hile Juancito plays the piano, one can stay for hours beside him. You have to relax, let yourself be carried because the trip may be quite interesting.

When we asked him to recall the past or the tangos of the 40s or that he showed us something of the updated avant-garde music, his ductility drove us to the core itself of the tango essence.

He is an excellent player and a patient hard-working teacher, highly respected by his peers and his students.

His command of tango styles is evidenced when he plays pieces of the repertoire of the great maestros. And he plays them the way Osmar Maderna, Horacio Salgán or Carlos Di Sarli, or the one we think of on the spur of the moment, would have played them. It turns out amazing how from his hands those musical models so dear to our memory are revived.

With a classical training, he delved into jazz and popular music and has devoted himself, for over fifteen years since, to the music of Buenos Aires as performer and arranger.

He was born in the neighborhood of San Cristóbal, in the center of the city of Buenos Aires.

Juan has accompanied great singers and has been member of several music groups. Among the artists above mentioned are the following: Marikena Monti, Carlos Varela, Silvia Gaudín, Gigí De Angelis and Mario Clavell, among others.

With Marikena he recorded as leader of her group: “Bailemos otra vez”, “A un semejante”, and “Nunca tuvo novio”, among others. With the singer Carlos Varela, his solos in the classics “Chau no va más” and “Farol” are standouts.

Furthermore, he cut a recording of only instrumental numbers, with just his piano. His renditions of “Pequeña” and “Mi refugio” are brilliant and offer us suggestive and romantic moods.

After the iniciative of the poet Horacio Ferrer, president of the Academia Nacional del Tango, in 2003 he was part of the teaching plan of the “Conservatorio de estilos Argentino Galván”, branch of that academy.

He composed the original music and was part of the musical direction of over forty theater plays, dancing shows and short movies directed by Santiago Doria, Omar Berti, Luisa Grinberg, Santiago Serrano, Ismael Hase and Mónica Maffia, just to cite a few examples.

In 2007 he made a tour of Japan appearing in Tokyo and Nagoya with the female singer Yuu Kohsaka. He performed successful recitals at the Ogi Hall and other theaters of those great cities.

Frequent are his appearances with Horacio Ferrer at the most different venues, providing a delicate background for his recitations. They cut a recording that includes beautiful numbers like “Mi viejo Piazzolla”, “El gordo triste” and “Se rechifló el colectivo”

It is worthwhile to mention his radio work as contributor to the program “La Fonola” aired by Radio Nacional.

With the pianista Oscar De Elía he occasionally appears teaming up as a piano duet. He also plays in another duo setting, this time violin and piano with Fabián Bertero. The latter composed, in collaboration with De Elía, the music of the Japanese musical Llama de pasión whose premiere will take place in Tokyo before the end of 2008 and will also be presented in Buenos Aires in March the following year.

Juan is, above all, a great teacher of piano and of life. He is a thorough gentleman and a human being with intense feelings.

The one who writes this short portrayal is proud of being his friend and admires his talent.

Because of that, he wanted to share with the visitors of Todo Tango the career of this unique artist of the profound Buenos Aires.