Saturday, January 12, 2013

Tribute to Oscar Alemán

Presence and concentration, adding broadcasting hours (Archivo Iacona)( Tributo a Oscar Alemán)

Last month José and Estanislao Iacona  published their father’s  life’s work, dedicated to the popular Argentine guitar player of the 1940s and 1950s. The
book is entitled Tributo a Oscar Alemán and is published in the Spanish, English and French language by Whitefly.


Tributo a Oscar Aleman ( español)  - Tribute to Oscar Alemán (English) - Eerbetoon aan Oscar Alemán (Nederlands)

 The book  Tributo a Oscar Alemán (ISBN: 978-987-23688-4-5)
The book has six chapters which cover Alemán’s musical career, starting as a kid singing and dancing in their family folk ensemble Los Moreira, his close cooperation with Gaston Bueno Lobo ( as Les Loups and Trio Victor); his European years with the Baker Boys and his return to Argentina, early 1940s, where he started a great career, which ended late 1950s.  That chapter is called Del estrellato al abismo ( =  From stardom to ruin ….). In Chapter 5 the period of the two last decades of Alemán’s live, in which he “emerged from the ashesrenarces de las cenizas, as the authors label it; it is the period, Guillermo Iacona, who started to write down his memories, remembers Oscar Alemán best. Chapter 6 is fully dedicated to the period in which Guillermo met Oscar Alemán and took music lessons from him ……  The book ends with some recollections by Jorgelina Alemán, Oscar’s granddaughter, who followed in her grandfathers footsteps.  The book ends with a discography and a filmography.


 Guillermo José Iacona and his Repiso guitar ( Archivo Iacona)


Guillermo José Iaconna started this tribute to Oscar Alemán only a couple of years ago, although I remember that he has been always excited in his letters and emails to me, about the time he had lessons by the great guitar player and entertainer Oscar Alemán and the three concerts he participated. Making the book was his dream! When he started it, years ago, he informed us  at set times about the process.  Alemán widow Carmen Vallejo remembers Guillermo: El era música  (= He was all music). Jorgelina tells about Guillermo as ………… .una persona de una gran calidad humana, quién de algún modo quedó cautivado por el artista y el ser, de una sensibilidad única, que era mi abuelo. ( = As a  wonderful human being, who was captivated by the artist and man of enormous sensibility who was my grandfather.) 
Guillermo passed away before he could finish the book, but due to his sons José and Estanislao the book, the life work of their father, could be published, with the kind support of the Governor of the province of Chaco where Oscar was born more than  a century ago.



The book is well designed and especially the dozens of rare photographs make the book a must-have for all Oscar Alemán fans …….  The type page is in three columns, one in the Spanish -, one in the English - and one in the French language, which makes the book easy to handle for most jazz fans all over the world ………… a book which will find its place in both Europe as in Argentina …….

Oscar Alemán in the 1970s ( Edítorial Atlántico)

I hope to refer often to this book in blogs dedicated to El Negro,  Oscar Alemán and point you to untold stories and information which has been published now. This book is an important source, due to the fact that the info is also available in  English for all student or jazz fan which study the music and career of Oscar Alemán.


The book can be ordered at its website Tributo a Oscar Alemán 


This blog is also available in the Spanish and Dutch language 


Hans Koert

oscaraleman@live.nl

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