Victor Hugo Díaz

Early life

Díaz was born to a poor family in the small city of Santiago del Estero. At the age of five he lost his sight when hit by a soccer ball, which led him to play the harmonica. Two years later, after surgery restored his eyesight, he was already performing regularly for a local radio.

Musical career

In spite of a highly successful career, he remained loyal to his youth's companions, such as the Abalos brothers and percussionist Domingo Cura with whom Díaz recorded on many occasions. His debut in Buenos Aires c. 1944 resulted in a series of record contracts with Odeon Records, TK Records, Jockey and later RCA Records. Although mostly known for his tango performances, his music has deep rural roots, above all in the provincial folkloric music he grew up with: chacareras, zambas and milongas camperas.

In 1953 during a European tour, Hugo Díaz met with two admired musicians in Belgium: Larry Adler and Toots Thielemans. The admiration was mutual.

He also played in the United States with Louis Armstrong and Oscar Peterson, and in La Scala, Milan with Renata Tebaldi and Mario del Monaco.

Díaz recorded the most important part of his Tango musical legacy during the 1970s. His first three albums (Hugo Diaz en Buenos Aires) were not recorded until 1972, 1973 and 1974 and in 1975 he made his last tango album (Hugo Díaz para Gardel 40 Años Despues) [1]

He died on October 23, 1977.

Family

Díaz was married to Victoria Cura, Domingo Cura's sister, with whom he had a daughter, María Victoria, born in 1961. María (Mavi) Díaz became an important part of Argentine rock and roll in the 1980s as a member of the Viuda e hijas de Roque Enroll (English: Widow and Daughters of Roque Enroll).

Movie soundtracks

The sound of his harmonica was captured in the song Milonga Triste included in the film The Tango Lesson, directed by Sally Potter.

More recently it was heard as background music in the 2006 Austrian film The Counterfeiters (2008 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film ).

The Argentine documentary film A los cuatro vientos (Spanish: To the four winds) premiered in 2007. The film, deeply musical, is a homage to Hugo Díaz and includes many of his interpretations.

Partial Discography