Leonardo Favio

Leonardo Favio – Nuestro
Microfon, LMS 76086, 1977
Microfon America, Hialeah Gardens, FL

A year ago Leonardo Favio was appointed Argentina's Ambassador of Culture by decree of the President. Apparently Mr. Favio was one of the most successful Argentine singers in the 1960s and 70s. Yet, until I picked up the 99¢ Nuestro record at the Goodwill the other day, I had never heard of him. With my three Carlos Gardel records I'd figured I had some records of the most popular and legendary Argentine singers in my collection. Favio's discography lists a long list of LP's (but Nuestro is not included in that list) as well as long lists of films that he produced, directed, or acted in. 

In thirty years of reading, listening, studying, playing, searching, writing music you'd think I would know most of the renowned singers and musicians in the world but the more I discover, the more I realize that the vast majority of them is hidden to me and the vast majority of those will remain hidden forever. The enormous quantity of recorded music is simply too large to exhaust, and new recordings appear at faster pace than the cars passing on your street. But at one given moment, one great record is all that matters. It's there in the moment, it's the best, and no matter how many records may be greater, no single one could be a worthy substitute for it, not at that moment. Those moments happen quite often when you're focused on listening. They happen listening to musicians that become ambassadors as well as to musicians that will be forgotten at the moment they step out of sight. Here's the song La Dicha que me fue negada by Leonardo Favio.