Junando el Tango practica playlist, Mar 2018

Barely two hours of music and so many great names to celebrate! So many "March birthday boys" of tango! My first pass resulted in a very heavily rhythmic playlist; I carefully reintroduced slower and more melodic and dramatic tandas into it, but did I perhaps overdo it in the end?

D'Arienzo and Biagi. From El Espejero blog. 

Rodolfo Biagi, born March 14 1906, the most handsome tango band leader of all times, played one of the critically important roles in tango's history as the creator of the signature frenzied piano style of Juan D'Arienzo - likely the key ingredient which propelled D'Arienzo's orchestra to incredible success in 1935-1938, and reawakened the whole world of tango, ushering in its Golden Age. After splitting from "the King of the Beat" D'Arienzo, Rodolfo Biagi turned his orchestra into the rival Kingdom of Rhythm, spanning the range from exuberant to tragic and somber yet invariably extremely rhythmic. Dancing to Biagi is a deeply personal experience, and it may be the only orchestra which makes even such a tango omnivore as myself look around carefully in search of partners. Tonight I have time for just two Biagi tandas - one early, intense and unabashedly rhythmic, another late and brooding. Let's open the night with the sound of Biagi!

01. Rodolfo Biagi - Andrés Falgás  "La chacarera" 1940 2:24

02. Rodolfo Biagi - Teófilo Ibáñez  "Gólgota" 1938 2:33

03. Rodolfo Biagi - Jorge Ortíz "Humillación" 1941 2:42

04. Alla Pugacheva  "Etot mir"  0:33

05. Sexteto Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental "Pobre yo" 1929 2:12

06. Sexteto Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental  "T.B.C." 1928 3:02

07. Sexteto Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental  "Racing Club" 1930 2:34

08. Lyube  "Bat'ka Makhno cortina 1"  0:18

Alberto Echagüe was one of the signature "gangsta" voices of tango, a real porteño with a truly local sense of a voice, so idiosyncratically slightly off-time. His voice could mark the rhythm as powerfully as a percussion instrument. Not an opera singer by any means, but so tango! Whenever a dance floor loses steam, Echagüe is almost always the best rescuer, reenergizing the milonga like no one else. 

Born in Rosario on March 8 1909,  Alberto Echagüe started his capital city career with D'Agostino, but quickly became the signature voice of Juan D'Arienzo's early orchestras, sharing in their glory and in their low points (like when they recorded much-reviled tangos about hiccups or farts). When Juan Polito, D'Arienzo's 2nd pianist who replaced Biagi, split off from the King of the Beat, then Echagüe joined in the revolt as well. It was a far less amicable "divorce" then between D'Arienzo and Biagi. The King put his connections to work, this time, to suffocate the band of the disloyal musicians. The best halls and the recording studios turned their back on Polito, and by 1944,  Echagüe was back with his old employer. Only one  Echagüe tanda for tonight, alas.

09. Juan D'Arienzo - Alberto Echagüe "No Mientas" 1938 2:36

10. Juan D'Arienzo - Alberto Echagüe "Nada Mas" 1938 2:43

11. Juan D'Arienzo - Alberto Echagüe "Mandria" 1939 2:22

12. ZZ Top  "Sharp Dressed Man cortina"  0:25

Roberto Maida (smiling, in a gray suit in the center) with Francisco Canaro (with a bow tie, to the left of the mike)
among the musicians of Canaro's orchestra. From Tango Archive

Singer Roberto Maida is a March birthday boy as well. Born on March 3, 1908 in Italy, he traveled to Buenos Aires with his family at the age of 1.The Maida kid has been known for his voice, and tango was his passion. Barely a teenager, he started a career singing in the movies. At 17, he's got a job with Miguel Calo, and soon went on European tours which went almost uninterrupted for 7 years, getting him into the orbit of Carlos Gardel. Manuel Pizzarro, and Eduardo Blanco. It was the same circuit in which Francisco Canaro rotated as well, but they just tried a couple of tunes in those days. But after their return to Argentina, Canaro and Maida rediscovered each other, and joined forced for 5 years, recording almost 200 pieces together between 1934 and 1939. We will celebrate Maida by a milonga tanda first, then by a set of tango masterpieces.

13. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida "Largá las penas" 1935 3:08

14. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida "Milonga criolla" 1936 3:05

15. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida "Milonga brava" 1938 2:35

16. Los Iracundos  "Puerto Montt rock" 1971 0:27

17. Edgardo Donato - Lita Morales y Romeo Gavoli "Mi Serenata" 1940 3:01

18. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos, Lita Morales y Romeo Gavioli "Sinfonia de Arrabal" 1940  3:09

19. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos y Lita Morales "Carnaval De Mi Barrio" 1939 2:30

20. Lyube  "Bat'ka Makhno cortina 1"  0:18

Mauré (left) with the King of the Beat, and his other, less prolific singer Lamas. From Tango Archive

Héctor Mauré, born March 13, 1920, became the signature voice of Juan D'Arienzo's orchestra after the departure of  Echagüe. A powerful, and markedly more melodic voice, than the raw masculinity of Echagüe's vocal (and it's generally considered to be a major DJ faux pas to mix these two great voices in one tanda!)A son of Italian immigrants,  Mauré preferred to earn his money by boxing as a teenager. But a bad injury at 17 made him reconsider his plans, and make better use of his voice. In 1940, he joined D'Arienzo's orchestra, staying as their principal singer for 5 years with 50 recordings, until embarking on his solo career. Like many tango stars, Mauré was blacklisted after the government of Peron was deposed in 1955, but he never wavered in his love of tango even when the music could no longer bring him any money.

21. Juan D'Arienzo - Héctor Mauré  "El olivo (El olvido)" 1941 2:52

22. Juan D'Arienzo - Héctor Mauré  "Enamorado (Metido)" 1943 2:29

23. Juan D'Arienzo - Héctor Mauré  "Lilian" 1944 3:22

24. Los Naufragos  "Zapatos Rotos rock"  0:34

Fom Tangos al Bardo blog

One of the most versatile talents of tango, Enrique Rodriguez was born March 8, 1901, and back in the days played bandoneon with the orchestras of the Old Guard greats, like Pancho and Canaro, and with the prescient leader of the future rhythmic revolution of tango, Edgardo Donato. But when Rodriguez convened his own orchestra in 1936, he christened it an Orchestra of All Rhythms, covering both the Tango and the Tropical sides of the milonga of the 1930s-1940s (when the big dance parties featured two orchestras taking turns every half an a hour, one playing tango and the other, foxtrots, pasodobles and "tropical" genres_. Many orchestras dabbled in both genres, usually under different names, and only "crossing the lines" in recorded music. Rodriguez, however, dared to cover all genres at once, winning the market for the private parties, where bands capable of playing all beats were in special demand. And so in the popular culture of his day, Enrique Rodriguez received the highest acclaim for his foxtrots rather than for his excellent tangos. Tonight, we only have time for one vals tanda of Enrique Rodriguez, and then for one more of his tangofox. But the amazing energy of Rodriguez's tangos shouldn't be forgotten either, His is really an Orchestra of All Beats, exactly as claimed. 

25. Enrique Rodriguez - El "Chato" Flores "Los Piconeros (Vals)" 1939 2:47

26. Enrique Rodriguez - El "Chato" Flores "Las Espigadoras (Vals)" 1938 2:47

27. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno  "En el volga yo te espero" 1943 2:40

I couldn't resist prefacing one of the best hits of Roberto Maida, "Ciego", about the blindness of love, with a snippet of Russian ballad of the blind.... 

28. Sergey Nikitin  "Song of the Bkind " 1988 0:26

29. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida  "Ciego" 1935 2:57

30. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida "Recuerdos De Paris" 1937 3:12

31. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida "Condena (S.O.S.)" 1937 2:39

32. Gilda  "Noches Vacias cortina"  0:22

The signature song of the following tanda is Malvón, the hymn of the mallow-flower which is the symbol of our upcoming spring festival of tango!

33. Ricardo Tanturi - Enrique Campos "Oigo Tu Voz" 1943 3:09

34. Ricardo Tanturi - Enrique Campos "Malvón" 1943 2:59

35. Ricardo Tanturi - Enrique Campos "La Abandone Y No Sabia" 1944 2:50

36. Harry Roy  "South American Joe cortina 3"  0:21

Enrique Rodriguez is the reigning Rey del Fox, and we gotta play some of his signature foxtrots to celebrate his birthday tonight. As a side note: we've been to a tango marathon in Budapest where "Amor in Budapest" has been played, in lieu of "La Cumparsita", to close the milongas!

37. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno "Se va el tren" 1942 3:10

38. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno "No Apures Por Dios Postillon" 1945 2:59

39. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno "Amor en Budapest" 1940 2:42

40. Viktor Tsoy  "Good morning, last Hero cortina long" 1989 0:35

It's been less than two months since I finalized the story of Russian "Ojos Negros". Happy to play one of its best versions tonight!

