Víctor Hugo Díaz (August 10, 1927 in

Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a sur ...

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 ...

- October 23, 1977 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 ...

, Argentina) was a

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

harmonicist The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica include ...

Biography

Early life

Díaz was born to a poor family in the small city of Santiago del Estero. At the age of five he lost his sight when hit by a soccer ball, which led him to play the

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

. Two years later, after surgery restored his eyesight, he was already performing regularly for a local radio.

Musical career

In spite of a highly successful career, he remained loyal to his youth's companions, such as the Abalos brothers and percussionist Domingo Cura with whom Díaz recorded on many occasions. His debut in Buenos Aires resulted in a series of record contracts with

Odeon Records Odeon Records is a record label founded in 1903 by Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz of the International Talking Machine Company in Berlin, Germany. The label's name and logo come from the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe in Paris. History Straus a ...

TK Records TK Records was an American independent record label founded by record distributor Henry Stone and Steve Alaimo in 1972. and based in Hialeah, Florida. The record label went bankrupt in 1981. "TK" was inspired by the initials of sound engineer ...

, Jockey and later

RCA Records 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 R ...

. Although mostly known for his tango performances, his music has deep rural roots, above all in the provincial folkloric music he grew up with:

chacarera The Chacarera is a dance and music that originated in Santiago del Estero, Argentina. It is a genre of folk music that, for many Argentina, Argentines, serves as a rural counterpart to the cosmopolitan imagery of the tango (ballroom), Tango. A da ...

s, zambas and milongas camperas. In 1953 during a European tour, Hugo Díaz met with two admired musicians in Belgium:

Larry Adler Lawrence Cecil Adler (February 10, 1914 – August 6, 2001) was an American harmonica player and film composer. Known for playing major works, he played compositions by George Gershwin, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Malcolm Arnold, Darius Milhaud ...

and

Toots Thielemans Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), known professionally as Toots Thielemans (), was a Belgian jazz musician. He was mostly known for playing the chromatic harmonica, as well as his guitar and wh ...

. The admiration was mutual. He also played in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

and

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...

, and in

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

with

Renata Tebaldi Renata Tebaldi ( , ; 1 February 1922 – 19 December 2004) was an Italian spinto soprano, lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-World War II, war period, and especially prominent as one of the stars of La Scala, Teatro di San Carlo, San ...

and Mario del Monaco. Díaz recorded the most important part of his Tango musical legacy during the 1970s. His first three albums (Hugo Diaz en Buenos Aires) were not recorded until 1972, 1973 and 1974 and in 1975 he made his last tango album (Hugo Díaz para Gardel 40 Años Despues

He died on October 23, 1977.

Family

Díaz was married to Victoria Cura, Domingo Cura's sister, with whom he had a daughter, María Victoria, born in 1961. María (''Mavi'') Díaz became an important part of Argentine rock, Argentine rock and roll in the 1980s as a member of the

Viuda e hijas de Roque Enroll Viuda e hijas de Roque Enroll was an Argentine all-female band formed in 1983 in Buenos Aires. It was part of the renewal movement of Argentine rock (Spanish: ''rock nacional''; "national rock") that occurred after the return to democracy in 19 ...

(English: ''Widow and Daughters of Roque Enroll'').

Movie soundtracks

The sound of his harmonica was captured in the song ''

Milonga Triste Milonga may refer to * Milonga (music) * Milonga (dance) * Milonga (dance event) * ''Milonga'' (film) *''Milonga'' a track from the 2008 album ''Redenção'' by Brazilian rock band Fresno *''Milonga'', a piece by Jorge Cardoso Jorge Cardoso ull ...

'' included in the film ''

The Tango Lesson ''The Tango Lesson'' () is a 1997 Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Sally Potter. It is a semi-autobiographical film starring Potter and Pablo Verón, about Argentine Tango, Argentinian Tango. The film, a co-product ...

'', directed by

Sally Potter Charlotte Sally Potter (born 19 September 1949) is an English film director and screenwriter. She directed '' Orlando'' (1992), which won the audience prize for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival. Early life Potter was born and raised in L ...

