Efren Echeverria (4 March 1932 – 19 June 2018) was a

Paraguayan Paraguayans () are the citizens of Paraguay. Though the majority of Paraguayans reside in Paraguay, significant communities have been established in multiple countries, most noticeably Argentina, Spain, United States, Brazil. History The first ...

guitarist, composer and compiler.

Early life

Echeverria's neighbor, Eusebio Cantero taught him to play his first

chords Chord or chords may refer to: Art and music * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord, a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * The Chords (British band), 1970s British mod ...

on the guitar when he was nine years old. With Cantero, Echeverria learned a repertoire of Paraguayan

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

. By the time he became a teenager, Echeverria acquired his own guitar and often played in acts entertaining at "Musiqueada" (musical parties) in Paraguay. Soon Echeverria took over the serenades of the place, always pushing the guitar and sometimes up the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

with buttons. His repertoire covered everything that the public from the area could appreciate.

Career

Echeverria understood that music alone could not be his sole source of subsistence, and was employed as a forestry worker. Echeverria was working in the area of Curuguaty by the year 1950. By 1960, he settled in the city of Asuncion, capital of

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. In the 1970's, he was a participant in the emerging music festivals and television. At that time, he began to arouse interest in the Asuncion for his original compositions and his unique playing style. Near the truck that Echeverria adopted as the first refuge in Asuncion, lived the musician Ramon Vargas Colman, who by then was temporarily separated from his musical partner Andres Saldivar Basin. Echeverria became part of the group of Vargas Colmán with

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...

Edmundo "Nenito" Medina and others. In parallel, he presented a radio program on Radio Ñandutí. Some time later, he accompanied the musician Severo Nunez Benitez and his group "Los Jilgeros" who made radio programs for Radio Paraguay, Chaco Boreal Station and the National Radio. The group toured in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. It was at the Pettengil family home, in the city of Itaguá, where he met the musician and composer Eladio Martinez "El Grande", with whom he would tour at festivals and make television appearances. Camba'í has worked other jobs to support his family. For several years he was a doorman for the Ministry of Health and also worked as a night security guard at a television company.

Works

The composer created many works for guitar. Some recreate sounds of animals with great fidelity. These include: * "Ruguasu Kokoro." * "Yaguai Kare." * "Itaverá." * "Guata yeruti." * "Taita Jose." * "Belénpe guare." * "Vaka ra'y chapelo", among others. The musician joined numerous folk groups, although it is now recognized and admired for his solo interpretation of the Paraguayan folk music. He has compiled numerous unpublished compositions. Elias has recorded discs so far four long-term discs and included them in many of these popular grounds next to the popular creations: Yagua'í care and Ryguazú Cocore. In the 70's was when he made many music festivals and on television so that more was to tap and ripping guitar.

Bibliography

Kamba'i Echeverria

Viva Paraguay

References

External links

UIP.com

Centro Cultural de la República El Cabildo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Echeverria, Efren 1932 births 2018 deaths Paraguayan classical guitarists Male guitarists People from San Pedro Department, Paraguay 20th-century classical musicians