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Bajofondo is a
Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (; ), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda, Colonia, Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and ...
-based music band consisting of eight musicians from
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
and
Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
, which aims to create a more contemporary version of
tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...
and other musical styles of the Río de la Plata region. It was founded in the early 2000s as a studio experiment, which culminated into the successful album ''Bajofondo Tango Club''. This led to touring and eventually to the current lineup. Bajofondo calls itself a collaborative as all members have solo careers as well. The group has toured around the world, particularly in Latin America, the United States, Europe and parts of Asia. Their music is known to a wider audience than those who know their name as their music has been used in film and television.


Concept

The name alludes to the river that separates Argentina and Uruguay politically but unites the area as a region, called Rio de la Plata. The music has been called “electrotango” or “electronic tango” but leader
Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla (; born 19 August 1951) is an Argentine composer, record producer and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Gustavo Santaolalla, numerous accolades for List of works by Gustavo S ...
does not believe that it sufficiently describes the group's sound, stating there is more than that. Tango is an influence but it not the band's style. The Argentine-Uruguayan influence is more than just tango, and includes
murga Murga is a form of popular musical theatre performed in Argentina, Panama, Spain and Uruguay during the Carnival season. Murga groups also operate in the Buenos Aires Carnival, though to a lesser extent than in Montevideo; the Argentinian murga ...
, milonga and
candombe ''Candombe'' is a style of music and dance that originated in Uruguay among the descendants of liberated African slaves. In 2009, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) inscribed ''candombe'' in its Rep ...
. The idea of the group is to take these traditional styles and create something more contemporary, with elements from rock, hip hop, jazz and electronic music, especially sampling. Bajofondo calls itself a collective, rather than a band, where members work on both projects under the Bajofondo name and on individual projects, often in collaboration with one or more other members. There are eight members, seven musicians and one VJ, who gives a theatrical aspect to live performances, by adding digital images in real time to the music. Each member has their own solo career, and lives in different places. Two of its members, drummer Adrian Nicolas Sosa and producer-composer Gustavo Santaolalla, live in Los Angeles. Four more are in Uruguay, and two are in Argentina. In addition, on most albums, the group has collaborated with other artists including
Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...
,
Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado ( , ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 45 million records, including 35 million in album sales worldwide, making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. Critics have noted ...
,
Julieta Venegas Julieta Venegas Percevault (; born 24 November 1970) is a Mexican singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and producer who specializes in pop-rock-indie music in Spanish. She embarked on her musical journey by joining several bands, including the ...
, La Mala Rodriguez, and
Gustavo Cerati Gustavo Adrián Cerati Clarke (11 August 1959 – 4 September 2014) was an Argentine musician and singer-songwriter who gained international recognition for being the leader, vocalist, composer, and guitarist of the rock band Soda Stereo. He is ...
.


