Everyday he sings better

Carlos Gardel was a naturalized Argentina singer, composer and film actor born on the 19th Century and died on 1935. The place and the date he was born is part of a big controversial. There is no unanimity between Uruguay, France and Argentina. The uruguayan hypothesis said that he was born in Tacuarembó the uruguayan capital city of the homonymous department, located on the North part of it specificly at kilómetros 338 of router 5, Brigadier General Fructuoso Rivera, on December 11, between 1883 and 1887. On the other hand, the french version, and the most recogniced one, said that he was born in Toulouse, France, on 11 December 1890. Gardel was born to unmarried 25-year-old laundress Berthe Gardès and his first registered name was Charles Romuald Gardès. 

Between the final of 19th century and the begining of 20th century, Argentina received an extremely big wave of migration, specially from Europe. This cause a huge impact in the social organization and in the identity of population. Our Federal Capital went from having 7% foreign in 1895, to have 50% in 1914. In this context, a big part of the local elite promoted the nacional art, the local tradition and dances, in which it was the nascent tango. Like many others foreign, Berthe Gardès, acording to the french version, decided to left Toulouse as the father of the kid, Paul Laserre, to scape from the social stigma of having a kid out of wedlock. For this, mother and son, in early 1891 in Bordeaux (a city on the river Garonne in the Girone department, southwestern France), boarded the ship “SS Don Pedro”, whose destination was Buenos Aires. They arrived on the capital city on the 11th of march of 1893. Since the morning they arrived, they started a new a really difficult life. Berthe Gardès setlled at the western edge of the central San Nicolás district of Buenos Aires, at Calle Uruguay 162. Her work was two blocks away of this place, in the on “Calle Montevideo”, which consisted in pressing clothes in the French style. Because of her job, Berthe ought to gave Gardel to the care of some of her friends. The children of Rosa Corrado de Franchini, who shared their chilhood with Gardel, assured that, since he was only a little kid he has the dream of been a singer. They told us, that sometimes Gardel while he was singing with a small stick in his hand imitating a guitar, he said that he was going to be a great singer.  

When he was only 7 years old, he sat on the street doors to sang while an enormous number of Little boys and girls listened carfully at him. Some families took him home for a few days!. His mother said that when he was 12 years, he asked her to leave him the Street door’s keys because at night he has amateurs concerts in family’s houses and others places. 

One big influences for Gardel, was Jose Bertinotti a payador, autor of “Pobre mi madre querida”, who listened to Gardel with true affection. Betinotti opened in 1904 the “café Paulín”, a place where a great number of people listened to him and his young partner sang a “contrapunto” or a “payada”. One day, Bertinotti knowing the difficulty of Gardel to improvise, he tried to help him with two frases; “Those who listen to me will know the deep moan of my sentimental soul. But the feeling of others only knows how to say the song of that Zorzal! Then he pointed with his finger to Carlos Gardel, offering him his guitar and giving him the opportunity to sing one of his studied songs. After that anecdote his nickname El Zorzal or El Zorzal criollo became popular. Other great influences were the uruguayan Arturo de Navas, his aprecieted teacher and the Gabino “el Negro” Ezeiza, a singer who Gardel considered the best singer of Argentina. However, his real partner was the singer José Razzano. They met by the first time a night in 1911 at the house of the pianist Gigena. The duo started to became popular on December of 1913 at Armenonville, one of the most luxurius cabarets of Buenos Aires. After this they started to become famous in Argentina making some lived tours there. Then they made some lived tours in Uruguay, Brazil and Chile. In 1917, Gardel created a new tango style; He began to give emotions and feelings to the way he sings tango. This new form of the tango knows as “tango cancion”. The 9th of april of that year, the duo started the recordings for the record company “Max Glücksmann”. In 1920 they are in their best moment; they are constantly travelling to the inside of Argentina and to Uruguay. Three years later they arrived to Spain. By 1925, the duo had already recorded more than 350 arrays and published 171 discs. Unfortunately, Razzano has some throat problems that made sing like and old dream. But he still was with Gardel, now, as the manager in all the tours in Europe and America. 

Finally Gardel died in Medellin, Colombia, the 24th of June of 1935, on an airplane accident, with Alfredo Le Pera, his guitarrist Guillermo Barbieri and his secretary Corpas Moreno. The accident happened when the plane in which Gardel was traveling, a Ford trimotor from the SACO company, deviated in the middle of the takeoff taxi and hit another similar plane from the German company SCADTA, which was waiting its turn to take off, both catching fire. After a huge and multimedial funeral, Gardel was buried in the “Cementerio de la Chacarita”, the place where he is resting in peace with his mother.

Franco Santini