Juan Carlos Cobain (1896-1953)

Argentine born pianist, leader and composer, who is considered to have paved the way for avant-garde composer alongside Enrique Delfino with his composition of “Salome” (1917). He had trouble with the acceptance of his compositions by other composers because they deemed his compositions as “wrongly composed”. Cobain was irresistibly attracted to the piano at an early age and was entered into the Conservatorio Williams of his town. Graduating in 1913, he began his career playing piano at a German beer shop and at several cinema theatres, where he provided the musical background for silent movies. He then went on to join a trio with Eduardo Arolas on bandoneon and Tito Roccatagliatta on violin with Pepita Avellaneda, the first woman who sang publicly tangos.

During 1916 he had to serve his military sentence of three years for not complying with his military service. During that time he composed the famous “A pan y agua”. He was discharged from the Infantry Regiment 2 after serving a year and was able to return to normal life. In 1923 he left everything to run towards the United States where he played more jazz than tango. Being tired of whiskey forged by gangsters and having to switch between jazz and tango he returned from United States in 1928. He formed an orchestra and returned to United States until 1943. He then retired in an apartment placed on Montevideo Street until he died at age 57.

Discography:

http://www.gemm.com/artist/cobian-c-juan-carlos

Bibliography:

Information retrieved from: http://www.todotango.com/english/creadores/jcobian.asp