Duo Chehebar - Navarro

Overall, the music of Duó Chehébar-Navarro is a conjunction of traditional, folkloric Andean music with contemporary Western melodic structures, instrumental colors, and harmonies. In particular, the music capitalizes on "underutilized and hidden capabilities" of Andean wind instruments, including their chromatism, easy adaptability to forming strong counterpoint to Roberto's piano, and capacity for rendering complex melodies. Roberto Navarro was born in Entre Ríos, Argentina (1952), while Claudio Chehébar was born in Buenos Aires (1954). Both had formal musical training as they grew to adulthood. In 1987, Claudio Chehébar and Roberto Navarro formed Duó Chehébar-Navarro in Bariloche, an Andean town in the Patagonia of Argentina. The Duo's original music (composed largely by Roberto Navarro) has multiple roots in Argentina's many distinctive regions, but is fundamentally based on Patagonian rhythms such as the loncomeo, which you may hear in the tune "El País de las Manzanas." Other rhythms used by the Duo are from the northwest of Argentina, and are played on instruments particular to that area, such as the Andean flutes called quena and sikus). Duó Chehébar-Navarro, aesthetically and psychically committed to its Andean folk music roots, never loses itself to homegenized fusions. The character of Andean flutes and panpipes are so distinctive that it would be hard to bury their voices in bland Westernizations, even if the Duo chose to diverge from strong Patagonian and Andean influences. Much of the repertoire performed by Duó Chehébar-Navarro is original, thanks to Roberto Navarro's passion for composition. According to one reviewer, "procedures for what is called 'fusion' are difficult, and these musicians are up to the challenge. They are composers (especially Navarro) and they give us back their vision of different landscapes (geographical, cultural, and mental), from high Andes plateaus (the Altiplano) to a wild and immense Patagonia." Roberto Navarro plays keyboards (synthesizer and piano), while Claudio Chehébar plays various South American panpipes (panflutes, zampoñas). His palette of Andean wind instruments include various zamponas, the malta, zanca, toyo, and a chromatic panflute. Other flutes played by Claudo are the antara, quena, quenacho, recorder, and the moxeño, a transverse flute. Claudo also plays the huancara (an Andean drum). From the early 1990s through 2008, Duó Chehébar-Navarro has toured widely, perforning in cities like Barcelona, Rome, Bergamo, Firenze, Modena, Grenoble, Paris, Berlin, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Calgary, and Miami. Many of their performances include guest musicians and collaborators such as Mercedes Sosa, who they accompanied on a tour to Miami, Florida. Discography: 1989: El Pais de las Manzanas 1991: Maliku 1992: Linea Sur 1996: Patagonia 2000: Fiesta en el Aire 2006: Cercano Sur For further exploration, visit: Bariloche, Official Website for Duo Chehebar-Navarro http://bariloche.org/duo.html CD Baby http://cdbaby.com/group/duo Music Player for Duo-Chehebar-Navarro http://mybandsmusic.com/members/654/ MySpace for Duo Chehebar-Navarro www.myspace.com/duochehebarnavarro Original Website for Duo Chehebar-Navarro http://ar.geocities.com/duochehebarnavarro Roberto Navarro: robertonav@bariloche.com.ar Claudio Chehebar: claudiochehebar@hotmail.com ========================================= Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.