The bandoneon is a rectangular and square bellows instrument. It is a relative of the accordion and is popular in the Rio de la Plata, an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean in South America formed by the confluence of the rivers Parana and Uruguay, which serves as a border around the Argentine Republic and the Eastern Republic of Uruguay (300 km in length).

The bandoneon is strongly linked to the tango. The name of the instrument derives from the German Bandonion and is an acronym for the name Heinrich Band (1821-1860), who was awarded the patent for the invention.

~~~~

Trace stalked toward the balcony door, the 9mm automatic nestled in his hand.

“Where are you going with that gun?” Lisa demanded, sitting up in bed. There was more than a little alarm in her voice.

“I’m going to take a shot at the sonofabitch if he comes around this way again,” Trace said through clenched teeth.

~~~~

Eduardo Oscar Rovira was a master of the bandoneon. Born in Lanus, Argentina, on April 30, 1925, Rovira composed more than 10o Argentinian tangos and 200 works of chamber music.

Rovira began his career at the age of nine as a musician playing in the Cafe Germinal with the Francisco Alessio Orchestra.

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The sonofabitch in question was a swaggering little Mexican punk with jailhouse tattoos and an attitude bigger than the lies of the Bush administration and just as dangerous – to women. Tony was his name. Trace knew his name because whenever Tony paused on the sidewalk outside Trace’s balcony and began lighting into his woman, she always began with the same plea:

“No, Tony, no. Please, Tony,” She would plead through tears. Tony would continue with his manic rant, telling her to get in the house so he could beat the shit out of her for whatever real or imagined slight she committed against him.

~~~~

By 1949, Rovira was appointed as the conductor of Argentina’s Alberto Castillo Orchestra, composing his first major original musical arrangement, Pobre Mi Madre Querida.

Radio work ensued (1951-52) and in 1953-56 Rovira toured Spain and Portugal with an orchestra and the dance troupe of Alfredo Alaria and vocalist Juan Carlos Fabri.

~~~~

Trace couldn’t understand men who raised their fist against women. Only once had he ever struck a woman and that was only after she slapped him first.

“Is he hitting her again?” Lisa asked from her perch on the bed.

“You’re not going to believe this shit,” Trace said. “She just hauled off and laid one on him, a real goddamn haymaker.”

~~~~

Eduardo Rovira employed a special foot pedal for the bandoneon, pioneering the electric amplification of the instrument and creating an entirely new sound never heard before in the Latin world.

~~~~

Trace laid the gun down. He grabbed a pen and a scrap of paper from the desk and made a few notes for a future Dan Knight story starring Tony and his battered woman.

“Guess she’s going to get what’s coming to her now,” he muttered as he folded the piece of paper and slipped it between the pages of a volume of Dorothy Parker poetry.

~~~~

In 1970, Eduardo Rovira settled in La Plata, Argentina, and ignominously, as many Argentinian scholars assert, concluded his long and glorious career as an instrumentalist for the Police Band of the Buenos Aires Province.

Eduardo Rovira died of a heart attack on July 29, 1980, in La Plata, at the age of 55.

~~~~

In the look of that child
infinite sadness springs,
its shine is different,
it has the pain of life.
In his weak hands
his thoughtful head rests,
the darkness of his face
makes my lips shake.
He frowns with discontent
while he gives a sigh,
I see his bare arms,
they have mistreatment marks.
Misfortune hits him,
his dreams fade,
he doesn’t know the pleasure
of sweet caresses.
The scene touches me,
I move to tears,
I want love to draw
the smiles of infancy.

María Griselda García Cuerva
(Argentine poet)