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Jorge Valdez
Real name: Vitale, Leo Mario
Singer and composer
(27 January 1932 - 21 February 2002)
Place of birth:
Buenos Aires Argentina
SONGS IN THIS ARTICLE
Adiós Chantecler
Tango
Adiós corazón
Tango
Amor de verano
Tango
Andate por Dios
Tango
Ave de paso
Tango
Baldosa floja
Milonga
Barrio de tango
Tango
Carillón de La Merced
Tango
Chirusa
Tango
Clavel del aire
Tango
Destino de flor
Tango
El reloj
Bolero
En el cielo
Tango
En esta tarde gris
Tango
Eras como la flor
Tango
Estrella
Tango
Fuimos
Tango
Gricel
Tango
Hasta siempre amor
Tango
La calesita
Tango
La canción de Buenos Aires
Tango
La vi llegar
Tango
Marinera
Tango
Mimí Pinsón
Tango
Por una cabeza
Tango
Quemá esas cartas
Tango
Remembranza
Tango
Un solo minuto de amor
Tango
Una piba como vos
Tango
Verdemar
Tango
ARTISTS IN THIS ARTICLE
Alberto Di Paulo
Alberto Echagüe
Alberto Morán
Alberto Reynal
Armando Laborde
Armando Moreno
Carlos Dante
Carlos Gardel
Carlos Lazzari
Celso Amato
Floreal Ruiz
Florindo Sassone
Horacio Palma
Jorge Dragone
Jorge Ortiz
Jorge Valdez
Juan Carlos Godoy
Juan D'Arienzo
Mario Bustos
Miguel Caló
Nolo López
Oscar Larroca
Osvaldo Ramos
Osvaldo Requena
Rafael Brescia
Raúl Hormaza
Raúl Iriarte
Ricardo Ruiz
Roberto Mancini
Santiago Adamini
By
Roberto Mancini
|
José Pedro Aresi
t an age when children usually begin to play he had already fell for the Buenos Aires music. Because of that
Jorge Valdez
belongs to the group of great vocalists that dared to be in touch with the elves of tango.
Owning an inborn sensitivity, Leo was born in Buenos Aires in the neighborhood of Villa Urquiza. Since an early age his encounter with music began because when he was ten years old his mother advised him to study piano playing. His gifts as player and his great personality allowed him to make a fast progress in his studies. So five years later he appeared, on four occasions, at the radio program El Piano en la Argentina.
However, his greatest passion was singing and he started to “display his inclination” by singing at family parties and meeting with friends, to later perform at locals in the city.
Carlos Lazzari
, bandoneonist of the Juan D’Arienzo Orchestra, heard him sing at the Aconcagua cinema theater of Villa Devoto and soon later he introduced him to the leader. He auditioned for the latter and sang the tangos “
Eras como la flor
”, “
Remembranza
” and the waltz “
Quemá esas cartas
”. He passed the examination and in 1957 he joined the orchestra led by the Rey del Compás under the sobriquet
Jorge Valdez
to sing along with
Mario Bustos
, replacing the consecrated
Alberto Echagüe
and
Armando Laborde
. He recorded his first record, the tango “
Andate por Dios
”, on May 8, 1957. Later came “
Destino de flor
”, “
La calesita
” and “
El reloj
”, a tango version of the famous bolero.
During his tenure in the orchestra he recorded 117 numbers, thirteen of them in duo, firstly with
Mario Bustos
and later –in chronological order– with
Horacio Palma
, Héctor Millán and
Armando Laborde
, who in 1964 had joined the orchestra again. Among the pieces recorded by
Jorge Valdez
in a duo setting, the most successful was milonga “
Baldosa floja
” with
Mario Bustos
as the other singer.
Among the recordings with D’Arienzo, we remember: “
Adiós Chantecler
”, possibly his best rendition, “
Remembranza
”, “
Estrella
”, “
La calesita
”, “
En el cielo
”, “Casita de nácar”, “
Hasta siempre amor
”, “Se llamaba Eduardo Arolas”, “
Ave de paso
”, “
Clavel del aire
”, “
Adiós corazón
”, “
Un solo minuto de amor
”, “
Marinera
”, “Tu noche es mi noche” and “
Chirusa
”, the most popular.