41. Florindo Sassone =  Instrumental "Ojos Negros (Oscar Strok)" 1968 2:28

42. Florindo Sassone - Instrumental "Adios corazon (reverb)" 1968 2:16

43. Florindo Sassone - Instrumental  "Bar Exposicion" 1968 3:26

44. Zhanna Aguzarova "Old Hotel" 1987 0:22

"The dark side of Biagi"

45. Rodolfo Biagi - Hugo Duval  "Alguien" 1956 3:14

46. Rodolfo Biagi - Hugo Duval  "Solamente Dios y yo" 1958 2:30

47. Rodolfo Biagi - Hugo Duval  "Esperame en el cielo" 1958 2:52

a folk cortina presages a tanda of a very folk-minded orchestra of Juan de Dios Filiberto, the musician who insisted that there must be no divide between Argentine Tango and its other folkloric styles, and that all the rhythms of Criollo music go hand in hand. It's Filiberto's birth month too. The great violinist and orchestra leader has been born on the 8th of March 1885

48. Folk  "Shumel Kamysh "  0:23

49. Juan De Dios Filiberto - Instrumental "Tus Ojos Me Embelesan" 1935 2:34

50. Juan De Dios Filiberto - Instrumental "Pensando En Ti" 1935 2:50

51. Juan De Dios Filiberto - Instrumental "Palomita Blanca" 1959 2:35

In the run-up to the Passover, it's time for a new Israeli-themed cortina, a superbly Oriental Mizrahi music piece. Hag Pesach Sameach!

52. Zehava Ben  "Yerushalaim Shel Zahav cortina"  0:27

Astor Piazzolla was born in March too. March 11, 1921. The bandoneonist genius and one-time "enfant terrible" prankster of Troilo's orchestra who once to dreamed of nothing else than forgetting tango and leaving behind its Dark Ages, Piazzolla ended up being a savior of tango music in its darkest hour. It's as easy to love Piazzolla's Renewed Tango as it is hard to dance it. We start this mixed tanda with his superb 1982 "Oblivion"

53. Astor Piazzolla - Instrumental "Oblivion" 1982 3:36

54. Cirque du Soleil - Instrumental "Querer" 1994 4:37

55. Shigeru Umebayashi  "Yumeji's Theme (In the Mood for Love)" 2001 2:30

56. Zhanna Aguzarova "Cats" 1987 0:21

57. Alfredo De Angelis -  Instrumental "Pavadita" 1958 2:53

58. Alfredo De Angelis  -  Instrumental "Felicia " 1969 2:48

59. Alfredo De Angelis  -  Instrumental "Mi Dolor" 1959 2:51

60. Victor Tsoy  "Blood Type (cortina long)"  0:36

Which song is the highlight of the Ultimate Tanda? The irresistible soft hit of Remembranza, or the Pañuelito, the little white kerchief which is so dear to us because Erskine Maytorena made it a highlight of QTango Orchestra's repertoire? Or the sensual extreme of the "Pasional"?

61. Osvaldo Pugliese - Jorge Maciel "Remembranza" 1956 3:41

62. Osvaldo Pugliese - Jorge Maciel "El pañuelito" 1959 2:42

63. Osvaldo Pugliese - Alberto Morán "Pasional" 1951 3:26

and we close the night with a hit of a Russian-American prodigy recorded with a Hollywood-Latin band:

64. Xavier Cugat - Dinah Shore "La Cumparsita" 1939 3:10

Milonga Sin Nombre "Homenaje a Rodolfo Biagi y Enrique Rodriguez" playlist, March 22 2014

This marks the second time when we theme Milonga Sin Nombre after "tango orchestras of the month" (in January, it was the birthday month of Di Sarli and Tanturi, and DJ Mark rather elegantly marked Di Sarli and Tanturi tandas by displaying different color roses at the DJ table). It is the tango DJ's perennial quandary, how to educate the tangueros about the music without being didactic or boring or non-danceable. Just how does one nudge the dancers to think about the music titles, orchestras, epochs, and singers without distracting them from the dance?

I'd love to hear your suggestions. Personally, I believe that a good milonga doesn't lend any possibilities for lecturing or quizzing of any sort ... but once a milonga is over, then it may be great to give the tangueros a chance to re-visit the music they liked, and to ask more questions about it. That's how I started my own path into understanding tango music and poetry - by asking DJs such as Dan "Red Fox" Boccia or Homer Ladas about the records they played.

For bios of Rodolfo Biagi and Enrique Rodriguez and my thoughts about their role on tango's history and present, please check the milonga flyer. And now, to the playlist:

