Piazolla says 'Adios'

(First Edition)

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - The tango musician and composer Astor Piazzolla died in a nursing home here yesterday, where he had been cared for since suffering a stroke two years ago. He was 71.

A gifted player of the tango's principal instrument, the bandoneon, Piazzolla revived the popularity of the tango with such compositions as 'Adios Nonino' and 'Libertango', bringing a touch of rock to the traditional Argentine rhythm.

Born on 11 March, 1921, in the Argentine coastal city of Mar del Plata, Piazzolla had much of his musical education in New York's Greenwich Village, playing with the jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie in the 1950s. Piazzolla's tango became a huge success in Europe. His supporters saw his music as a tango style reflecting the chaotic, cosmopolitan life of late 20th century Buenos Aires, but his detractors said that his music was not worthy of the name of tango.