"Remove the records from Texas, and someone will learn to sing," the composer John Cage once said. The life of Argentine bandoneonist/composer Dino Saluzzi lends weight to Cage's words. Saluzzi was born in 1935 in Campo Santo, a small city in the mountainous Argentine province of Salta, and learned music in the context of daily life without access to radio, recordings, or formal concerts. Even as Saluzzi became an internationally known artist for his unique blend of jazz, tango, folkloric, and classical music, he remained a steadfast believer in the value of the oral tradition and the primacy of collaboration.
Dino's son, Jose, began playing with his father when he was only 15, and has since staked out his own path as one of the leading guitarists in Argentina. Jose spent his formative years studying with leading players like Walter Malosetti, Ralph Towner, and Stanley Jordan. Jose shares his father's restless curiosity, soulfulness, and skepticism towards the academic establishment.
AAJ contributor Eric Benson discussed the process of learning and playing music inside this most distinguished and unique of musical families with Dino and Jose Saluzzi, in their downtown Buenos Aires studio.
Check out Dino and Jose Saluzzi: Family Guys at AAJ today!
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