History

The idea for the group was that of Gustavo Santaolalla in the early 2000s, with the idea of experimenting with the acoustic instrumentation of tango music, with electronic beats and other influences in order to create a more contemporary music of the Río de la Plata region. Santaolalla had already been working with
Juan Campodónico Juan Campodónico ( Montevideo, Uruguay, 1971), sometimes working under his stage name Campo, is an Uruguayan musician, producer, composer, creator and former member of El Peyote Asesino, Bajofondo and Campo. He produced albums by Jorge Drexler ...
on other projects and together they began experimenting in the studio, trying out different sounds, sampling and playing instruments themselves along with participation from friends. After two years of work, the first album, self-titled ''Bajofondo Tango Club'' was released in 2002. The album introduced their new style along with the participations of guest artists such as
Jorge Drexler Jorge Abner Drexler Prada (born September 21, 1964) is a Uruguayan musician and actor. In 2004, Drexler won wide acclaim after becoming the first Uruguayan to win an Academy Award, which he won for composing the song " Al Otro Lado del Río" f ...
,
Adriana Varela Adriana Varela (born Beatriz Adriana Lichinchi on May 9, 1952 in Avellaneda, Argentina) is an Argentine tango singer, with a successful career that encompasses many records, as well as minor movie roles. Summary Adriana Varela is regarded as one ...
,
Cristóbal Repetto Cristóbal or Cristobal, the Spanish version of Christopher, is a masculine given name and a surname which may refer to: Given name *Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895–1972), Spanish fashion designer *Cristóbal Cobo (born 1976), Chilean academic *Cri ...
,
Adrián Iaies Adrián Iaies (born November 4, 1960) is an Argentine pianist and composer who has been nominated for the Latin Grammy awards three times. His main style is jazz but he combines that with soul, tango, and other styles. Iaies became involved in jaz ...
,
Didi Gutman Didi Chuxing Technology Company is a Chinese vehicle for hire company headquartered in Beijing with over 550 million users and tens of millions of drivers. The company provides app-based transportation services, including taxi hailing, private ...
, and
Pablo Mainetti Pablo is a masculine given name, the Spanish form of the name Paul. People * Pablo Acha (born 1996), Spanish archer * Pablo Alarcón (born 1946), Argentine actor * Pablo Alborán (born 1989), Spanish singer * Pablo Aimar (born 1979), Argentine ...
. The album reached triple platinum and won Argentina's Gardel Prize and a Latin Grammy (Best Instrumental Pop Album) . The popularity of this album encouraged the formation of most of the permanent group and touring. In their first shows, about seventy percent was pre-programmed with thirty percent live. Today only ten percent of what is heard is pre-recorded. Since then, six other albums have been made, either with the entire collective or with individuals with collective support, such as
Luciano Supervielle Luciano Supervielle Sbruzzi (born 30 October 1976) is a French-born Uruguayan musician, composer, producer and DJ. Aside from his solo work, he is also known for being part of the neotango collective Bajofondo. Records * ''Bajofondo presenta ...
's solo album in 2004, produced by Santaolalla and Campodónico. This was followed by ''Bajofondo Remixed'' in 2005, with reworked versions of songs from Bajofondo Tango Club and Supervielle's album. In 2008, the album ''Mar Dulce'' was released and the name of the group shorted to just Bajofondo, as the idea was not just tango music as the base but all styles of Rio de la Plata regional music, such as milonga and candombe. In 2013, the Presente album has no guest vocals and strings play a more major role with eleven violins, four violas, three cellos and three stand-up basses. This album won the
Latin Grammy The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...
for best instrumental album. They have toured around the world particularly in Latin America, the United States, Europe and parts of Asia. Venues include music festival including
Coachella Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...
in the United States,
Womad WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...
in England,
Festival Internacional Cervantino The Festival Internacional Cervantino (FIC), popularly known as ''El Cervantino'', is a festival which takes place each fall in the city of Guanajuato, located in central Mexico. The festival originates from the mid 20th century, when short pla ...
in Mexico, Cactus Festival in Belgium, Pirineos Sur Festival in Spain, Pohoda in
Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
, World Music Festival in South Korea, Summer State in New York City and
Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...
. Other major venues and appearances include the 2010 appearance at the
Disney Concert Hall The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 23, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Ave ...
in Los Angeles with the Orchestra of the Americas, the
University of California Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Cal ...
, the
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
in New York, the Barbicon Center and Roundhouse in London and in 2009 they were part of the opening of Argentina's bicentennial festivities. Their music is more widely known to the public then the members individually and even the group in total. One reason for this is that their music appears often in television and film than on radio, because it adapts to the first two mediums better. The song Pa’ bailar was used as the theme for the Brazilian soap ''
A Favorita ''A Favorita'' (English: ''The Favorite'') is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast TV Globo. It premiered 2 June 2008 to 17 January 2009 with a total number of episodes of 197. It is created by João Emanuel Carneiro and directed by Ricar ...
'' (
TV Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air Television broadcasting, television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto M ...
), and the same song for an
Acura Acura is the luxury and performance division of Japanese automaker Honda, based primarily in North America. The brand was launched on March 27, 1986, marketing luxury and performance automobiles. Acura sells cars in the United States, Canada, M ...
commercial for the Super Bowl. Other examples include commercials for Kahlua, Macy's and Shell. Warner Cable used ''Pa’ bailar'' for a trailer for the series ''Nikita'' in 2011 and the Russian gymnastics team used several of their works for the
2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
.