. More recently it was heard as background music in the 2006 Austrian film '' The Counterfeiters'' (2008

Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

). The Argentine documentary film ''A los cuatro vientos'' (Spanish: ''To the four winds'') premiered in 2007. The film, deeply musical, is a homage to Hugo Díaz and includes many of his interpretations.Telam news article on ''A los cuatro vientos''

Partial Discography

TANGO: *''Hugo Díaz en Buenos Aires'', Tonodisc (1972) - CD release: ''Hugo Díaz en Buenos Aires'',Victor (Japan) (1999). *''Hugo Díaz en Buenos Aires vol.2'', Tonodisc (1973) - CD release: ''Hugo Díaz en Buenos Aires'',Victor (Japan) (1999). *''Hugo Díaz en Buenos Aires vol.3'', Tonodisc (1974)- CD release: ''Hugo Díaz en Buenos Aires'',Victor (Japan) (1999). *''Hugo Díaz Para Gardel 40 Años Después'', Tonodisc (1975) - released on CD as ''Tangos'', Harmonia Mundi (2006). FOLKLÓRICO: *''La Compañera'', TK - 7inch (circa 1954). *''Hugo Díaz Y Sus Changos'' (with Luis Alberto Del Parana, Vera Molina, Digno Garcia), TK - 7inch (circa 1954). *''Hugo Díaz Y Sus Changos'', TK - 10inch (1956). *''Noches Del Paraguay'', TK - EP (1960). *''Baile en el campo'',Music Hall (circa 1965). *''Magia en el Folklore vol.1'', RCA-Camden (circa 1968). *''Magia en el Folklore vol.2'', RCA-Camden (circa 1968). *''Mi armónica y yo'', RCA-Victor (circa 1970). *''Puro Ritmo'', RCA-Victor (circa 1970). *''Aquí Esta Hugo Díaz'',Music Hall(1972). *''Nostalgias Santiagueñas'', Tonodisc (1974). *''En El Litoral'', Tonodisc (1975). *''Así es Hugo Díaz'',Music Hall (year unknown). *''Malambos/La Vieja'', Music Hall (year unknown). *''Allá En El Atardecer/Tiempo De Alegría'', Music Hall (year unknown). *''Zamba Del Quebrachal/El Puro Ritmo'', Music Hall (year unknown). *''Por Eso Vengo/Se Ha Ido'', Music Hall (year unknown). *''Danza Guaraní/Zamba Para Mi Luna'', Music Hall (year unknown). *''Cascadas/Selección De Chamames'', Music Hall (year unknown). *''San Baltasar/Selección DeRancheras'', Music Hall (year unknown). *''La Salamanca/Cuando El Diablo Toca El Bombo'', Music Hall (year unknown). *''Vieja/Isla Saca'', Music Hall (year unknown). COMPILATIONS: *''Lo mejor de Hugo Díaz'', Difusión Musical (circa 1967). *''Cantares de mi tierra'', Odeón (circa 1968). *''Un Soir Dans La Pampa'', With Eduardo Falú, Festival (1968). *''Danses Folkloriques D'Argentine'', With Eduardo Falú, Festival (1968). *''Hugo Díaz'', NG Records (1977). *''Hugo Díaz: Chacareras'', Tonodisc (1979). *''Homenaje a Carlos Gardel'', Tonodisc (1979). This is a re-release of ''Hugo Díaz Para Gardel 40 Años Después''. *''Gigante Del Folklore'', RCA-Victor (1982) CD release 1998. *''El Arte Del Hugo Díaz'', RCA-Victor (1982). *''Tacita de plata'', Music Hall (1987). *''Hugo Díaz'', RCA Club (1998). *''Antología vol.1 1952-1953'', Acqua (2009) *''Antología vol.2 1954-1957'', Acqua (2009) *''Antología vol.4 1967-1968'', Acqua (2012) *''Antología vol.5 1970-1971'', Acqua (2012) *''A Los Cuartro Vientos'', Acqua (2008). *''Los Eligidos'', RCA-Sony (2009).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Victor Hugo 1927 births 1977 deaths Argentine harmonica players Tango musicians