In December 1993, I traveled to Corrientes, in northeastern Argentina, and visited the family of bandoneonist Avelino Flores. I had become friends with his children, guitarist Rudi and accordionist Nini, who were then living in Buenos Aires. They invited me to get to know their land and the Guarani culture better.
Rudi helped me find outstanding personalities of Chamamé. He accompanied me to the house of one of the most important poets of this musical style: Heraclio Pérez, who had written the lyrics to classics such as La Bailanta, Adiós Villa Guillermina and Camino a Mburucuya.
Heraclio Pérez was born on March 2, 1904 in San Luis de Palmar and grew up in Puerto Tirol, in the province of Chaco. In 1930, at the age of 26, he moved to Buenos Aires. In 1937 he founded the Correntino Ramírez Quartet with his friend Marcos Ramírez. With the & nbsp; he wrote landmarks of the chamamé such as Puerto Tirol and Carrero Cachapecero.
Starting in the mid-1940s, he wrote & nbsp; for the magazine & nbsp; „Ivera“& nbsp; under the pseudonym Julián Arroyo. By day he worked as a mechanic and at night he wrote poetry and articles.
When I interviewed him, Heraclio Pérez was almost 90 years old. But I didn’t realize it for a moment. He talked to me about the culture and music of the Guarani Indians with such energy and passion that his enthusiasm for him infected me.
While we had mate, he told me about the origin of the chamamé, at the beginning of the 19th century. How the European polka had arrived a Paraguay around 1850 and had become the Paraguayan Polka. And that is why she cannot be the mother of Chamamé. She told me about other rhythms of the Chámame such as the Chamarrita, the Valseado and the Rasguido Doble, much appreciated everywhere.
He commented because the Chamamé is a very creative dance. And he taught me lyrics of songs, some of them unpublished, which have since fallen into the oblivion. As Heraclio Perez could hardly see anymore, he asked me to read them out loud, which really moved me.
Listen yourselves everything this great poet and connoisseur of the chamamé, who died in May 2002 at the age of 98, told me .
Heraclio Perez
Heraclio Perez – More information
WIKIPEDIA
A man from the Argentine northeast, was born in San Luis del Palmar, province of Corrientes, on March 2, 1904, the day of Saint Heraclio, Heraclio Pérez was born. We can affirm that we are at a starting point that will enrich folklore and delight several generations. He lived from a very young age in Puerto Tirol, province of Chaco; His verses have the cadence of the rich telluric language of Guarani.
The artist is a being in whom God’s caress seems to have lingered. He endowed with a sensitivity that allows him to interpret. With the varied nuances of him, all the languages of his cultural universe,
