Tito Alberti
Tito Alberti was an Argentine jazz drummer born Juan Alberto Ficicchia on January 12, 1923, in Zárate, Argentina. He grew up in a lively family and formed a band at age seven with Virgilio and Homero Expósito. The Expósito brothers ran a popular café where the trio played regularly; in 1930 tango legend Carlos Gardel watched them perform one night.
As a teen, Tito studied at the Fracasi Conservatory, but his father’s death in 1940 forced him to leave school and work at Zárate’s abattoir to help his family. He saved enough to buy his first drum kit and, in 1942, joined producer Miguel Caló to record Azabache, a milonga written by Homero Expósito. The recording helped him rise in Argentine music, and he later met Raúl Marengo and the Mexican songwriter Agustín Lara.
Using the name Tito Alberti, he formed close friendships, including with Eva Duarte (Evita). Her later marriage to Juan Perón helped his career during the Peronist era, and Alberti secured many contracts. He played with Ahmed Ratip’s Cotton Pickers and with Jorge Negrete. In 1947 he formed Reveríe, his first orchestra, known for the playful tune El elefante trompita, which became very popular.
Starting in 1949, he released records with Phillips and made guest appearances with Xavier Cugat and Dámaso Pérez Prado. In 1950 he created the Jazz Casino orchestra with José Finkel, and they led Argentina’s International Labor Day celebrations for years under Perón. Jazz Casino appeared on the first Argentine television broadcast in 1951 and toured Latin America until 1957, blending Caribbean steel drum sounds with Latin jazz, a style Alberti called Dengue.
After Jazz Casino, Alberti joined Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén for a touring show called Tambores Cubanos in 1958. Back in Argentina, his Tito Alberti Orchestra became a major success and remained a top-grossing group in its genre until 1970, performing about 50 shows a month and even playing Hasidic music for Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. The demanding schedule and drug use took a toll, and he retired for health reasons.
The 1981 financial crisis in Argentina wiped out much of his fortune, including a yacht and several cars. He returned to the stage briefly in 1998 with a Chicago jazz sextet, and again in 2005 at Zárate’s Teatro Coliseo. He died on March 25, 2009, at age 86 from a kidney illness. In 1999 he was named Illustrious Citizen of the Province of Buenos Aires. He was survived by his wife Martha and two sons, both musicians; his son Charly Alberti was the drummer for Soda Stereo for many years.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 05:05 (CET).