Donato, Edgardo

Tango composer Edgardo Donato was born in the San Cristobal barrio of Buenos Aires, but his family moved shortly to Montevideo, Uruguay. His Italian father played the mandolin and later the cello, becoming the conductor of a chamber orchestra. Three of his nine children grew up to be musicians. Edgardo studied music first with his father, then at the age of ten at Franz Lizt conservatory where he became proficient at the violin. At age 21 he began playing professionally with a bandoneon band. In 1919 he joined the jazz band of Carlos Warren and occasionally played for Eduardo Arolas where he met Roberto Zerrillo, also a violinist. In 1922 he composed his first piece, “Julian,” a tango with words by José Panizza, dedicated to the Uruguayan drummer Julián Gonzalez. Many more would follow, such as “A media luz,” one of the three most recorded tangos in the world. With his brothers Osvaldo and Ascanio and Zerrillo, Donato formed the band Donato-Zerrillo in 1927. The group dissolved in 1930 but a recreated one became famous as a typical “criolla” band. Luis Diaz joined the group and sang in 20 of their 50 recordings A movie impresario at Select Lavalle of Buenos Aires happened to hear them play and in 1933, they appeared in “Tango!” the first sound film produced in Argentina. In 1944 Edgardo began composing film soundtracks; he also formed an second independent group, a quartet, “Los Caballeros del Recuerdo.” The following year, however, his brother Osvaldo formed a band of his own and took most of the other band with him.