Enrique ''Kicho'' Díaz (

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 ...

, 21 January 1918 – 5 October 1992) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

tango musician who played in various ensembles including

Aníbal Troilo Aníbal Carmelo Troilo (11 July 1914 – 18 May 1975), also known as Pichuco, was an Argentine tango musician. Troilo was a bandoneon player, composer, arranger, and bandleader in Argentina. His orquesta típica was among the most popular wit ...

’s

orquesta típica Orquesta típica, or simply a típica, is a Latin American term for a band which plays popular music. The details vary from country to country. The term tends to be used for groups of medium size (about 8 to 12 musicians) in some well-defined in ...

Astor Piazzolla Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla (, ; March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992) was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed '' nuevo tango'', incorporating elements fr ...

’s first Quinteto and

Conjunto 9 Conjunto 9 (a.k.a. Noneto) was a tango ensemble set up by Ástor Piazzolla which was active between 1971 and 1972. The short-lived ensemble was based on Piazzolla’s first Quinteto, comprising Astor Piazzolla (bandoneon), Osvaldo Manzi (later ...

and finally Sexteto Mayor.

Biography

Díaz, widely known by his nickname "Kicho", was born in the city of

Avellaneda Avellaneda (, ) is a port city in the provinces of Argentina, province of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the seat of the Avellaneda Partido, whose population was 342,677 as per the . Avellaneda is located within the Greater B ...

in the

Province of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

, and had two older brothers, David, who became a tango violinist and José (aka Pepe) who became a tango double bass player. He began his musical career in 1935 when he joined a tango ensemble as double bass player with the pianist

José Pascual José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

and Anselmo Aiete. In 1939, he joined the orquesta típica of Aníbal Troilo, which included Orlando Goñi (piano), Roberto Gianitelli, Juan Miguel Toto Rodríguez (bandoneon) and the singer Francisco Fiorentino. Díaz would stay with Troilo until 1959. He joined Ástor Piazzolla’s first Quinteto in 1960 and later Piazzolla would write the tango ''Kicho'' as a tribute to him. In 1968 Piazzolla put together an orchestra, including Díaz, to perform his operetta ''

María de Buenos Aires ''María de Buenos Aires'' is a tango opera (''tango operita'') with music by Ástor PiazzollaSCP 2005. and libretto by Horacio Ferrer that premiered at the Sala Planeta in Buenos Aires on 8 May 1968. The first part of the surreal plot centers ...

'', and between 1971 and 1972 Díaz played with Piazzolla’s

. In 1962 he joined Quinteto Real with

Horacio Salgán Horacio Adolfo Salgán (June 15, 1916 – August 19, 2016) was an Argentine tango musician. He was born in Buenos Aires to an established Afro-Argentine family. Some of Salgán's most well-known compositions include ''Del 1 al 5 (Días de pago)'' ( ...

(piano),

Ubaldo de Lío Ubaldo is a masculine Italian and Spanish given name, from Germanic ''hug'' "mind" and ''bald'' "bold". Notable people with the name include: *Ubald of Gubbio (Ubaldo Baldassini) (c. 1084 – 1160), Italian bishop and Catholic saint * Guido Ubaldo ...

Enrique Mario Francini Enrique Mario Francini (14 January 1916 in San Fernando – 27 August 1978 in Buenos Aires) was an Argentine tango orchestra director, composer and violinist who played in various tango ensembles including the Orquesta Francini-Pontier and Á ...

(violin) and

Pedro Laurenz Pedro Laurenz (born Pedro Blanco Acosta) was a bandoneon player, Music director, director and composer of Argentina, Argentine Tango (music), tango music. He was born on October 10, 1902, and died on July 7, 1972. Pedro was born into a musical ...

(badoneon) and occasionally played with the orquestra of Mariano Mores. Later in 1976 he joined Sexteto Mayor with whom he played until his death in 1992. He was declared "Tango Double Bass Player of the Century" by the Legislature of Buenos Aires in 2000.

References

*Piazzolla, Ástor. A Memoir, Natalio Gorin, Amadeus, 2001 *Azzi and Collier, Le Grand Tango: The Life and Music of Ástor Piazzolla, Oxford University Press, 2000.

External links

Todotango biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Kicho 1918 births 1992 deaths Argentine tango musicians Musicians from Buenos Aires