01. Carlos Di Sarli - Instrumental "El ingeniero" 1952 3:25
02. Carlos Di Sarli - Instrumental "El Once" 2:48
03. Carlos Di Sarli - Instrumental "El amanecer" 1951 2:30
04.   "Bremenskie Lullaby Cortina"  0:31
Do you notice how Enrique Rodriguez hushes the final beat of each tango? There are two schools of thought about it... some think that it's still perfectly OK to finish a dance with a flourish on the non-existent note; others maintain that it's uncool to underscore what's not there in the music, and so, if you are in the know, then you'll stop on Rodriguez's actual final beat, rather than on the one which "sort of makes sense" except it isn't there.
A sampler of the more lyrical Rodriguez tangos:
05. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno "Como Se Pianta La Vida"  2:25
06. Enrique Rodriguez - Roberto Flores  "Son cosas de bandoneon"  2:42
07. Enrique Rodriguez - Andres Falgas  "Alma en pena" 1946 3:05
08. Russian Folk  "Kalinka-Malinka 2 (cortina)"  0:25
09. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida "Milonga del corazon" 1938 2:48
10. Francisco Canaro - Ernesto Fama  "Milonga del 900" 1933 2:55
11. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida "Milonga criolla" 1936 3:00
12. Carmen Piculeata  "Vien, Tzigane" 2013 0:24
13. Ricardo Tanturi - Enrique Campos  "Oigo Tu Voz" 3:07
14. Tanturi, Ricardo  "Madame Ivonne" 1942 2:18
15. Ricardo Tanturi  "Que Nunca Me Falte"  2:42
16. "Malysh i Karlson Cortina"  0:22
Vintage Biagi,  powerful, primal, vibrant. These records came from my very first tango CD, "Alex 4 Shorey":
17. Rodolfo Biagi - Jorge Ortíz "Humillación" 1941 2:42
18. Rodolfo Biagi - Jorge Ortíz "Indiferencia" 1942 2:33
19. Rodolfo Biagi -  Andrés Falgás "La chacarera" 1940 2:24
20. Russian Folk  "Kalinka-Malinka 1 (cortina)"  0:25
The trio of Enrique Rodriguez's most light-hearted valses ... it was too short a milonga to add another tanda of his more complex, folk song-based valses such as "Los Piconeros", "Las Espigadoras", or"En el Volga yo te espero".
21. Enrique Rodriguez - Roberto Flores  "Salud Dinero Y Amor (vals)"  2:39
22. Enrique Rodrigues "Tengo mil novias-Roberto Flores-1939(Vals)" 3:06
23. Enrique Rodriguez - Roberto Flores  "Fru Fru (vals)"  2:57
24. Carmen Piculeata  "Vien, Tzigane" 2013, 2013 0:24
25. Lucio Demare - Hector Alvarado  "Malena" 1951 3:13
26. Lucio Demare - Juan Carlos Miranda  "Manana zarpa un barco" 1942 3:22
27. Lucio Demare - Juan Carlos Miranda  "No te apures, Carablanca" 1942 3:29
28. Victor Tsoy  "Gruppa Krovi (cortina)"  0:36
"Llorar por una mujer" may be the most famous of Enrique Rodriguez's tango compositions; Cadicamo's lyrics of "En la buena y en la mala" are to die for; and "Danza Maligna" is the truest manifesto of tango: "Let's live together for the quarter of an hour // Of this oldtime and evil dance", or how about these lines: "Ungodly pleasure, the perverted dance // the tango is a rite and a religion"
29. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno  "Llorar por una mujer" 1941 2:51
30. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno "En la buena y en la mala" 1940 2:26
31. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno "Danza Maligna" 1940 2:27
32. Lidiya Ruslanova  "Valenki 3 (cortina)"  0:24
Cut for live music!

