At 76 years of age, this Wednesday, he died Nestor “Nacho” Smilarihistorical guitarist of The Chocolate Bar, Village Skin, The Heavy of Rock and Roll and Vox Dei. The news was confirmed to Teleshow by the musician’s environment.
“Good route, brother!”, they fired him from the official Instagram account of La Renga, a band with which he played a month ago at the Estadio Único in La Plata. The bassist, composer and singer also joined Alejandro Medinawho was part of the band Manal, The Heavy of rock & roll, Aeroblus and Pappo’s Blues. “May the light and the musical kingdom receive you dear old friend! Have a good trip. Thank you for all the adventures and notes we have shared since 1966. My condolences to his family, fans and friends.”
As Teleshow learned, Nacho Smilari was going through a delicate health condition and was suffering from discomfort due to his advanced age. Days ago, even, he had decompensated. Hours before the death was confirmed, Jorge Napoleone, owner of the legendary Rasputin Samovar in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of La Boca, referred to the musician on his Facebook account. “You are going through a serious health problem. He is hospitalized in Basterrica, with a reserved prognosis. Good vibes and prayers for Nacho,” he wrote.
One of his last appearances was in mid-May, with the band led by Chizzo Napoli. In the middle of his series of shows at the Unique Stadium of La Plata, the artist took the stage at the end of the show. Smilari used to regularly participate in La Renga’s recitals. Also with him was Alejandro Medina, who that night contributed to paying tribute to the recently deceased Javier Martínez with a performance of “Doña Laura”, a song that Chizzo had sung some time ago with the emblematic pioneering local blues trio.
Throughout his career, which began more than fifty years ago, Nacho served as guitarist for numerous bands that formed the basis of Argentine rock. In 1969, the guitarist joined La Barra de Chocolate. One of his first presentations was at the International Song Festival that year. Such was the success of their song “Alza la Voz”, that the group won the festival. However, after a trip to the United States, in which the artist was inspired by the shows of Eric Clapton, BB King and Jimi Hendrix, decided to leave the band. But his situation would soon change. Ricardo Soulé, Willy Quiroga and Rubén Basoalto, members of Vox Dei, They knocked on his door with the intention of adding him to the group.
After passing through several bands, and after years living and working in Brazil, the guitarist returned to Argentina. It was then when he began his relationship with La Renga. It all started thanks to his friendship with drummer Daniel El Buda Giordano, who played in Chizzo’s wife’s group. She had asked him if she knew an Argentine rock musician to learn to play and the artist named Smilari. Upon hearing him play, she recommended that he join La Renga. Two days later, the group invited him to eat a barbecue and go fishing. From that day on they never separated again, starting a friendship that lasted many years.
In addition to playing at numerous shows for the band, Smilari was part of one of their albums. The guitarist participated in a song on the album Algún Rayo. He even traveled to Chile and Uruguay, accompanying the group. In his recitals, Chizzo presented him as “a relic of national rock.”