Members

Bajofondo current lineup has eight artists.
Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla (; born 19 August 1951) is an Argentine composer, record producer and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Gustavo Santaolalla, numerous accolades for List of works by Gustavo S ...
, cofounder of Bajofondo, is a singer, composer, producer and plays guitar, charange and ronroco and lives in Los Angeles. He also is the director of a record label and publishing company. His career began at age 16 with the band ''Arco Iris'', a pioneer in fusing Latin American folk music and rock. He played with ''Soluna'' and then with ''Wet Picnic'' after he moved to the United States. His solo career includes three albums. He has been a producer since the 1970s, working with
Leon Gieco Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
, G.I.T. and Divididos, along with
Maldita Vecindad La Maldita Vecindad y los Hijos del Quinto Patio (, usually called only "La Maldita") is a band formed in Mexico City in 1985. They are pioneers of rock en español and one of the most influential rock bands in Mexico. They first made an impact ...
and
Café Tacuba Café Tacuba (), stylized as Café Tacvba, is a band from Naucalpan de Juárez, State of Mexico. The group gained popularity in the early 1990s. They were founded in 1989, before they had the current lineup of Rubén Albarrán, Rubén Isaac Albar ...
. In 1997 he cofounded the record label SURCO, whose first release was Mexican band Molotov, along with Bersuit, La Vela Puerca, Julieta Venega and more. Santaolalla has also composed soundtracks for films such as The Insider, Amores Perros,
21 Grams ''21 Grams'' is a 2003 American crime thriller film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. It is the second installment in the duo’s informal “Trilogy of Death,” preceded by ''Amores perros'' (2000) ...
,
Brokeback Mountain ''Brokeback Mountain'' is a 2005 American neo-Western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee and produced by Diana Ossana and James Schamus. Adapted from Brokeback Mountain (short story), the 1997 short story by Annie Proulx, the screenplay ...
and
Babel Babel is a name used in the Hebrew Bible for the city of Babylon and may refer to: Arts and media Written works Books *Babel (book), ''Babel'' (book), by Patti Smith * Babel (2012 manga), ''Babel'' (2012 manga), by Narumi Shigematsu * Babel (20 ...
. This work has earned him a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and two Oscars. He has also won fourteen Grammys of various types.
Juan Campodónico Juan Campodónico ( Montevideo, Uruguay, 1971), sometimes working under his stage name Campo, is an Uruguayan musician, producer, composer, creator and former member of El Peyote Asesino, Bajofondo and Campo. He produced albums by Jorge Drexler ...
is the other cofounder of Bajofondo and does programming, beats, samples and guitar. Campodónico is from Uruguay but grew up in Mexico after his parents were exiled, returning in 1984. Soon after he was a member of several rock and pop bands and has been a pioneer of electronic music. In the mid 1990s he formed the band ''Peyote Asesino'', the first Uruguayan band to fuse hip-hop with contemporary rock. This work attracted the attention of Santaolalla, producing the band's second album and giving them international exposure. The band broke up soon after but Campodónico continued to work with Santasolalla, eventually creating Bajofondo, which continuing with his own projects and working as a DJ under the name of Campo.
Luciano Supervielle Luciano Supervielle Sbruzzi (born 30 October 1976) is a French-born Uruguayan musician, composer, producer and DJ. Aside from his solo work, he is also known for being part of the neotango collective Bajofondo. Records * ''Bajofondo presenta ...
does piano, keyboards and scratch. Born in France, Supervielle developed his music career in Uruguay, synthesizing hip hop, tango, rock and Uruguayan folk in a way that takes advantage of his abilities on keyboards and turntables. He began his career with the hip-hop group Plátano Macho then began working with Jorge Drexler, participating in four albums and a DVD. He is the youngest member of Bajofondo and has released two solo projects while a member. Javier Casalla is a violinist who has played with various ensembles in rock, tango, folk, jazzo and classical. In addition to Bajofondo, he collaborates with the bands of Cristobal Repetto and Lucianco Supervielle. He released a solo album in 2006(produced by Santaolalla) and participated in the production of soundtracks for various films. Martin Ferres is a bandoneon player who plays both traditional and avant garde music and his work is influenced by minimalism as well as tango classics. In addition to Bajofondo, he composes music for theater and dance, and has been heard in many of Argentina's main theaters. Gabriel Casacuberta plays upright bass and electric back, beginning his career as a session musician in Mexico but working with many Uruguayan artists. After returning to his home country, he played in a number of bands, including Plátano Maco with Supervielle. He has also produced music for movies and television. Adrian Nicolas Sosa is a drummer, producer and composer, who was involved with Bajofondo since day one as a producer and A&R when he was the general manager at Surco Records. He joined the band as a musician after they had already produced one album that used drum machine called "Tango Club". For the Mar Dulce album, Santaolalla decided to try live drums as an experiment and asked Sosa to sit in. The success of this led to Sosa's becoming a permanent member. At present Sosa also writes, produced and he also sang in one of his compositions called "Cuesta Arriba" featured in the last Bajofondo album "Presente" (2013). Veronica Loza is a VJ who connects the band's music with stage presence, generally through digital images. On stage, she appears at a keyboard like a musician but her production is visual. She also provides vocals.


Discography

* '' Bajofondo Tango Club'' - 2002 * '' Remixed'' - 2005 * ''
Mar Dulce Lake Nicaragua or Cocibolca or Granada (, , or ) is a freshwater lake in Nicaragua. Of tectonic origin and with an area of , it is the largest fresh water lake in Central America, the 19th largest lake in the world (by area) and the tenth large ...
'' - 2007 * '' Presente'' - 2013 * ''Aura'' - 2019 ;Related albums * '' Bajofondo presenta Supervielle'' - 2004 * '' Bajofondo presenta Santullo'' - 2009 * ''
Bajofondo presenta Campo Bajofondo is a Río de la Plata-based music band consisting of eight musicians from Argentina and Uruguay, which aims to create a more contemporary version of tango and other musical styles of the Río de la Plata region. It was founded in the ear ...
'' - 2011 ;DVD * '' Supervielle en el Solís'' - 2006


References


External links

*
National Geographic video
* * {{Authority control Tango music groups Uruguayan musical groups Argentine musical groups Latin Grammy Award winners Musical octets