Rodolfo Mederos

Early in the illustrious career of Argentine bandoneonist, composer, and arranger Rodolfo Mederos, he played with some of tango's most legendary figures and, later in his career, assumed the role of teacher, both formally and informally reaching out to a younger generation of tango enthusiasts. Born on March 25, 1940, in Buenos Aires, Mederos studied at the University of Córdoba and took his greatest inspiration from Astor Piazzolla. At age 20 he formed Octeto Guardia Nueva and was blessed with the opportunity to perform as the opening act at a Piazzolla concert in Córdoba. Enthused by the experience and moved by the warm audience reception, Mederos packed his bags and moved to Buenos Aires 15 days later, with plans to devote himself to music rather his biology studies at the university.

After some rough years in Buenos Aires as a struggling artist, the highlight of which was a 1966 album on the Producciones Matus label, Buenos Aires...al Rojo!, Mederos set sail for Paris, France, in 1967. Two years later he accepted an offer back in Argentina to join the orchestra of Osvaldo Pugliese, in which he served as bandoneonist and arranger until 1974. Afterward he formed a group of his own, Generación Cero, with which he recorded a pair of albums for Trova Discos, Fuera de Broma (1976) and De Todas Maneras (1977). Then in 1978 Mederos released a solo-billed album, Todo Hoy, and, after five years of silence as a recording artist, returned in the mid-'80s with a pair of additional solo albums, Buenas Noches, Paula (1983) and Verdades y Mentiras (1984), these ones for Sony.

In 1984 Mederos and associates founded a school of music, La Escuela de Música Popular, in the Avellaneda neighborhood, at which he served as a professor for many years, and accordingly, he began refocusing his efforts on teaching rather than entertaining. This didn't stop him from resuming his recording career toward the end of the decade, however, adding such albums to his credit as Reencuentros (1989), Tanguazo (1993), Carlos Gardel por Rodolfo Mederos (1992), Mederos Quinteto (1994), Mi Buenos Aires Querido (1995), El Día que Maradona Conoció a Gardel (1996), and El Tanguero (1998) — most of these released internationally rather than just domestically as his previous albums had been.

In 2000 Mederos was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award in the category of Best Tango Album for Eterno Buenos Aires (1999), which featured him performing with a quintet comprised also of pianist Hernán Posetti, violinist Damián Bolotín, guitarist Armando de la Vega, and double bassist Sergio Rivas. His successive two albums were recognized similarly: Las Veredas de Saturno (2000) won a Gardel Award in 2001 while Tangos (2000), a collaborative album with Nicolás "Colacho" Brizuela, earned a Latin Grammy Award nomination in 2001. Around mid-decade, Mederos commenced the Comunidad-Intimidad-Soledad trilogy — Comunidad (2006), Intimidad (2007), and Soledad (2007) — the first entry in which earned him a Latin Grammy Award nomination for Best Tango Album in 2007.