Chamamé

Chamamé is a folk music genre from the Argentine Northeast, Mesopotamia ("Litoral") and in the south of Brazil. Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul and Mato Grosso do Sul.

Jesuit Reductions in the area encouraged cultural growth that lasted until the Jesuits were expelled by the Spanish Crown in the late 18th century. Within this area, Yapeyú in Corrientes was a centre of musical culture that many point to as the birth place of the original Chamamé. Further mixing with instruments such as the Spanish guitar, then the violin and the accordion, finally resulted in what we currently know under the name of Chamamé. There are recordings of early 20th century, and the term 'Chamamé' was already used in 1931, previously often referred to as the Corrientes' Polka.

The Chamamé, original schottische brought by the Volga German immigrants, has a terminological Guaraní contribution, mix with the Spanish guitar and the European accordion from those immigrants that arrived to the area at the beginning of the 20th century.

Among chamamé figures of note are Raúl Barboza, Tarragó Ros, (his son) Antonio Tarragó Ros, Ernesto Montiel, Tránsito Cocomarola, Mario Millán Medina, and modern musicians Chango Spasiuk, Zitto Segovia, Mario Bofill, Alejandro Brittes and Los Núñez con Ruiz Guiñazú.

See also

• Music of Argentina

External links

• Strum guitar for Chamamé (English)
• Chamame.tv (Spanish) (La Pagina Oficial de La Fiesta Nacional del Chamamé, Argentina)
• Chamigos.com (Spanish) (Chamame Social Network)
• Chamame.com.br (Portuguese) (Chamame website in portuguese and online radio)
• SiempreChamame.com.ar (Spanish) (Chamamé site & online radio)
• Corrientes Chamamé (Spanish)