Rodolfo Mederos

Rodolfo Mederos (born March 25, 1940) is an Argentine bandoneonist, composer and arranger. He lived in Cuba and France; in Argentina, he founded the cult group Generación Cero.

Mederos is a porteño, born in the neighborhood of Constitución. He spent his childhood in the province of Entre Ríos, and later went to the University of Córdoba to study biology.

As a young man he was captivated by fellow bandoneonist Ástor Piazzolla. He played with Piazzolla for several years before joining the Osvaldo Pugliese Orchestra, alongside other young musicians.

After 1960 he put together his early groups to play at provincial radio stations and on television. His Octeto Guardia Nueva had such an impact that Astor Piazzolla, when he heard it during one of his tours, suggested that Mederos travel to Buenos Aires.

Later, Piazzolla returned to Córdoba and invited Mederos to appear in his recitals.

In 1965 Mederos traveled to Buenos Aires and cut his first record "Buenos Aires, al rojo" in which he played Cobián's and Piazzolla's pieces as well as his own compositions.

After spending two years abroad, first in Cuba and later in Paris, he returned to Argentina, and in 1969 he joined the new Osvaldo Pugliese orchestra, which was formed due to the decision of its former players who wanted to play only with the ensemble, Sexteto Tango, they had recently put together. He was in the bandoneon section with Arturo Penón, Daniel Binelli and Juan José Mosalini.

In 1976 he put together a new group, Generación Cero, that attracted a cult following. His appearance with his group was hardly conventional and perhaps irreverent. Its sound tried to achieve a fusion between jazz, rock and the music of Buenos Aires. It displayed far-fetched arrangements with impressionist reminiscences. It was an intentional rupture, a juvenile search that looked for a new road in music.

Although the group contained a bandoneon, and despite other similarities, their music was not a variant of the tango genre. Neither the "licks" nor the rhythm belonged to tango, and the arrangements modified the melody to the point of making it hardly recognizable. However, little by little they were reaching an intellectual sector, avid for innovations.

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