Chico Novarro | |
---|---|
Born | Bernardo Mitnik 4 September 1933
Santa Fe, Argentina |
Died | 18 August 2023
Buenos Aires, Argentina | (aged 89)
Bernardo Mitnik (4 September 1933 – 18 August 2023), best known as Chico Novarro, was an Argentine singer-songwriter, composer, musician, television presenter and actor. He specialized in tango and bolero compositions.
Born in Santa Fe, the son of a Ukrainian shoemaker and a Jewish housewife of Romanian origin, Novarro started studying music at young age; as an adolescent he moved to Córdoba to cure his asthma, and there he began playing drums in a jazz band and in an orchestra. [1] In 1956 he joined the jazz ensemble Agrupación Nuevo Jazz, which also included Gato Barbieri. [1] In 1961, he moved to Buenos Aires, where he briefly joined the jazz band Swing Timers, [2] and formed the duo Los Navarros with Raúl Bonetto, recording an album for RCA. [1]
Novarro had his breakout as a cast member of the 1962-4 Canal 13 musical show Club del Clan , which gave him immediate notoriety and made him a teen idol. [1] [2] He soon started releasing successful albums, and authoring hits for other singers including Palito Ortega and Violeta Rivas. [1]
Between late 1960s and 1970s Novarro collaborated several times with María Elena Walsh. [1] In the early 1970s, he collaborated with Eladia Blázquez, who introduced him to the tango composition. [2] Another notable collaboration was with Rubén Juárez, who starting from 1983 recorded several of his songs, also duetting with him in "Cordón" and "El último round". [1] Starting from the late 1980s he had a large stage success with the show Arráncame la vida. [1] [2]
Among Novarro's major hits were "Carta de un león a otro", the OTI Festival 1979 winner "Cuenta conmigo", "Algo contigo", "El camaleón", "Cómo". [1] [2] During his career he composed over sixty hundred songs, as well as film scores and incidental music. [2] Beyond boleros and tangos, he also composed pop, rock, jazz, and cumbia songs. [3] He also appeared in several films, mostly comedies. [2] He died on 18 August 2023, at the age of 89. [1] [2]