Tito Alberti
Encyclopedia
Tito Alberti was a noted Argentine jazz drummer.
to an Argentine mother and a Sicilian
father in 1923. Enjoying a gregarious childhood, he formed a band at age 7 with two brothers, Virgilio and Homero Expósito
. The Expósitos, proprietors of a popular local café, encouraged the youthful trio to perform regularly at the establishment: Virgilio was the pianist, Homero played the ukelele, and Tito (as he was known by then) played battery and drums; among the audience one evening in 1930 was legendary Tango
crooner Carlos Gardel
.
Tito was later a company drummer for the local Boy Scouts
and, in his teens, enrolled at the Fracasi Conservatory, where he received formal training from Tony Carvajales, a well-known jazz drummer at the time. This experience was cut short, however, by his father's death in 1940, following which he was forced to find employment at Zárate's important Smithfield Foods
abattoir. The relatively well-paid job allowed Tito to purchase his first profesional drum kit
and, in 1942, he was invited by producer Miguel Caló
to record Azabache - a milonga
written by his friend, Homero Expósito. The album's success brought him to the attention of Buenos Aires
big band
leader Raúl Marengo and in 1944, of Mexican songwriter Agustín Lara
(internationally known by then for his Pop standard, Granada
).
His many appearances in Argentine radio led to a pseudonym, "Tito Alberti" and to a close friendship with a moderately successful matinée star, Eva Duarte. Her subsequent relationship with the populist Labor Minister, Juan Perón
, helped lead to Argentina's Peronist movement (the country's central political development since 1945), among whose first adherents was the increasingly well-known drummer. He continued to receive lucrative contracts: he played for popular local swing orchestra
, Ahmed Ratip's "Cotton Pickers," and for Mexican folklore standard Jorge Negrete
. Alberti formed his first orchestra in 1947, Reveríe, which performed at the Argentine Automobile Club
's large auditorium
. Reveríe quickly became known for Alberti's whimsical, El elefante trompita ("Trunky the Elephant"), and the 1947 children's ditty
became among the best-selling Spanish-language compositions in history.
This success earned him a recording contract with Phillips
and regular guest appearances with renowned Cuban Mambo band leaders Xavier Cugat
and Dámaso Pérez Prado, beginning in 1949. Maintaining a busy schedule in and outside Argentina, he created the "Jazz Casino" orchestra with José Finkel, in 1950, and on May 1st of that year, Jazz Casino was commissioned by President Perón to lead International Labor Day festivities. Jazz Casino performed with guest pianist Hugo La Rocca for Argentine television's first broadcast, in 1951, and they continued to lead official May Day festivities until Perón's 1955 overthrow.
Jazz Casino toured throughout Latin America
until 1957, becoming well known for their fusion of Caribbean
steel drum sounds with latin jazz
, a combination Alberti referred to as Dengue. The group disbanded, however, after which Alberti joined Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén
in a touring literary and musical show called Tambores Cubanos ("Cuban Drums"), during 1958. Returning to Argentina that year, his Tito Alberti Orchestra became a fixture in Argentine entertainment and remained, until 1970, the top-grossing Argentine musical ensemble in its genre. They performed in fifty shows a month during that time, including most major local carnival
s and a performance of Hasidic music
for Israel
i Prime Minister Golda Meir
. Their hectic schedule and his increasing use of narcotics proved too much of a strain for Alberti, however, who retired for health reasons. The 1981 collapse of the numerous unregulated brokerage houses that opened in Argentina during Economy Minister José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz
's free-wheeling tenure cost the musician his fortune, including a yacht
and his collection of four roadsters.
The 76-year-old Alberti returned unexpectedly to the stage in 1998, when he joined a Chicago jazz
sextet in a successful revival. This fleeting return was followed by one in Zárate's Teatro Coliseo, in 2005. Weakened by a kidney ailment, Tito Alberti died on March 25, 2009, at age 86. Named an Illustrious Citizen of the Province of Buenos Aires in 1999, he was survived by his wife Martha and two sons, both of whom are musicians (Charly Alberti
was, for a number of years, the drummer for the influential Argentine rock
group, Soda Stereo
).
