Troilo, Aníbal Carmelo [Pichuco;El Gordo] Page 1 of 1

Troilo, Aníbal Carmelo [Pichuco; El

Gordo]
(b Buenos Aires, 11 July 1914; d Buenos Aires, 18 May 1975). Argentine tango
bandoneon player, bandleader and composer. Largely self-taught, he played full-
time in tango bands from the age of 13, working in those of Juan Maglio, the
Vardaro-Pugliese Sextet, Julio De Caro and Alfredo Gobbi among others. His own
band made its début at the Marabú cabaret in Buenos Aires in July 1937. With
Troilo’s bandoneon and the piano skills of Orlando Goñi, it was soon recognized
as the leading band of its time; the first of its nearly 500 recordings date from
1938. Supremely popular in Buenos Aires, Troilo made relatively few trips abroad,
which were always short. His best tango songs were written with the lyricist
Homero Manzi, and include Barrio de tango and Sur, the prime tango classics of
the 1940s. In 1953 he wrote music for a long-running musical comedy, El patio de
la morocha, and he and his musicians appeared in eight Argentine films. From the
1950s to the end of his life Troilo also worked with excellent smaller groups, the
Troilo-Grela Quartet (with guitarrist Roberto Grela) and his own Aníbal Troilo
Quartet. The records he made with these groups, especially the album Troilo-
Grela (1963), display magnificently his bandoneon technique, above all his
astonishing sensitivity and his equal skill with both hands. Troilo’s affection for
strenuous night life and his taste for whisky gradually undermined his health, but
he never lost his status as a popular idol, shown in the public grief occasioned by
his death.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
F. Silva: Informe sobre Troilo (Buenos Aires, 1978)
Historia del tango, xvi (Buenos Aires, 1980)
O. Sanguiao: Troilo (Buenos Aires, 1995)
SIMON COLLIER

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