Nito Mestre

Carlos Alberto Mestre (born August 3, 1952 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) mostly known by his stage name Nito Mestre, is an Argentine musician, founding member –along with Charly García– of Sui Generis, member of PorSuiGieco, bandleader of Nito Mestre y los Desconocidos de Siempre and a recording solo artist.

Sui Generis, was initially formed in 1969 by Charly García (keyboards and vocals), Nito Mestre (guitar, flute and vocals), Rolando Fortich (bass guitar), Juan Belia (guitar), Alberto Rodriguez (drums) and Carlos Piegari (vocals).

Later on, Sui Generis became a duo as everyone left except for García.

Initially formed in 1969, the band consisted of Charly García (keyboards and vocals), Nito Mestre (guitar, flute and vocals), Rolando Fortich (bass guitar), Juan Belia (guitar), Alberto Rodríguez (drums) and Carlos Piégari (vocals).

Charly and Nito had met during their third year at high school.

They both had their own bands: Charly, together with Rodríguez and Correa, had formed "To Walk a Spanish" and Nito, together with Piégari, formed and was the lead singer in "The Century Indignation".

As a sextet, the band made its debut on the stage of the Santa Rosa School in Buenos Aires in 1969, but the group would undergo many changes until it finally became an acoustic duet.

In 1970, they performed at a series of small venues and that same year, they made their first TV appearance on Channel 7, endorsed by a renowned artist called Eduardo Falú.

Soon after, they traveled to Mar del Plata where they co-started with songwriter Litto Nebbia.

In May 1971, they took part a series of concerts that would become the turning point in their careers.

For almost two months, they performed alongside the bigger tickets: Roque Narvaja and Pedro y Pablo with guest stars, Luis Alberto Spinetta, Héctor Starc and Emilio Del Guercio, among others.

After having been turned down by various record labels, Sui Generis Manager Pierre Bayona contacted Microfon Producer, Jorge Álvarez, whom, after a test performance, signed the group on with his record label.

Their debut album was called "Vida" (Life) having among others, guest musicians like violinist Jorge Pinchevsky, bass guitar player Alejandro Medina and Claudio Gabis on the electric guitar.

Recording was completed in October, 1972.

The band then made two significant performances.

One, again at the Olympia Theatre alongside Raul Porchetto, the other late that year at the third edition of the Buenos Aires Rock Festival (B.A.Rock).

With the performance of Canción Para Mi Muerte, eventually one of their most popular songs, they appeared in the movie "Hasta que se Ponga el Sol" (Until the Sun Sets) directed by Aníbal Uset, the first Argentine film to address rock n' roll, shot during that festival.

As a preview to the album, the Record Company released a single with both Canción para mi Muerte and Amigo Vuelve a Casa Pronto.

The official release of the album took place at the conspicuous Buenos Aires Opera Theatre in April 1973.

The repercussion was enormous.

In May, Francisco "Paco" Pratti (drums) and Alejandro Correa (bass) joined Nito and Charly in the band.

One month later, they returned to the studio to record Aprendizaje (Learning) and Bienvenidos al Tren (Welcome to the Train), the first two songs in the second album, called "Confesiones de Invierno" (Winter Confessions) which was completed in August.

It included recordings by David Lebón on guitar and Leon Gieco, and was released in October.

In the summer of 1974, they went on a very successful tour to Córdoba, Mar del Plata, Punta del Este and Santa Fe.

On their return, Juan Rodríguez replaced Pratti on drums.

He would later become a part of Nito's band Nito Mestre y Los Desconocidos de Siempre.

After many months of rehearsing, they began the recording of their third album.

It was titled "Pequeñas Anécdotas sobre las Instituciones" (Small Anecdotes about the Institutions).

This album faced problems with censorship which in those days was obsessed with the political persecution of both young and old artists.

As a result, some songs had to be replaced by others.

Such was the case with Juan Represión (John Repression) which was replaced by Tango en Segunda and El Tuerto y Los Ciegos (The One-Eyed and the Blind) which replaced Botas Locas (Crazy Boots).

On other songs, lyrics had to be rewritten: Instituciones (Institutions), Las Increíbles Aventuras del Sr. Tijeras (The Incredible Adventures of Mr. Scissors) and Para Quién Canto Yo Entonces (Whom Do I Sing For Then).

On this occasion, David Lebón, Jorge Pinchevsky and León Gieco were all invited to take part in the recordings.

From this moment on, Charly Garcia begins to experiment with new instruments that had been brought from the United States: a moog, an ARP string synthesizer and a Fender Rhodes keyboard.

In those days, it was an audacious move, and gave the album more of an electronic sound.

While recordings were taking place, the band took part in the recording and staging of "La Biblia" (The Bible) by Vox Dei together with Billy Bond, David Lebón, Espíritu (band)|Espíritu and La Pesada del Rock.

After this presentation, bass player Rinaldo Rafanelli replaced Alejandro Correa.

After the band split in 1975, Nito Mestre formed a new band called "Nito Mestre y los Desconocidos de Siempre" with María Rosa Yorio on vocals, Rodolfo Gorosito on guitar, Alfredo Toth on bass, Ciro Fogliatta on keyboards and Juan Carlos "Mono" Fontana as a drummer.

In the early 80s, Nito pursued a solo career.

Throughout its five years of existence, Sui Generis sold a record 600,000 albums, a statistic which in those early days of rock and roll in Argentina, clearly marked the importance and the impact which the duo would have on the local scene.