Accordion-player Raúl Barboza, considered the King of Chamamé music in Argentina, died last Tuesday in Paris at the age of 87.
The musician's death was confirmed by Argentina's Embassy in France.
Barboza, who had resided in France since 1987, had a long career starting in childhood, collaborating with musicians like Mercedes Sosa, Atahualpa Yupanqui and Astor Piazolla.
The artist recorded over 30 musical albums, giving testimony to a life consecrated to chamamé, a genre originating in Corrientes Province that is also very popular in Paraguay.
The dream of this Guaraní at heart, born in Buenos Aires in 1938 to parents from Corrientes, was to export this style of music to the world.
"I’m simply a musician who loves what he does and tries by all means not to let himself get carried away by what people say but by what I believe to be doing well," he explained AFP news agency in a 2002 interview.
According to what he declared then, being in Europe made him realise that chamamé could be played with other rhythms.
"I have found while being here France extraordinary similitudes with our chamamé music, as well as some African, Indian and also Arab rhythms," he affirmed.
Barboza was adopted by France, which decorated him with its Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres order.
Argentina's Embassy in Paris highlighted that he "was an exceptional musician, gifted with an endearing and generous personality."
Chamamé, a traditional music and dance from northeastern Argentina, was declared in 2020 to be the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organisation (UNESCO).
– TIMES/AFP
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