José Basso

Historical background

Born José Hipólito Basso on 30 January 1919 in Pergamino, he joined the De Caro brothers' orchestra (Emilio and José De Caro) at seventeen, replacing pianist Héctor Grané, before passing through the bands of Francisco Grillo, Antonio Bonavena and Alberto Soifer. In September 1943 he joined Aníbal Troilo's orchestra as pianist, recording 88 sides between "Farol" (his first recording) and "Flor de lino"/"El milagro" (1947), before being replaced by Carlos Figari. His own orchestra, launched in 1948, debuted simultaneously at three venues - Radio Belgrano, the café Marzotto and the Ocean Dancing. His 1949 RCA-Victor test sides went unreleased; it was with Odeon that he cut his first public record, "Claveles blancos" (Floreal Ruiz) and "El bulín de la calle Ayacucho" (Francisco Fiorentino), out of 257 commercial recordings overall.

Initially shaped by Troilo's style, Basso developed his own identity, noted for making Astor Piazzolla's avant-garde tangos danceable - "Para lucirse," "Prepárense," "Nonino." One of the first bandleaders to embrace television, he was voted favourite act of the month on Channel 7's Hit parade in 1959, a unique feat for tango, and his biographer Jorge Palacio (Faruk) notes that directors loved him as much as Troilo or D'Arienzo for his habit of pounding the piano and conducting the orchestra while playing, usually standing up. His 1967 Japan tour, booked for one month, stretched to eight more given its success. On 29 June 1990 he was named an Honorary Academician by the Academia Nacional del Tango, in the Salón Dorado of the Teatro Colón. He died on 14 August 1993.

Source: Jorge Palacio (Faruk), "Jose Basso," Todotango.com, https://www.todotango.com/creadores/biografia/704/Jose-Basso/.