Life and work
Tito Alberti was born Juan Alberto Ficicchia in the port city of ZárateZárate
-Places:* Zárate Partido, a political administrative division in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.* Zárate, Buenos Aires Province, a port city in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.* Zárate-Brazo Largo Bridge, a set of road and railway bridges in Argentina.-People:...
to an Argentine mother and a Sicilian
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
father in 1923. Enjoying a gregarious childhood, he formed a band at age 7 with two brothers, Virgilio and Homero Expósito
Homero Expósito
Homero Aldo Expósito was an Argentine poet and tango songwriter. He was author, among other things, of the famous tangos like Percal, Naranjo en flor, Margó, Flor de lino, Qué me van a hablar de amor, Ese muchacho Troilo, and Te llaman Malevo...
. The Expósitos, proprietors of a popular local café, encouraged the youthful trio to perform regularly at the establishment: Virgilio was the pianist, Homero played the ukelele, and Tito (as he was known by then) played battery and drums; among the audience one evening in 1930 was legendary Tango
Tango music
Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...
crooner Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel was a singer, songwriter and actor, and is perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was born in Toulouse, France, although he never acknowledged his birthplace publicly, and there are still claims of his birth in Uruguay. He lived in Argentina from the age of two...
.
Tito was later a company drummer for the local Boy Scouts
Scouts de Argentina
Scouts de Argentina is one of the national Scouting associations of Argentina.Scouting was officially founded in Argentina in 1912, shortly after the publication of "Scouting For Boys" in Spanish, was granted a National Charter in 1917, and was among the charter members of the World Organization...
and, in his teens, enrolled at the Fracasi Conservatory, where he received formal training from Tony Carvajales, a well-known jazz drummer at the time. This experience was cut short, however, by his father's death in 1940, following which he was forced to find employment at Zárate's important Smithfield Foods
Smithfield Foods
Smithfield Foods, Inc. is the world’s largest pork producer and processor. Headquartered in Smithfield, Virginia, it runs facilities in 26 U.S. states, including the world's largest meat-processing plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina, and has operations in Brazil, China, France, Mexico, Poland,...
abattoir. The relatively well-paid job allowed Tito to purchase his first profesional drum kit
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
and, in 1942, he was invited by producer Miguel Caló
Miguel Caló
Miguel Caló was a famous tango bandoneonist, composer, and the leader of the Orchestra Miguel Caló.-External links:**...
to record Azabache - a milonga
Milonga
Milonga can refer to an Argentine, Uruguayan, and Southern Brazilian form of music which preceded the tango and the dance form which accompanies it, or to the term for places or events where the tango or Milonga are danced...
written by his friend, Homero Expósito. The album's success brought him to the attention of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
leader Raúl Marengo and in 1944, of Mexican songwriter Agustín Lara
Agustín Lara
Agustín Lara was a Mexican singer and songwriter.-Biography:Lara was born in Tlacotalpan, Veracruz. Later, the Lara family had to move again to Mexico City, establishing their house in the borough of Coyoacán. After Lara's mother died, Agustín and his siblings lived in a hospice run by their...
(internationally known by then for his Pop standard, Granada
Granada (song)
"Granada" is a Mexican song written in 1932 by Agustín Lara. The song is about the Spanish city of Granada and has become a "standard" in music repertoire....
).
His many appearances in Argentine radio led to a pseudonym, "Tito Alberti" and to a close friendship with a moderately successful matinée star, Eva Duarte. Her subsequent relationship with the populist Labor Minister, Juan Perón
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
, helped lead to Argentina's Peronist movement (the country's central political development since 1945), among whose first adherents was the increasingly well-known drummer. He continued to receive lucrative contracts: he played for popular local swing orchestra
Swing (genre)
Swing music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and became a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States...
, Ahmed Ratip's "Cotton Pickers," and for Mexican folklore standard Jorge Negrete
Jorge Negrete
Jorge Alberto Negrete Moreno is considered one of the most popular Mexican singers and actors of all time....
. Alberti formed his first orchestra in 1947, Reveríe, which performed at the Argentine Automobile Club
Automovil Club Argentino
The ACA is Argentina's largest automobile association.It was founded on June 11, 1904, by Dalmiro Varela Castex, who in 1892 had imported the country's first registered automobile, a Daimler, and in 1894 its second...
's large auditorium
Auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
. Reveríe quickly became known for Alberti's whimsical, El elefante trompita ("Trunky the Elephant"), and the 1947 children's ditty
Children's music
Children's music is used here to refer to music composed and performed for children by adults. In European influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has historically held both entertainment...
became among the best-selling Spanish-language compositions in history.
