Alberto Aguirre

Félix Alberto Aguirre Obredor (1928–2021), known professionally as “Cholo” Aguirre and “el cantor de los ríos” (the singer of rivers), was an Argentine tango and litoraleña musician born in San Lorenzo, Santa Fe Province. Beginning his career as a radio competition winner at fifteen, Aguirre performed with prominent orchestras including those of Calixto Sayago, Jorge Argentino Fernández, Héctor Varela, and Edgardo Donato, recording extensively from the early 1950s through the 1960s. Initially focused on tango vocals, his 1956 recording of “Naranjerita” marked his transition toward regional Argentine music. From 1960 onward, he composed and performed distinctive “litoraleña” songs celebrating Argentine river themes and Littoral region culture, compositions that achieved international recognition through recordings by artists including Julio Iglesias and Los Laikas. His most celebrated work, “Trasnochados Espineles” (1963), exemplified his signature style. Aguirre recorded extensively for Music Hall, Micrófón, and Philips labels. He eventually settled in Madrid, Spain, where he died on July 28, 2021.

Sources note: Sources give conflicting birth dates: tango.info records 1930-02-19, while UACDRA, Radio Don, and multiple Argentine music blogs consistently report 1928-02-12. The 1928 date aligns with contemporary newspaper records and the 2022 Radio Don article marking his “94th birthday” (from 2022 minus 94 = 1928).