16 to 26 Gardel appeared in Madrid at the Cine Avenida. Two days he had to be absent due to "an affliction", maybe he got a cold. Bachicha played at the Cine Argüelles in Madrid on those days. The press reported that Gardel was about to sign a movie contract with Paramount, the future beckoned.
May 1929 was an exceptional month in Spain. On May 9 the Ibero-American Exposition was inaugurated in Seville, many Latin American countries joined by opening their national pavillions. The tango orchestras of Cátulo Castillo, the brothers Canaro and Salvador Pizarro were there. Just a few days later, on May 20, the much larger and global Barcelona International Exposition opened too. Maybe the Seville commitments were already costly to Argentina, surely their presence in Barcelona was muted. On May 23 King Alfonso XII and the royal family were guests at a diner-gala hosted by industrialist André Citroën at a replica of Paris' Restaurant Les Ambassadeurs that was built in Montjuic for the Barcelona Expo. The Broadman-Alfaro Tango Orchestra and Billy Arnold's Jazz played, Americans Fowler and Tamara danced. Gardel stopped by to see the Expo before he sailed on June 1 on the steamship Conte Rosso, he arrived in Buenos Aires on June 17.
That month they were also very busy recording for La Voz de su Amo, including a curious "Tango Romanza" composed and played by Demare with the Típica's lead violin Samuel Reznik. On July 2 they played at the Teatro Circo in Reus.
In early September 1929 Cuban newspapers started announcing the imminent arrival of the Trío and the Típica claiming they had played for months at the Ambassadeurs in Paris (with Osvaldo Fresedo?), but we found no more evidence of this other than an earlier interview with Fugazot where he mentioned "they were going to Paris". He also mentioned the Trío's interest in playing in the United States where "no Argentine orchestra had been able to crack the market yet". For some unknown reason Fugazot was then forced to split with the group and travel to New York in transit to Havana. Osvaldo Fresedo was already in New York when Fugazot arrived on October 8, so we speculate that Fresedo and Fugazot met.
As imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, in early January 1930 another group arrived in Havana calling themselves "Trío Argentino", this one formed by Carlos Spaventa, Luis Scalón and guitarist Héctor Morales. They came to sum themselves to a goodbye party that Havana dedicated to Francisco Spaventa, Carlos's older brother. Demare and the Típica were still playing at the Sans Souci and had taken on new commitments at the Thé Dansants of the Hotel Almendares. The Típica then joined Irusta, Fugazot and Iriarte for a handful of shows at the Campoamor before the singers left for Mexico.
As a token of the gratitude of the city of Havana on Sunday March 30 at 10AM Ernesto Lecuona organized a party in honor of the Trío at the Teatro Payret. The show was a huge success, so much that they had to do a second show on April 4. Lecuona and Demare performed several numbers on two pianos, including Lecuona's new song Tus ojos azules. On April 1 the Teatro Campoamor also organized a big farewell party for the Trío and for Bachicha. Many Cuban artists were part of these functions, and the President of Cuba Gerardo Machado attended the show at the Campoamor. It seemed clear the Trío was going to return soon.
Demare, Irusta and the musicians of the Típica left St. Nazaire for Havana on the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique's steamer Cuba on September 19 at 4PM. On the 21st, at 1PM, they stopped at A Coruña in Spain. Bad weather complicated the crossing, it was hurricane season, the steamer arrived in Havana on October 1 at 8 AM. They were forced to start their show without Fugazot who boarded the liner Orizaba on October 13 and arrived in Havana on October 16.
Through November 28 they played at the famous Teatro Campoamor, sometimes playing three times a day (1PM, 5:15PM, 8:30PM). Havana loved them. The Cuban press noted that up until their visit the biggest Argentine Tango names to have visited the island were José Bohr and Francisco Spaventa. They included songs by Cuban pianist and composer Ernesto Lecuona in some shows, and premiered their version of Discépolo's Victoria, Canaro's Las vueltas de la vida and Delfino's Griseta (never recorded) in others. They also played on Cuban radio and at the cabaret Sans Souci in Arroyo Arenas, sharing the stage with a local jazz band and with Ignacio Piñeiro's Sexteto Nacional.