Brian and Dave playing at Milonga Sin Nombre

The three classic Biagi milongas:
33. Rodolfo Biagi - Alberto Amor  "Flor de monserrat" 1945 2:16
34. Rodolfo Biagi - Teófilo Ibáñez  "Campo afuera" 1939 2:08
35. Rodolfo Biagi - Carlos Saavedra "Por la huella" 1948 2:47
36. Carmen Piculeata  "Vien, Tzigane" 2013, 2013 0:24
I whispered to Irina, "Could you believe it that in the music I selected, there is no Fresedo and no Laurenz?", and she was, like, "No way, can it be fixed?" :)
37. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray  "Isla de Capri" 1935 3:17
38. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray  "En la huella del dolor" 1934 2:49
39. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray  "Niebla del Riachuelo" 1937 2:25
40. Lidiya Ruslanova  "Valenki 4 (cortina)"  0:24
41. Donato, Edgardo Various Artists "La Melodía Del Corazón" 1940 3:18
42. Edgardo Donato - Lita Morales - Romeo Gavio  "Mi Serenata" 1940 3:02
43. Donato, Edgardo  "El Adios" 1938 3:09
44. Carmen Piculeata  "Egy kis cigainy dal" 2013, 2013 0:29
So many exhilarating, energetic valses of Biagi's orchestra! One tanda is far too little to give proper credit to them - Biagi's "Lagrimas y Sonrisas", "Amor y Vals", "La Loca de Amor", "Lejos de Ti","Viejo Porton" and others are a good milonga's must-play. For this tanda, I picked 3 records united by the vocal of Andres Falgas; the 2nd one has a special place in my memory, of an ornate slope-side veranda perched high amid the vineyards of Prague, where shadows of the dancers swirled to the sound of the vals on its ceiling.
45. Rodolfo Biagi - Andres Falgas  "El ultimo adios (vals)" 1940 2:09
46. Rodolfo Biagi - Andres Falgas  "Dejame amarte aunque sea un di (vals)" 1939 2:55
47. Rodolfo Biagi - Andres Falgas  "Dichas que vivi (vals)" 1939 2:17
48. Carmen Piculeata  "Vien, Tzigane" 2013 0:24
49. Miguel Caló - Raúl Berón  "Jamás retornarás" 1942-10-09 2:31
50. Miguel Caló - Raúl Berón  "Corazón no le hagas caso" 1942-09-29 3:00
51. Miguel Caló - Raúl Berón  "Al compás del corazón" 1942-04-29 2:48
An assortment of years and vocalists to showcase Biagi's gentler, more lyrical side (and sorry for the DJ's oops moment with a missing cortina):
52. Rodolfo Biagi - Andrés Falgás "Queja Indiana" 1939 2:24
53. Rodolfo Biagi - Jorge Ortíz "Todo Te Nombra" 1940 3:33
54. Rodolfo Biagi- Carlos Acuña "Tu Voz" 1944 2:29
55. Lidiya Ruslanova  "Valenki 1 (cortina)"  0:24
As I already mentioned, it may be hard to play a milonga tanda of Enrique Rodriguez if you aren't up to interpreting tangofox as a kind of a milonga. And El Rey de Fox has myriad excellent tangofox records of all moods and sounds! But tangueros tend to be too shy to dance to them, often consigning these tracks to alternative milongas despite their most classic, vintage BsAs sound. In fact the first time I had a chance to dance to "Para Mi Eres Divina" was at an alternative milonga DJ'd by Varo in ABQ (thanks, man!!) In the following sampler, the first tune is a remixed (and faithfully translated) New York Yiddish pop record, immortalized by Andres Sisters in the 1920s; the second one remixes Brahms classic; and the final one is came from von Geczy's operetta which molded a fox after Hungarian folk czárdás. Be warned, tangofoxes may be highly addictive - it may take a long time to get a tune out of your head!
56. Enrique Rodriguez - Roberto Flores  "Para mi eres divina" 1938 2:28
57. Enrique Rodriguez  "Danza Hungara no 5" 1947 2:43
58. Enrique Rodriguez "Amor en budapest"  2:43
59. Carmen Piculeata  "Vien, Tzigane" 2013, 2013 0:24
60. Carlos Di Sarli - Alberto Podestá  "Lloran las campanas" 1944-09-20 2:58
61. Carlos Di Sarli - Alberto Podesta "La Capilla Blanca"  2:55
62. Carlos Di Sarli - Alberto Podesta "Junto a tu corazon"  3:00
63. Russian Folk  "Gypsy Girl (cortina)"  0:22
64. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos - Lita Morales "Sinsabor" 1939 2:53
65. Edgardo Donato "Sinfonia de arrabal"  2:55
66. Edgardo Donato  "Carnaval De Mi Barrio" 2:25
67. "Bremenskie Lullaby Cortina"  0:31
68.  Osváldo Pugliese - Jorge Maciel "Remembranzas" 1956 3:41
69. Osváldo Pugliese - Roberto Chanel "Rondando Tu Esquina" 1945 2:49
70. Osváldo Pugliese - Instrumental "Recuerdo" 1943 2:45
71. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "La cumparsita" 1951 3:49
72. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole  "Over The Rainbow" 2001 3:32
(72 total)

Let's celebrate Rodolfo Biagi and Enrique Rodriguez!

-A Milonga Sin Nombre flyer -

March is the birthday month of Argentine Tango orchestra leaders Rodolfo Biagi and Enrique Rodriguez!

Rodolfo Biagi

March 14, 1906, Buenos Aires – September 24, 1969

Arguably the most handsome of the great tango orchestra organizers, Biagi was an insatiable piano prodigy who started playing at the movie halls of Buenos Aires at 13, keeping it a secret from his disapproving parents. At 15, he already played with the Tango Old Guard legend, Juan Maglio “Pacho”. 

  

Biagi’s fingers can be instantly recognized when we hear the trademark scattering of crystal chimes of his piano keys, even before he formed his own orchestra. From 1935 to 1938, Rodolfo Biagi famously played with Juan D’Arienzo, the revolutionary of the tango music, making tango vibrantly rhythmic, youthfully energetic, and in this way, many historians say, laying the foundation for the Golden Age of Argentine Tango.  

In Biagi’s and D’Arienzo’s lifetimes, though, their contribution to tango has often been dismissed and even berated. They were blamed for supposedly simplifying the tango, for “kowtowing to the base instincts of the wild dancing youth”. I don’t know how the critics could say it; to my ear, Biagi is simply irresistible, yet musically, not simple at all.  It’s a crazy pleasure to dance to Biagi with someone who shares your understanding of his music!

In 1938, Rodolfo Biagi struck on his own. Today, the most popular Biagi’s tangos, valses, and milongas are from this earliest, purest, exuberant period, which lasted roughly from 1938 to 1940. Later in the decade, his music grows slower, more subdued, and more melodic, before returning to driving, yet more complex, rhythm in the late 1940s.

