José María "Indio" Aguilar Porrás (May 3, 1891 - December 21, 1951) was an

Uruguayan Uruguayans () are people identified with the country of Uruguay, through citizenship or descent. Uruguay is home to people of different ethnic origins. As a result, many Uruguayans do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, but with citizen ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

, and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Life

Until 1920, he worked in

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

with the payador Juan Pedro López. That year, he crossed the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (; ), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda, Colonia, Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and ...

with a fellow countryman to perform as a guitarist at the La Argentina hall and the Teatro Nacional in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. In 1922, he recorded guitar solos for the

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

record label, and the following year, a

duet A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...

with

Enrique Maciel Enrique Maciel (July 13, 1897 – January 24, 1962) was a versatile and sensitive composer, lyricist, and Pump organ, harmonium, piano, bandoneon and guitar performer. The latter is the instrument that identified him permanently in the memory of Ta ...

and later with Pagés. He was an accompanist for Agustín Magaldi (and his duo Magaldi-Noda),

Ignacio Corsini Andrea "Ignacio" Corsini (February 13, 1891 – July 26, 1967) was an Italian-born Argentine folklore and tango musician. Life and work Andrea Corsini, such his real name, was born in Troina, a village in the Enna Province of Sicily, in 1891. He w ...

(who was the first to accompany him in his record recordings), Gómez-Vila, Pelaia-Catán, Alberto Vila, Adhelma Falcón (sister of Ada Falcón), and

Carlos Gardel Carlos Gardel (born Charles Romuald Gardès; 11 December 1890 – 24 June 1935) was a French-born Argentine singer, songwriter, composer and actor, and the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was one of the most influential inter ...

, with whom he traveled to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Works

His compositions feature his own lyrics or were made in collaboration with

Enrique Cadícamo Enrique Domingo Cadícamo ( Luján, Buenos Aires province, July 15, 1900 – Buenos Aires, December 3, 1999) was a prolific Argentine tango lyricist, poet and novelist. From an initial Symbolist bent, he developed a distinctive, lunfardo-rich ...

, Celedonio Esteban Flores, José M. Macías, Eugenio Cárdenas, or Juan Pedro López. His

tangos Tangos may refer to: * Tangos (song), "Tangos" (song), a song popularized in Spain * Tangos (district), a district or barangay in Navotas, Philippines * ''Tangos'', a 1973 album by Buenos Aires 8 * Tangos (album), ''Tangos'' (album), a 2014 album ...

that deserve mention include ''El abrojal'', ''A mi palomita'', ''El gran técnico'', ''Cuando me entrés a fallar'', ''Perro'', ''Entre dos luces'', ''Esa es mi tipo''; his styles ''La espera'', ''Al pie de la reja'', ''El pañuelo de seda'', ''El facón'', ''La mañanita'', ''Quejas'', and ''Luna gaucha''; his zambas ''Las margaritas'' and ''El biguá''; and his waltz ''Cuando miran tus ojos'', which have lyrics by Cele Flores, Francisco Brancatti, José Antonio Saldías,

, Atilio Supparo, Juan M. Velich, Eugenio Cárdenas, Salvador Riese, Cadícamo, and were recorded by Corsini, Magaldi, Rivero, and other singers. Indio Aguilar recorded many works of his own production: ''Manos brujas'' (

fox-trot The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a time ...

); ''Ofrenda gaucha'' (style); ''Las madreselvas'' ( zamba); the tangos ''Milonguera'', ''Flor campera'', ''Trenzas negras'', ''Al mundo le falta un tornillo'', ''Tengo miedo'', and ''Lloró como una mujer''; the waltzes ''Añoranzas'', ''Aromas de El Cairo'', ''Manuelita'', and ''Mala suerte''. He was also a

and, by 1925, formed the duo Aguilar- Fugazot.

With Carlos Gardel

His relationship with

was not without issues, such as those that led the singer to expel him from his ensemble in the early 1930s. In 1934, Gardel, who was filming at

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

at the time, requested that some of his former collaborators be sent from Buenos Aires: guitarists Ángel Domingo Riverol and Guillermo Barbieri. Aguilar also joined them, reinstated to the team due to his great quality as a guitarist. Gardel gave him the nickname "Indio," and as a gift, he gave him a pet and the head of an Indian, saying: "Here, this is your portrait."

Death

Aguilar was present and survived with severe injuries in the airplane accident on June 24, 1935, in

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

, in which

Alfredo Le Pera Alfredo Le Pera (7 June 1900 – 24 June 1935) was a Brazilian-born Argentine journalist, dramatist, and lyricist, best known for his brief but fruitful collaboration with the renowned tango singer Carlos Gardel. He died in a plane accident w ...

, and guitarists Guillermo Barbieri and Ángel Domingo Riverol died, while they were on a tour in Latin America. He left an unpublished book titled ''Yo acompañé a Carlos Gardel'' (''I Accompanied Carlos Gardel).'' After the airplane accident in Medellín, Aguilar was left blind and completely disfigured by the burns he suffered. In December 1951, tragedy struck him again when he was run over in front of Plaza Pueyrredón while attempting to board a taxi coming from the opposite direction; he was hit by a car, fracturing one of his legs. He was hospitalized at the Álvarez Hospital, and unexpectedly died from

pulmonary edema Pulmonary edema (British English: oedema), also known as pulmonary congestion, is excessive fluid accumulation in the tissue or air spaces (usually alveoli) of the lungs. This leads to impaired gas exchange, most often leading to shortness ...

on December 21, 1951. He was sixty years old. He was survived by his second wife, the singer Chola Vetere.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Authority control Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery Deaths from pulmonary edema Uruguayan expatriates in Argentina Argentine guitarists Argentine composers Uruguayan guitarists Uruguayan composers 1891 births 1951 deaths