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Los Bardos de América |
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The guitar-vocal trio Los Bardos de América (The Bards of the Americas) includes founder/director Ernesto Chávez from Lima on guitar and second voice (bass-baritone), Marco Antonio García from Chiclayo (Peru’s north coast) on guitar and first voice (tenor), and Armando Echeverría from Quito (Ecuador) on requinto. Los Bardos serenade diners every Friday evening at the Mi Perú Restaurant in North Miami Beach’s Skylake Mall and also perform at other venues. Trios like Los Bardos can be heard throughout Latin America. Two or three male voices sing in close harmony, with highlighted solos, and self-accompaniment on guitars and requinto. The repertoire of these ensembles includes songs from Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Peru, Argentina, and other countries. Los Bardos, as a Peruvian ensemble, excels in the vals criollo, but has a pan-Latin American repertoire that appeals to their diverse restaurant clientele. Ernesto Chávez’s first ensemble in Peru was Los Vizreyes (The Viceroys), which performed on Peruvian television and toured the United States. He worked as a musician for five years in Venezuela, where he played and recorded with many well-known artists. He also lived for a time in Los Angeles, where he made his first U.S. recording as Los Bardos. Marco Antonio García has been playing with Ernesto Chávez for 15 years. He began his career by singing for Sonoradio, the eminent Peruvian record company, where he recorded over 30 albums with different ensembles. He has traveled in Latin America and North America as a soloist with dance bands, performing a variety of music styles, such as the Colombian cumbia. Armando Echeverría is a professional requinto player, as well as a master teacher of the instrument. He has recently produced a manual for the requinto. While living in New York, he met his wife, singer Aida Martes de Echeverría, who is of Puerto Rican origin. Echeverría sometimes joins Los Bardos in song at the Mi Perú Restaurant. |
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Photograph by Carl Juste.
Los Bardos de América at Mi Perú Restaurant. Photographs by Carl Juste.
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