Enrique Rodriguez

March 8, 1901 - September 4, 1971

Another great tango orchestra leader whom the highbrow tango critics loved to hate, Enrique Rodriguez was the true dancer’s musician who understood the rhythms of the dancing bodies like few others. Yet unlike Biagi, decades after his death, Enrique Rodriguez remains shut out from the best dance floors of Buenos Aires; his popularity is the strongest abroad. The supposed “sins” of Enrique Rodriguez include a widespread use of foreign music motifs (he remixed a great deal of classic, popular, and folk music from all over the world into dance tunes), the many non-tango dancing genres he played (earning to himself – oh horror! – the title of El Rey Del Fox!), his eagerness to add strange musical instruments into tango music, and even the supposedly ever-upbeat mood of his music. In other words, Rodriguez is found guilty of exactly the things which make him so dear to my heart!

First and foremost a bandoneonist who played with Pacho and Canaro in the Old Guard days, Enrique Rodriguez was also a fluent piano and violin player, and a wonderful composer. His rhythmic style developed in the mold of Edgardo Donato’s orchestra, after Rodriguez played with Donato in the late 1920s.

When Enrique Rodriguez convened his own grand orchestra in 1936, he pointedly refused to name it a Tango Orchestra. Instead, it was christened “an orchestra of all rhythms” which also played foxtrots, rancheras, pasodobles, polkas for the dancing public which didn’t just tango. Today, we often choose to dance to these very tango-flavored, fast-paced pieces in the rhythm of a spicy milonga. In fact, despite having recorded wonderfully rhythmic tangos and exuberant valses, Enrique Rodriguez’s orchestra didn’t leave us good milonga records … if you want to dance milonga to Rodriguez, you better not be shy about doing it to the sound of Argentine foxtrot!

***

For the music selection of our Biagi and Rodriguez night and more comments about the music, check Milonga Sin Nombre's playlist for March 22, 2014

Practica Del Centro playlist, 6/10/13

Phew, next time I should remember to pull and tuck back all the cables to make sure there are no loose connections! Thanks Dave for troubleshooting!
01. Carlos Di Sarli  "Bahia Blanca"  2:54
02. Di Sarli, Carlos  "Indio Manso" 1958 2:57
03. Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental Carlos Di Sarli "El amanecer" 1951 2:30
04. Juan D'Arienzo - Alberto Echague  "La bruja" 1938 2:13
05. D'Arienzo, Juan Juan d'Arienzo "Que Importa" 1939 2:08
06. Juan D'Arienzo Juan d'Arienzo "No mientas"  2:34

I love Los Piconeros, originally an Andalusia folk ballad with its scene of the highland dawn, with Luna Lunera  hiding behind the hills and the first rays of Sun caressing the olive groves - and I find it so touching when Flores overlays the old Andaluz dialectisms with the sound of Argentinian Castellano :)  But the ending tune of this tanda is no less special; it's an Enrique Rodriguez remix of a classic Russian gypsy folk romance of love and loss (which in turn borrowed the musical theme from an old slow French waltz). It certainly sped up quite a bit in Buenos Aires!
07. Enrique Rodriguez - Roberto Flores  "Los Piconeros"  2:47
08. Enrique Rodriguez - Roberto Flores  "Fru Fru"  2:57
09. Enrique Rodriguez  "En El Volga Yo Te Espero - Armando Moreno" 1943, 1943 2:40
10. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Mai  "Ciego" 1935 2:57
11. Francisco Canaro  "Recuerdos De Paris - Roberto Maida - 1937" 1937, 1937 3:12
12. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Mai Francisco "Ojos negros que fascinan" 1935 2:51
13. Pedro Laurenz Alberto Podestá "Todo"  2:35
14. Pedro Laurenz Alberto Podestá "Recien"  2:41
15. Pedro Laurenz Alberto Podestá "Alma de Bohemio"  2:45
16. Canaro, Francisco  "Reliquias Portenas (Milonga)"  2:45
17. Francisco Canaro - Ernesto Fama  "Parque Patricios" 1940-10-03 2:29
18. Francisco Canaro - Instrumental  "La milonga de mis tiempos" 1938-05-23 3:17
19. Osvaldo Fresedo Roberto Ray "Cordobesita" 1933 2:32
20. Osvaldo Fresedo Roberto Ray "Vida mia" 1933 3:23
21. Osvaldo Fresedo Roberto Ray "Nieblas del riachuelo" 1937 2:25
22. Biagi, Rodolfo  "Humiliacion" 1941 2:42
23. Rodolfo Biag Jorge Ortíz "Ahora  No Me Conoces"  2:30
24. Rodolfo Biag Jorge Ortíz "Indiferencia"  2:33
I may be running low on Firpo valses - the 2nd one may need a replacement?
25. Roberto Firpo  "El Aeroplano"  2:13
26. Roberto Firpo Instrumental "Para Las Chicas" 1942 2:14
27. Roberto Firpo  "Olga"  2:10
Running out of time with a later start, and frantically cutting stuff so the following two sets got just two tangos each, and a milonga tanda disappeared altogether:
28. Troilo, Anibal Aníbal Troilo "Pajaro Cíego" 1941 3:02
29. Anibal Troilo  "Guapeando"  2:49
30. Juan D'Arienzo - Hector Maure  "Cicatrices" 1942 2:23
31. Juan D'Arienzo - Héctor Mauré  "Dime, mi amor" 1941-05-21 2:40
32. Donato, Edgardo Various Artists "La Melodía Del Corazón" 1940 3:18
33. Donato, Edgardo  "Sinfonía De Arrabal" 1940 3:07
34. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos - Lita Morales  "Sinsabor" 1939 2:53
35. Donato, Edgardo  "El Adios" 1938 3:09
36. Pugliese, Osvaldo Various Artists "Rondando Tu Esquina" 1945 2:49
37. Osvaldo Pugliese  "Gallo Ciego"  3:34
38. Osváldo Pugliese Osvaldo Pugliese "Remembranzas" 1943 3:41
39. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "La cumparsita" 1951 3:49
40. Quartango Artisti vari "Androgyne" 1999, 1999 4:30

