orn in the neighborhood of Barracas of the city of Buenos Aires, he was son of Carlos Brameri and Magdalena Fossa. His father was an accordion maker and repairer who decided that his son, when the latter was only twelve, would accompany him to a tuning and repair workshop for music instruments where he then would go regularly. The kid was amazed and began to get in touch with his destiny.

His father was who started him in playing his instrument which he later furthered as self-taught. Soon thereafter he helped his Dad in the task of tuning and repairing accordions. He strengthened his musical abilities when, on his own request, he was enrolled as violin student at the Conservatorio Montes de Oca, near the Santa Lucía church where his teacher was José Porcallas.

In December 1922 he graduated as teacher when he was only seventeen. Possessing a strong vocation, it was no surprise that at age fourteen he composed his first tango: “Zorro viejo [b]” (do not mistake it for Alfonso Lacueva’s piece with the same title). Thereafter a long series of numbers were released, not only tangos but also waltzes, rancheras and around eighty scores for musicals.

On his own he studied piano and was member of a trio which also included Luis Bernstein. They appeared at the Salón Zamorano on 1000 Independencia Avenue.

Besides music he had a passion for soccer, so in the 1920s, when this sport was not professional, he was member of the first team of Racing Club in some matches. For the researchers it was the time of Natalio Perinetti, Zumelzú, Pedro Ochoa and others. He also played for Boca Juniors and Ferrocarril Oeste. But, however, he understood that his real field was the music business.

He worked as employee in Casa América, a music instrument shop on Avenida de Mayo and also at the Pampa piano roll factory where he recorded more than a thousand numbers.

Towards 1930 he signed with RCA-Victor to join the Trío Los Nativos, fronted by Renzo Massobrio and Juan Caldarella, which for recordings used to include some outstanding musician such as Elvino Vardaro, among others. By that time he also played in the jazz group led by Raúl Marengo and in the famous La Santa Paula Serenaders led by Raúl Sánchez Reynoso.

In tango he joined the orchestras led by Francisco Peña, Arturo Bernstein, Francisco Canaro and Anselmo Aieta but in them his tenure was rather short. But the best came later when around 1944 he fronted the musical aggregation that accompanied the appearances of Charlo, Sabina Olmos and, after 1948, Mercedes Simone.

At the same time he was contributor for publishing houses like Julio Korn’s and EDAMI from 1944 to 1963. His activity had no break because also by that time Carlos Di Sarli summoned him as arranger. With the latter he stayed for over fifteen years until the maestro died. He had a lot to do with his unmistakably style.

Furthermore, he carried out a varied career as musical director in theaters. He wrote a theoretical-practical method for accordion playing which was published in 1936 for the first time and other later texts about connected subjects. He was director of the Conservatorio IMA. In the latter years he taught at the Academia de Música of Avellaneda.

As composer, we shall mention the four tango pieces that Carlos Di Sarli recorded: “Motivo sentimental”, “Tus labios me dirán” (with lyrics by Héctor Negro), “Siempre más” (with words by Juan Andrés Bruno) and “Chimentos” (with words by Emilio De Grey). Other numbers are: “Diferencias” (with lyrics by Carlos Bahr), “Minuto a minuto” and “Entre dos tormentas” (with words by Manuel Meaños), “De mis tiempos de cantor”, “Soy porteño y varón” (with Alfredo de Franco), “Mañana por la mañana” (with Juan García), “Vos lo quisiste”, “Viento en contra”, “Dónde está tu voz”, “Virgen mía”, “Así te conocí”, “Pibe”, “La encrucijada”, “Ay de mí [b]”, “Tango en swing”, “Oigo tu canción” and “Póker de ases”, the latter dedicated to the four players chosen by the public at a poll: Julio and Francisco De Caro, Pedro Maffia and Pedro Laurenz.

We want to thank the site Acordeonisima.com for providing the photo.
Excerpted from the book Tangos, tangueros y tangocosas, Editorial Plus Ultra, Buenos Aires: 1976.