As for the latter piece we would like to explain that “
Chirusa
”, composed by Juan D’Arienzo and
Nolo López
in the twenties, was recorded by his author three times. The first one in 1928 with the refrain sung by
Carlos Dante
. The second on May 17, 1940 with
Alberto Reynal
and the third on October 29, 1958 with Valdez.
Divine Fat Man or Cuore, as was called by his close friend the singer
Roberto Mancini
, had an easy unmistakable phrasing with a tenor-like voice, warm and melodic. He was like a skylark producing “falsettos” plenty of rich overtones.
He cut his last tango with Juan D’Arienzo, “
Amor de verano
”, on November 18, 1964. The following year he split with the orchestra and was replaced by
Osvaldo Ramos
. The latter sang with
Florindo Sassone
keeping his true name: Osvaldo De Sanctis.
Subsequently he recorded with maestro
Osvaldo Requena
, with whom he reprised songs of his repertoire and also added “
Gricel
”, “
En esta tarde gris
”, “
Carillón de La Merced
”, “
Verdemar
” and “Nubes de humo”, among others. Later he recorded with the accompaniment of the orchestea led by
Alberto Di Paulo
nice renderings of “
Barrio de tango
”, “
Fuimos
”, “
La canción de Buenos Aires
”, “
La vi llegar
”, “
Mimí Pinsón
”, “
Por una cabeza
”, “
Una piba como vos
” and “Cuando un amigos se va”.
To further highlight the great sensitivity of
Jorge Valdez
, we have an anecdote that
Rafael Brescia
told us. The latter accompanied him with his guitar group on many occasions. In the nineties Brescia had recorded a tape with
Carlos Gardel
’s voice but had replaced the guitars that usually accompanied the latter by other five that the former led. «On a day I was taking Jorge in my car I made him hear the tape. While he listened I saw a tear roll down his face. That was the best reward for my work.»
During his career as soloist Valdez joined different “tango embassies” together with
Carlos Dante
,
Alberto Morán
,
Floreal Ruiz
and
Ricardo Ruiz
and with
Jorge Dragone
as orchestra leader. These tours allowed him to appear on different stages and venues throughout America.
His records, since the period he performed with D'Arienzo, made him very popular in Colombia. Its people regarded him as an idol and his performances at theaters, coliseums and bullfighting arenas even today are remembered with love and admiration.
Raúl Iriarte
, former vocalist with
Miguel Caló
and successful impresario in Bogotá, as well summoned him to appear alongside
Juan Carlos Godoy
,
Armando Moreno
,
Jorge Ortiz
,
Oscar Larroca
and
Roberto Mancini
. His last stint at that country was in 2001. He also appeared in Australia. The cities of Melbourne and Sydney enjoyed his voice and his unmistakable style.
Prior to all this, in April 1990, Jorge had a severe car accident on the new Buenos Aires-La Plata highway, near Dock Sur. He had several injures and was taken to the Fiorito hospital. His tongue had a deep cut and after a long period of medical treatment he recovered.
By then Jorge was quite disappointed and felt like quitting the singing business. But his friends encouraged him to go on and made him follow new and demanding exercises of re-education and voice emission. He appeared again at the Rincón de los Artistas, a classic tango local placed on Álvarez Jonte and Boyacá. But he feels that he is not the same as before. So much so that once he finished his show on the stage, angry at his performance he told his partners: «I'm deceiving people. And that's what I don't want to.»
In spite of that Jorge continued with his re-education drills in order to place again his voice at the level of his normal range. But it was not easy because his style demanded a great effort. He was a singer with a treble range, he was not a “diseur” grown accustomed to whisper lyrics. His inborn technical facility and his strong will helped him to leave behind that bad situation so as to return to the world of singing.
However,
Jorge Valdez
that had overcome all the consequences of that sad episode, was unable years later to pull himself together after his wife Laura's death. Even though he had the support of his friends and the love of his daughter, instead of making an effort, he gave in and fell into a deep depression.
He continued to appear at tango venues in Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata and Tucumán, but he was no longer the same and then with his broken heart he died of a liver ailment in the Sanatorio Colegiales of the Federal Capital.
He composed two pieces: “Por favor no vuelvas” in collaboration with
Celso Amato
and lyrics by
Raúl Hormaza
, and “Olvidemos todo” with lyrics by
Santiago Adamini
. He recorded both numbers with the
Juan D'Arienzo
Orchestra.
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