Cuarteto is a music born and bred in Cordobá and it is considered a cornerstone of the provincial culture. It is famous for its catchy rhythm and outlandish singers.
The flamboyant Carlos ‘La Mona’ Jimenez
The name comes from the mini (usually four musicians!) orchestras who played at small rural parties in the countryside. It has a fast tropical rhythm, similar to Meringue from the Dominican Republic though generally quicker. The dancing is also not dissimilar to the Merengue, though obviously faster and the girl seems to be flung around a lot more. It is a lot of fun both to dance and to listen to – for its crazy nonsensical lyrics. Since its beginning, in the 40’s, it was mainly played and listened to by poorer Argentines and sniffed at by the higher echelons of society; it was pretty much entirely censored during the military dictatorship (always a good sign!). Then in the early 90’s it boomed across Argentina. Rodrigo Bueno known as El Potro (the Colt) was Cuarteto’s biggest star and till today every Argentine wedding, irrelevant of your background, will undoubtedly have a couple of his songs. The genre reached its peak with Rodrigo, though unfortunately he was killed in a car crash and since then, though it remains popular in many parts of the country, Cuarteto has slowly tapered out of the mainstream.
