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CULTURE | 23-01-2020 17:24

Tributes to Spinetta pour in on 70th anniversary of his birth

Posthumous album, released today, among a series of tributes paid to legendary Argentine musician on what would've been his 70th birthday.

The work and life of late Argentine musician Luis Alberto Spinetta was remembered on Thursday with a series of moving tributes – including a new posthumous album.

The tributes marked what would've been the artist's 70th birthday and fell on Día Nacional del Músico ("National Day of the Musician"), a commemoration passed into law in 2015 to mark Spinetta's birthday.

Spinetta, commonly known as 'El Flaco,' died on 8 February 2012 in Buenos Aires after a battle with lung cancer. The creator of groups such as Almendra, Pescado Rabioso, Invisible, Spinetta Jade y Spinetta y los Socios del Desierto, he is widely considered to one of the most important musicians the country has ever produced, with much of his solo work considered to be Argentine standards.

Paying tribute to the late musician, Google decided to create an animated "doodle" for the Argentine version of their search homepage.

New album

Released today, Spinetta's new posthumous album, Ya no mires atrás, is now available on all digital platforms and in physical format.

The record is a collection of previously unreleased songs that the rocker recorded between 2008 and 2009 in his studio La Diosa Salvaje. In demo form, they had yet to be mixed and mastered.

"We hope that Daddy likes it the way it is", declared Spinetta's daughter Catarina, introducing the work at a recent playback session attended by the Télam state news agency.

Catarina says she found the material "in a very magic way."

"It was on a pen drive, recorded in its entirety, only the final mix and mastering were missing," stated El Flaco's daughter.

The album will first be released on CD and in February it will also be available on vinyl. Both digital and physical versions feature Spinetta's drawings.

Essential artist

Personal and prolific, Spinetta's 50 years in the music industry led to the creation of more than 40 albums. Able to reinvent himself regularly and create work blessed by beauty, he was an author, guitarist and singer, but also a poet and painter.

Born January 23, 1950 in the Buenos Aires neighbourhood of Belgrano, Spinetta rejected the ups and downs of genre to build a career on the fringes of the fashion and the tireless demands of the recording industry.

In a sort of synthesis of his musical journey, on December 4, 2009 he filled Vélez Sarsfield's stadium, a multitudinous space that he transformed into an intimate redoubt to enjoy a tour of his Eternal Bands in a five-hour artistic marathon with more than 50 songs.

"Talent is a man in freedom, it is born in any person who feels capable of flying with his ideas," was one of the phrases he used throughout his life and that somehow define his way of seeing art.

Tributes

Argentines from all sectors paid tribute to the musician on the 70th anniversary of his birth Thursday, with many dedicating some words to him on social networks.

"Seventy years ago Luis Alberto Spinetta was born in the city of Buenos Aires. One of the greatest artists in the world. His work lives here very close by for anyone who wants to sail on the high seas and get lost in that delirious ocean of pure humanity. Wake up, oh young people of the new era!” posted fellow Argentine star Fito Paez on his official Twitter account.

Another artist to remember Spinetta was David Lebón, a fellow band member in Pescado Rabioso, El Flaco's much-adored second band.

"How nice to hear you, Flaco! We celebrate your life," published the multi-instrumentalist , who also recorded with the late musician on Spinetta's solo work.

Spinetta's family also weighed in, with his musician son, Dante, posting on his official Twitter account: "Happy Birthday, Dad. I love you always and what better way than to celebrate this day with a new album of yours!” He included the album cover the newly released record in the post. 

Another message came from Valentino, another of El Flaco's sons, who also paid tribute to his late feather, dedicating the song "Hacia el sol" to him, which he recorded in 2018.

Geoffrey Comte

Geoffrey Comte

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