When their formal commitments to the Campoamor ended the Trío split temporarily: Demare stayed in Havana with the Típica, while Irusta and Fugazot decided to play in the interior of the island. They reached out to guitarist Rafael Iriarte from Argentina to join them, and in December they touched smaller cities like Cienfuegos, Matanzas, Camagüey and Santiago de Cuba. When Irusta, Fugazot and Iriarte returned to Havana on December 26 they played for the recluse of Havana's famous prison Castillo del Príncipe, and then again at the Campoamor sans Demare.
As imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, in early January 1930 another group arrived in Havana calling themselves "Trío Argentino", this one formed by Carlos Spaventa, Luis Scalón and guitarist Héctor Morales. They came to sum themselves to a goodbye party that Havana dedicated to Francisco Spaventa, Carlos's older brother. Demare and the Típica were still playing at the Sans Souci and had taken on new commitments at the Thé Dansants of the Hotel Almendares. The Típica then joined Irusta, Fugazot and Iriarte for a handful of shows at the Campoamor before the singers left for Mexico.
The Típica stayed behind in Havana, and played other venues like the Havana Yatch Club. It's unclear from the available evidence if Demare went to Mexico at all, or if Irusta and Fugazot went only with Iriarte. At the end of January the orchestra lost one of its members when Romualdo LoMoro decided to join Bachicha, who was coming to Havana to play at the Campoamor and at the cabaret Chateau Madrid. With his wife LoMoro also danced Tango and taught dancing. The Trio Spaventa-Scalón-Morales left with Francisco Spaventa for Mexico too.
It was quite the busy season in Havana, from March 13 through March 21 the Típica played at the Sans Souci for the American dancing couple of Rosita and Ramón. Ramón and Rosita were instrumental in bringing Osvaldo Fresedo to New York the previous September, and it's likely they had also met Demare and his Orchestra in Barcelona in May, or in France in Summer 1929 (or both). Irusta and Fugazot were back from Mexico on March 17 and joined the Típica at the Sans Souci.
They also recorded the exquisite vals Lupe, which has led to speculation about a relationship between Demare and Mexican star Lupe Vélez. Vélez's role in El Gaucho (with Douglas Fairbanks in 1926) made her the most popular Latin actress in Hollywood, and she was in several movies in 1929 transitioning from silent films to talkies. The newspapers mentioned that the Trio was going to California looking for a movie contract, and we know Lupe Vélez was in Sonora that February. But we have no evidence at all of a Demare-Vélez meeting in Mexico, or that they ever dated. Nonetheless, the piece was explicitly dedicated to Lupe.
In June they were at the Empire in Paris.
On October 12 Lucio and his family buried the youngest yet of the Demare brothers, Gabriel. He was 16 years old and was coming up as a pianist too. Maybe this is the inspiration for the somewhat dark and ominous Tango that Lucio composed and recorded the previous week.
They then traveled to Valencia that October, and were back in Madrid in November 1930, and played at the Alkázar and the Latina.
On December 14 they arrived in Havana again and played for weeks at the Teatro Nacional and the cabaret Chateau Madrid. Demare's memories of Cuba are fond, but he felt that they were losing their momemtum. Certainly the conditions had changed since their previous visit, the economic crisis caused by the stock market crash was already being felt. There was disagreement among the group members as Fugazot insisted on trying his luck in the USA.
Then they moved to Haiti and Puerto Rico with moderate success. Samuel Reznik split from the Típica and stayed in Cuba. In Venezuela Demare himself split, Irusta and Fugazot went to Perú without him. The Demare family arrived in Buenos Aires in January 1932. Irusta and Fugazot arrived later, from March through August they recorded a handful of tracks with Canaro and a gorgeous version of the vals Lupe with Osvaldo Fresedo. Fugazot then broke a leg in an accident and was disabled for 4 months.
The Trio (and some members of the Típica, including Lucas Demare) returned to Spain in late 1932, and for the next year recorded a few more tracks for La Voz de su Amo. They also starred in two movies, Boliche and Aves sin rumbo, directed by Antonio Graciani. Lucas moved on to movie-making.
They went back to Argentina in 1936 when the Spanish Civil War broke out. They started their own solo careers, Demare formed a new Orchestra with new singers.
The Trio had a reunion-tour in 1948 in Cuba, and recorded some tracks there.
