Alejandro Brittes

Alejandro Brittes (born July 5, 1976 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine composer, accordionist and music researcher, based in Porto Alegre, Brazil since 2010. It has more than 30 years of diffusion of the chamamé by the world, presenting itself in more than 10 countries, such as: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Colombia, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Austria, Germany and Czech Republic. He investigated the musical origins of the Chamamé rhythm, worrying¬about the identicity of the genre. He toured with artists such as: Chango Spasiuk, Raúl Barboza, Os Fagundes, Elton Saldanha and shows with Brazilian artists such as Luiza Possi.

Career

Son of parents from Corrientes, at the age of 12 he began to study accordion with Nini Flores, forming at 15 his first musical group, with which he recorded his first album "Por la Senda Chamamecera".

In 1989, he began his studies of academic music at the Juan Pedro Esnaola School, later continuing his career as a popular musician.

In 1996, he won as best instrumentalist of the Cosquín de Oro award, being his debut at the national level in the Próspero Molina square at the National Folklore Festival of Cosquín, Córdoba, Argentina. In the same year, he is invited by the rock group Los Piojos to record on the album "3er arco" participating in two songs: "Todo Pasa" and "Don't say tomorrow" and in the launch of the album at the Estadio Obras Sanitarias and at the Micro Estadio de Ferro, Buenos Aires, recording again with the group "Vals Inicial" and "Y quemás" for the album "Azul".

In 2005, he created and produced the group "Cuarteto típica de Chamamé" with Jorge Toloza and Luiz Santa Cruz, recording in 2007 the album "Herencia chamacera".

Already based in Brazil, in 2011 he was invited to represent Brazil and Argentina at the Vallenato International Accordion Festival in Colombia.

In 2012, he received an invitation from the Brazil-Argentina Chamber of Commerce of São Paulo, to present a concert at the Memorial da América Latina in São Paulo, Brazil, participating in the shows of the singer Luiza Possi and the Heartbreakers Orchestra.

Also in 2012, he toured Europe for the first time with André Ely and Lucas Rocha, performing nine concerts with Portuguese accordionist João Gentil in Lisbon and Praia da Tocha, Portugal. Subsequently, he began his second tour of Europe in France, accompanied by André Ely, Lucas Rocha and Miguel Castilhos, performing at the International University City of Paris|Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris]], at the Maison de L'Argentine and also at the Café El Sur.

Already in 2013, he invited the folk music group Plzenský Pepící from the Czech Republic to tour ten cities in Brazil. In January of the same year, he recorded his seventh album "El Viento y las hojas", with funding from the Ministry of Culture of Brazil, making releases at the Teatro "Sociale", at the Itinerari Folk Festival in Italy, and at the "Kulturní dům Peklo" Theatre in Czech Republic.

In 2014, together with her producer Magali de Rossi and the producer of the singer-songwriter Teresa Parodi, María Elvira Grillo Cevey, they created the Project "Caravana Chamamecera" inviting the artists Elton Saldanha and the group "Os Fagundes", forming a project of integration between Brazil and Argentina, performing more than 150 concerts in the country and abroad.In 2019, he produced and participated in the tour "80 years" of accordionist Raúl Barboza in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná, Brazil.

In 2021, he is invited, as soloist, by the "Orquestra Sinfônica de Campo Grande", Mato Grosso do Sul, in the concert "100 years of Ástor Piazzola" from the project "Encontro com a Música Clássica", Brazil. The same year he published his first book: "A origen do Chamamé – Uma historia para ser contada", in physical format and e-book, bilingual; Portuguese and Spanish, being an anthropological research work on rhythm, together with the historian and producer Magali de Rossi.In July

In 2022, he carried out the project "Ponto e Pianada – Ponto de Encontro" , together with accordionist Chango Spasiuk, in eight performances in Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. Being the main concert performed at the Theatro São Pedro, in Porto Alegre, Brazil. In September 2022, he released his ninth album, a double, titled "(L)ESTE". The disc "A" was arranged and adapted by the baroque harpsichordist master Fernando Cordella, with the participation of a baroque chamber orchestra; the album "B" is composed of traditional chamamés.

It is considered by musicologist Mark Brill (PhD in music from the University of Texas, San Antonio), United States in his book "Music of Latin America and the Caribbean", as one of the three main accordionists of chamamé along with Raúl Barboza and Chango Spasiuk.

He is a member of the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences - Latin Grammy (2023)

Discography

• Own discography
  • Por La senda Chamamecera (1991)
  • A la Luz del Candil (1992)
  • Ganadores de Oro de Pre Cosquin (1996)
  • Pal’ Taconeo (1998)
  • Por la misma senda (2006)
  • Herencia Chamamecera (2008)
  • Puro chamamé (2010)
  • El Viento y las Hojas (2013)
  • (L)ESTE (2022)
  • Sencillos
  • "Raíces del Alma" feat Raúl Barboza (2019)
  • "Laberintos" (2022)
  • "La colorada" (2022)
  • "Un Mate y la distancia" (2022)
  • "Ala Ancha" (2022)
  • "Maga" (2023)
  • "Terracota" (2023)
  • "15 de Mayo" (2023)
  • "Agreste Bermejo" (2023)
• Other discography
  • La Cantora, Luisa Calcumil (2008)
  • Sencillo “Caravana Chamamecera”, Os Fagundes y Elton Saldanha (2015)
  • Discos recopilatorios
  • Puro Chamamé (2010)
• Collaborations
  • “Todo Pasa” y “Don't say tomorrow” 3er arco, Los Piojos (1996)
  • “Vals inicial” y “Y quemás”, Azul, Los Piojos (1998)
  • “El Alma del Chaco”, Andres Zito, produción y dirección: Antonio Tarragó Ros (1999)
  • “El macho del siglo”, Música maestro, Antonio Ríos (2001)
  • “Lejos”, La Chicana (2006)
  • “Qué Será...” Satán Bemol, Pol Neiman (2006)
  • “El Anhelo de tu pañuelo”, Íntimamente, Julia Verdi, arreglos y producción de Nicolás "Colacho" Brizuela (2009)
  • “Garzas Viajeras”, Cosecha de Luz, Alejandra Noya (2016)
  • “Coração de Chamamé y “Recorrendo”, Motivos de Campo, Jorge Freitas (2009)
  • “Chamamé”, varios músicos (2010)
  • “Querencia de Gauchada”, Jari Terres (2010)
  • “Te conto porque volto”, Comparsa Musiqueira, varios músicos (2010)
  • “Estrela do coração” y “Amanhecer” Nossa Terra, Nossa Gente, Antônio Gringo (2011)
  • “Alma Costeira” y “Verdulera”, Canto e Cordeona, Robison Boeira (2014)
  • “De Don Chico a Don Brittes”, Lida Campeira, Eduardo Vargas (2017)
  • “El Sembrador”, Coração de minha gente, Diego Muller y Érlon Péricles, Vol 2 (2020)
• Audiovisual productions
  • DVD “Encontro Internacional de Chamameceros”, producido por Magali de Rossi, varios músicos (2008)
  • “Pindo Hovy”, videoclip con Raul Barboza y Nardo Gonzales, proyecto Elo Sul (2020)
  • WebDoc (L)ESTE (2022)
  • Grabación de tres clips musicales de "Vientos del Este", "Caiboaté" y "El Viento y las hojas" para el Consejo de las Américas, New York - USA, distribuido por AS/COA (2023).