Practica del Centro playlist, 3/11/13

Coming at the heels of Daniela and Hernan's 3 day workshop, the Monday night practica wasn't all that weel attended, and there was a lot of chat and beer in addition to dancing. The music felt good but could we get a few more people on the floor?
01. Carlos Di Sarli Alberto Podesta "No esta"  2:45
02. Carlos Di Sarli Alberto Podesta "Al compas del Corazon"  3:19
03. Carlos Di Sarli Alberto Podesta "Junto a tu corazon"  3:00
"How could you start from so good music when there is no one to dance it?"
04. Anibal Troilo Fiorentino "El Cuarteador"  2:49
05. Anibal Troilo Fiorentino "El Bulin De La Calle Ayacucho"  2:30
06. Anibal Troilo Fiorentino "Tinta Roja"  3:02
07. Lomuto, Francisco  "A la gran muñeca"  3:01
08. Lomuto, Francisco  "Nostalgias"  3:05
09. Lomuto, Francisco  "Quiero verte una vez mas"  2:29
The next tanda is experimental in nature, and I had to move these fun Rodrigues tangofox tracks down the playlist because the girls didn't yet finish rehashing yesterday's women's technique class:
10. Enrique Rodrigues, Armando Moreno  "2 No Te Apures Por Dios Postillon - Armando Moreno"  2:59

"Gypsy theme #452", the 1915 single cover.
From Wikipedia

Can't resist adding a few visual and audio vignettes. This "Coachman, for goodness sake, don't hurry; there isn't anybody left to go to, there isn't anybody left to love" is the theme of a classic Russian Gypsy Art Nouveau romance, strictly forbidden and at the same time wildly popular and widely alluded to in the USSR... and it makes a very tango kind of allusion itself, in a counterpoint to the poetic and macho image of ever-flying speedy Troika horses (which are mentioned in the opening line of the Castellano letras too).

11. Enrique Rodrigues, Armando Moreno "Noches de hungria"  2:57
12. Enrique Rodrigues, Armando Moreno "La hija de la japonesita-Armando Moreno-1941(Fox trot)" 2002 2:30
What's a night without Fresedo?
13. Osvaldo Fresedo Roberto Ray "Cordobesita" 1933 2:32
14. Osvaldo Fresedo Roberto Ray "Isla de Capri" 1935 3:16
15. Osvaldo Fresedo Roberto Ray "Vida mia" 1933 3:23
I spent the previous week learning about BsAs ca. 1960, including Ben Molar aka Moses Smolarchik Brenner, 98 years old now, who was about to give us El Dia del Tango, December 11, to honor both Gardel and Calo... so I ended up listening to Calo and again to Calo:
16. Miguel Calo - Alberto Podesta  "Pedacito de cielo (vals)" 1942 2:21
17. Miguel Calo - Alberto Podesta  "Bajo un cielo de estrellas (vals)" 1941 2:37
18. Miguel Caló - Raúl Berón  "El vals soñador" 1942-04-29 3:32
19. Carlos Di Sarli  "Cara Sucia" 2001 2:48
20. Di Sarli, Carlos Carlos Di Sarli "La Trilla" 1940 2:23
21. Di Sarli, Carlos   "Decime que pasó"  2:41
22. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos - Lita Morales  "Sinsabor" 1939 2:53
23. Donato, Edgardo  "El Adios" 1938 3:09
24. Edgardo Donato - Lita Morales - Romeo Gavio  "Mi Serenata" 1940 3:02
You know that I have a week spot for Di Sarli's milongas:
25. Carlos Di Sarli Roberto Rufino "Yo Soy De San Telmo"  2:20
26. Carlos Di Sarli Roberto Rufino "Zorzal"  2:40
27. Carlos Di Sarli Roberto Rufino "La Mulateada"  2:22
28. Juan D'Arienzo - Alberto Echagüe  "No mientas" 1938-12-28 2:39
29.  Juan D'Arienzo  "021 Dime mi amor"  2:40
30. D'Arienzo, Juan Juan d'Arienzo "Pensalo Bien" 1938 2:17
31. Lucio Demare - Raúl Berón  "Canta pajarito" 1943-06-10 3:24
32. Lucio Demare - Raúl Berón  "Moneda de Cobre" 1943-04-01 2:54
33. Demare, Lucio Rodolfo Biagi "Cómo se hace un tango - Raul Beron" 1943 3:14
Love the 3rd vals especially, but laugh to the first two as well:
34. Enrique Rodriguez - Roberto Flores  "Las Espigadoras"  2:47
35. Enrique Rodrigues y su orquestra , Armando Moreno "Por Aqui, por alla-Armando Moreno-1940(Vals)" 2002 3:27
36.  Enrique Rodrigues y su orquestra , Armando Moreno "Los piconeros-Roberto Flores-1939(Bulerias)" 2002 2:43
Not sure about the 1st of the three:

