Cuarteto (Spanish: quartet), sometimes called cuartetazo, is a type of music that originated in Córdoba, Argentina.

The cuarteto style began from Italian and Spanish dance groups. The name comes from the fact that early dance songs were played by four musicians: violin, piano, accordion, and bass.

Cuarteto music is usually lively and upbeat. Its rhythm is similar to the rhythm of modern Dominican merengue.

In the 1970s, cuarteto became an important part of Córdoba's cultural identity, along with Hortensia magazine. Both showed a local form of popular culture that was not widely noticed by others, and they offered a different choice compared to the culture centered in Buenos Aires that television spread across the country.

Cuarteto was one of the music styles that helped create the tropical music scene in Buenos Aires. This scene was later called bailanta in the 1990s because of how it was used in Corrientes province.

Famous Names

Cuarteto Leo was the most popular cuarteto band for nearly 30 years during the 1970s. It created the sound style that is still used in cuarteto music today.

In the 1980s, Carlos Mona Jiménez became the most famous performer of cuarteto after his two-member band, Cuarteto de Oro ("Golden Quartet"), ended. He introduced a style of funny, silly jokes and unusual, wild actions that others tried to copy but did not do well. One of his most well-known songs was "Quién se ha tomado todo el vino" ("Who drank all the wine?"), which was danced with a special hand movement.

Other musicians, like producer-bandleader Negro Videla, went to the Dominican Republic and Colombia to add more different songs to their music. Videla is known as the unofficial representative of Dominican music in cuarteto, having successfully performed popular merengue songs.

Since the late 1980s, the Tru-la-lá band received strong support from dancers. At one time, they were approved by the Catholic church because their songs avoided suggestive or adult topics. In total, they sold more than one million records.

Rodrigo became the leading cuarteto singer in the mid-1990s and began to be popular with middle-class people in Buenos Aires. He died in a car crash on June 24, 2000. Many people believe the crash was not an accident, as Rodrigo was said to be involved in a disagreement between rival groups. His song "La mano de Dios" ("The Hand of God"), which honors Diego Maradona’s most famous goal, has become a classic dance song in Argentina. Maradona himself performed the song on his successful 2005 talk show.

Gary was another cuarteto singer with the Tru-la-lá band. He died of natural causes in 2001.