Nelson Argueso: The Virtuoso Who Walked Away

On July 28, 1954, The Reporter Dispatch ran a feature on Mr. Nelson Argueso of 38 Ridgeway Circle, White Plains, New York. “City Collector of Clocks Has All Types of Tick-Tocks” focused almost entirely on this resident’s affinity for timekeeping machines. It shares his birthplace in Puerto Rico and his job as an accountant in passing. Three years later, when the same newspaper featured Marian Argueso, Nelson’s wife, and her recipe for shrimp with rice, that reporter only mentioned Nelson’s clock work and a job at an advertising firm. These were charming human interest stories about a nice suburban couple. Nelson came across as the less interesting of the two. Marian’s interviewer noted her passion for cooking, music, sewing, rug hooking, and volunteering. Nelson liked clocks and tracked money. Whatever else made him tick was beyond the scope of the story. That included Nelson Argueso’s work as a professional saxophonist with some of the most popular and admired names in music. Bandleaders Mal Hallett, Vincent Lopez, and Paul Whiteman all hired Argueso. By 1954, a few readers probably remembered those names. Still, his work with them didn’t earn a sentence. Neither did his own bandleading activities. Argueso mi