This success earned him a recording contract with Phillips
Phillips International Records
Phillips International Records is a sub-label of Sun Records started by Sam Phillips in October 1957.The label, showed a blue globe with Phillips prominent and the words Sam C --- International Corp on a red white and blue ribbon below....
and regular guest appearances with renowned Cuban Mambo band leaders Xavier Cugat
Xavier Cugat
Xavier Cugat was a Spanish-American bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a key personality in the spread of Latin music in United States popular music. He was also a cartoonist and a successful businessman...
and Dámaso Pérez Prado, beginning in 1949. Maintaining a busy schedule in and outside Argentina, he created the "Jazz Casino" orchestra with José Finkel, in 1950, and on May 1st of that year, Jazz Casino was commissioned by President Perón to lead International Labor Day festivities. Jazz Casino performed with guest pianist Hugo La Rocca for Argentine television's first broadcast, in 1951, and they continued to lead official May Day festivities until Perón's 1955 overthrow.
Jazz Casino toured throughout Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
until 1957, becoming well known for their fusion of Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
steel drum sounds with latin jazz
Latin jazz
Latin jazz is the general term given to jazz with Latin American rhythms.The three main categories of Latin Jazz are Brazilian, Cuban and Puerto Rican:# Brazilian Latin Jazz includes bossa nova...
, a combination Alberti referred to as Dengue. The group disbanded, however, after which Alberti joined Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén
Nicolás Guillén
Nicolás Cristóbal Guillén Batista was a Cuban poet, journalist, political activist, and writer. He is best remembered as the national poet of Cuba.Guillén was born in Camagüey, Cuba...
in a touring literary and musical show called Tambores Cubanos ("Cuban Drums"), during 1958. Returning to Argentina that year, his Tito Alberti Orchestra became a fixture in Argentine entertainment and remained, until 1970, the top-grossing Argentine musical ensemble in its genre. They performed in fifty shows a month during that time, including most major local carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
s and a performance of Hasidic music
Jewish music
Jewish music is the music and melodies of the Jewish People which have evolved over time throughout the long course of Jewish History. In some instances Jewish Music is of a religious nature, spiritual songs and refrains are common in Jewish Services throughout the world, while other times, it is...
for Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i Prime Minister Golda Meir
Golda Meir
Golda Meir ; May 3, 1898 – December 8, 1978) was a teacher, kibbutznik and politician who became the fourth Prime Minister of the State of Israel....
. Their hectic schedule and his increasing use of narcotics proved too much of a strain for Alberti, however, who retired for health reasons. The 1981 collapse of the numerous unregulated brokerage houses that opened in Argentina during Economy Minister José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz
José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz
José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz was an Argentine executive and policy maker. He served as Minister of the Economy under de facto President Jorge Rafael Videla between 1976 and 1981, and shaped economic policy during the self-styled National Reorganization Process military dictatorship.-Early...
's free-wheeling tenure cost the musician his fortune, including a yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
and his collection of four roadsters.
The 76-year-old Alberti returned unexpectedly to the stage in 1998, when he joined a Chicago jazz
Chicago jazz
Chicago jazz can refer to:*The Chicago Jazz Festival*Dixieland jazz played "Chicago-style"*Chicago Jazz, a junior-level figure skating group...
sextet in a successful revival. This fleeting return was followed by one in Zárate's Teatro Coliseo, in 2005. Weakened by a kidney ailment, Tito Alberti died on March 25, 2009, at age 86. Named an Illustrious Citizen of the Province of Buenos Aires in 1999, he was survived by his wife Martha and two sons, both of whom are musicians (Charly Alberti
Charly Alberti
Carlos Alberto Ficicchia Gigliotti , known by his stage name Charly Alberti, is an Argentine rock musician, better recognized as the drummer of the influential argentine rock band Soda Stereo. Because of this, he is considered one of the most important musicians of latin and Spanish rock...
was, for a number of years, the drummer for the influential Argentine rock
Argentine rock
Argentine rock , is composed or made by Argentine bands or artists, in the Spanish language. For nearly half a century it has been a major popular genre, and it is considered part of the popular music tradition of Argentina alongside Argentine Tango, and Argentine folk music.The moment when...
group, Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo were an Argentine rock band who are recognized as one of the most influential and important Latin American and Ibero-American bands of all time...
).