La Merced de Santiago.
Discepolo got acquainted with
a dashing attache called
Juan Peron on that fateful trip to Chili

37. Alfredo de Angelis - Carlos Dante  "Remolino" 1946 3:06
38. Alfredo de Angelis - Carlos Dante "Alfredo De Angelis - Fumando Espero"  3:27
39. Alfredo de Angelis - Carlos Dante  "Carillon de La Merced" 1957 2:50
40. Biagi, Rodolfo Rodolfo Biagi "Todo te nombra" 1940 3:33
41. Rodolfo Biagi - Jorge Ortiz  "Quiero verte una vez más" 1940 3:00
42. Rodolfo Biag Jorge Ortíz "Ahora  No Me Conoces"  2:30
Alas Brian already left so I couldn't get his opinion on evenness of the milonga tempos... as you can imagine, the third tune is what it's all for:
43.  Francisco Canaro "Milonga De Mis Amores"  3:04
44. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida "Milonga criolla" 1936 3:00
45. Francisco Canaro - Ernesto Fama  "Milonga del 900" 1933-05-08 2:55
Not sure about the 1st of the three:
46. Enrique Rodríguez  "Como has cambiado pebeta" 2000 2:37
47. Rodriguez, Enrique  "En la buena y en la mala" 1940 2:26
48. Rodriguez, Enrique  "Danza Maligna" 1940 2:27
Calo again. the first two are to die for IMHO:
49. Miguel Caló - Raúl Berón  "Jamás retornarás" 1942-10-09 2:31
50. Miguel Caló - Raúl Berón  "Al compás del corazón" 1942-04-29 2:48
51. Miguel Caló - Raúl Berón  "Corazón no le hagas caso" 1942-09-29 3:00
Love "Lejos de Ti" (I have a separate blog entry on that) ... Biagi y Ibanez got one more super fast vals but three just could be too much? So I added an instrumental and a little bit slower.
52. Rodolfo Biagi Teófilo Ibáñez "Lejos de Ti " 2002 2:08
53. Rodolfo Biagi Teófilo Ibáñez "Loca de Amor " 2002 2:13
54. Rodolfo Biagi - Instrumental  "Lágrimas y sonrisas" 1941-03-26 2:41
I spent a lot of time assembling a Canaro - Fama tanda around Tormenta, but then chickened out a reused a more "largo" tanda from last month:
55. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida "Ojos negros que fascinan" 1935 2:51
"Dark Eyes" is another eternal Russian Gypsy classic, based on a French slow waltz of the early XIX c. The letras quite fathfully follow the Russian lyrics, too. And it has been molded into a classic Russian tango too, by Leschenko who shared fames of a Gypsy romance singer and of Tango vocalist. From 1:53 :

56. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida "Condena (S.O.S.)" 1937-11-08 2:39
57. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida "Invierno" 1937-08-19 3:26
58. Pugliese, Osvaldo  "La Tupungatina" 1952 4:05
59. Pugliese, Osvaldo   "Recuerdo"  2:39
60. Pugliese, Osvaldo   "Amurado"  2:43
End of practica, the remaining tracks are the "furniture moving music" :) :
61. Bebe Various Artists "Siempre Me Quedará" 2005 3:50
62. Soha  "Mil Pasos" 2008 4:07
63. Kayah & Goran Bregovic  "Ta-Bakiera (This Tabakeria) (La Tabacchiera)" 2000 4:16