Osvaldo Fresedo

Osvaldo Fresedo was born in 1897. He was nicknamed El pibe de La Paternal ("the kid from La Paternal". As a teenager he learned to play the bandoneón and joined several orchestras. He traveled to the United Stated in 1920 and recorded a couple of albums with a quartet. Once back in Argentina we worked as a composer and conductor. He formed his first orchestra which showed his trademark style; they displayed true elegance. Fresedo was one of the innovators of tango in the early 1920s. He had a certain level of technique and was able to bring a more refined musical style which was later known as the tango of the Guardia Nueva ("New Guard").Some of his other earlier works also include "El espiante" ("The Rejected One"), to which he now added "Vida mía" ("My Life"), "El Once" (the name of a neighborhood of Buenos Aires), and "Pimienta" ("Pepper"). Between 1925 and 1928, Fresedo recorded about 600 pieces for the Odeón label.

During the 1930s he left his label Odeón to front a larger orchestra and began using a new orchestral style and a new singer named Robert Ray. The Fresedo-Ray recordings are among the most memorable in the history of tango: "Vida Mia", ""Como una princesa" ("Like a Princess"), "Isla de Capri" ("Isle of Capri") is some of the works done together.

The 1940s brought a new generation of musicians and new musical styles. . Fresedo attempted to adapt to these new times’ however his work at this time didn’t compare to his previous works. He continued to record during the 1940s and 1950s. He moved to Columbia records in 1959 and became of the first artists to record in stereo. He continued to lead orchestras until he retired in 1980. He had the longest recording career in tango from 1925 to 1980. He died in 1984.

Link to discography

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osvaldo_Fresedo