Notes
1. While visiting Buenos Aires in 1928 the Spanish impresario Manuel Gorina invited Cátulo Castillo to form a band, presumably to ride on the coattails of the Trio Argentino's success. The troupe Castillo hastily put together included:
Director: Cátulo Castillo
Piano: Alfredo Malerba
Violin: Estanislao Savarese - Carlos Malerba
Bandoneon: Pablo Emilio Flores - Miguel Caló - Ricardo Malerba - Carlos Leonetto
Guitar and voice: Roberto Maida
They arrived in Barcelona on the steamship Diulio on November 12, 1928. Ironically the press remarked on the longevity of the group as a "guarantee for their success". In Barcelona they performed at the dancing Excelsior and the Teatro Principal Palace for a few weeks, and then went to Madrid.
In December the Orquesta Típica Los Siete Ases also arrived in Barcelona. They had a very limited success in Madrid. The orchestra was integrated by:
Director: Gerardo Martínez
Piano: J. Regino Bova
Violin: Ángel Grach - G. Zorrilla Fernández
Bandoneon: Roberto Licciardi
Bajo: A. Zorrilla Fernández
Cantante: Juan Giliberti
On January 8, 1929, Cátulo's orchestra performed at the Royalty and at the Maipu Pigall's, and Juan Giliberti ocassionally joined them. Then from January 16 to 22 Cátulo's orchestra recorded 17 tracks with Maida, presumably in Madrid, including songs such as Malevaje, Qué vachaché, Lorenzo and Chiqué. We estimate that around that time Giliberti and Los Siete Ases were also in the recording studio, perhaps sharing the studio with Cátulo.
Los Siete Ases then went on short tour of Alicante and Valencia, and soon after the group disbanded. Cátulo's orchestra continued in Madrid, playing in small venues. Caló and Flores returned to Buenos Aires in April 1929, and were replaced by Alberto Cima and Américo de Cuadri. In early June the group played for King Alfonso XIII at the inauguration of the theater of the Argentine pavilion at the Ibero-American Esposition in Seville. Then they returned to Madrid to perform at the Latina and others. We think that the orchestra disbanded before the end of the year. Cátulo returned to Buenos Aires and Maida stayed and then went to France.
2. Héctor Artola was with Bachicha in Havana, evidently his job with Demare's Orquesta Típica Argentina was incidental. Pedro Polito also stayed for little time, though he contributed his compositions until 1930. He also joined Bachicha and returned to Buenos Aires around 1931. The sheet for his beautiful tango Escucháme is a touching memento of one point in time.
3. When Luis Scalón arrived in Barcelona in Summer 1928, he joined Spaventa and Morales, and soon after recorded a handful of tracks for La Voz de su Amo. In early 1929 Scalón sang on occasions with Los Siete Ases. Then in Fall 1929, and before they went to Havana, the Trío Spaventa-Scalón-Morales appeared in Paris for a few weeks in a small cabaret sharing the stage with the great Russian artist Alexander Vertinski. We think they split after their trip to Mexico: Carlos Spaventa went to New York to join his brother Francisco and Don Alberto Infantas, while Scalón went back to France.
5. While the interview with Soriano is full of details about his debut and coming of age, Demare's timeline of events is a bit murky, in particular when it comes to his memories of Gardel. Demare, for example, says that Gardel was with him at the Ambassadeurs seeing Paul Whiteman in 1926, but there's general agreement that Gardel did not visit in Paris before April 1928, well after he recorded Dandy. It seems far more likely that they met in Madrid in December 1927, but if there's a minor possibility the 1926 story is true then it's truly a surprise.
Bibliography
1. El Tango en España by Juan Manuel Peña (Abrazos, 2010)
2. El Tango, el bandoneón y sus intérpretes by Oscar Zucchi (Corregidor, 1998)
3. Mis bodas de oro con el tango by Francisco Canaro (Corregidor, 1957)
4. Interview with Lucio Demare, by Eduardo Soriano, 1974 (todotango.com)
Acknowledgements
1. Leonardo Palludi in Porto, for his invaluable input to this article and the Discography.
4. El Firulete for his awesome YouTube channel5. Camilo Gatica y Mark John, for their incredible work restoring glory to the sound of an era.
Revision history
1. The original version of this article is being published on March 21, 2022
2. A revised version was announced on April 26, 2024, lots of new pictures and videos and stories.
3. The Notes were added in August 2024.
Dedicatory
To Emilio and Rosita in Barcelona 💚