Tango Snow and Fire weekend playlist, Jan 2019

I have a feeling that I'm doing the playlist publication for the final time. The old-fashioned blog format is barely clinging to life in 2019, and my DJ aspirations have shrunk too, as the new generation of the local DJs has grown. And lastly, after so many years of comments about orchestras and songs, I rolled through some of the most important stories about the tango musicians, and the stories still left untold are kind of peripheral. In fact I couldn't make myself to format and comment this list for a whole month... but I finally got to it.

001. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno "No te quiero mas" 1940 2:18
002. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno "En La Buena Y En La Mala" 1940 2:28
003.  Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno "Llorar por una mujer" 1941 2:47
004. Carlitos Rolan  "Cuarteto2"  0:19
Get prepared to listen to Troilo's beautiful vals, "Flor de lino", "The flower of flax", often :) The beautiful celestial blue flower has become the mascot of our spring festival of tango. Let's all get excited about SLTF 2019 and welcome old friends of our community, Rod Relucio and Jenny Teters from Chicago, and first-time comers to Salt Lake Valley, Erin Malley and Doruk Golcu!!!

005. Anibal Troilo - Floreal Ruiz "Flor De Lino" 1947 2:49
006. Aníbal Troilo - Floreal Ruiz, Edmundo Rivero  "Lagrimitas de mi corazón" 1948 2:59
007. Anibal Troilo - Edmundo Rivero  "A unos ojos" 1949 3:10
008. Los Iracundos  "Puerto Montt rock" 1971 0:27
009. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray "Nieblas del riachuelo" 1937 2:25
010. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray "Sollozos" 1937 3:27
011. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray "Recuerdos De Bohemia" 1935 2:36
012. Maya Kristalinskaya  "A za oknom"  0:16

Di Sarli and his band, from tangosalbardo blog

January is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate Carlos Di Sarli, the unsurpassed genius of elegance. He was born in Bahia Blanca on January 7, 1903. From the very first records of his orchestra in 1940 to the very last ones in the late 1950s, Di Sarli had an amazing knack for taking really old, really rough tango of his childhood, and making them shine like gemstones. This trio of Old Guard tangos reinterpreted by Di Sarli some two decades after they were composed is no exception. The first and the last ones are compositions of Ediardo Arolas (who even called his Model T a "Cachila", after a sparrow-like bird), the middle track has been composed by José Martínez. 
013. Carlos Di Sarli - Instrumental "La Trilla" 1940 2:21
014. Carlos Di Sarli - Instrumental "La Torcacita" 1941 2:37
015. Carlos Di Sarli - Instrumental "La Cachila" 1941 2:46
016. Soda Stereo  "Corazon elator"  0:28
Ricardo Tanturi was born on January 27, 1905, in one of the poorest barrios of Buenos Aires. Like his start singer, Alberto Castillo, he was a medical school graduate, but like Castillo, he gave up practicing medicine to play tango. Tanturi didn't call his band an "orquesta tipica". Instead, it was called "Los Indios", "The Indians" - not after the native tribes but after the favorite sports club. They always opened each live performance with the eponymous tango! 
017. Ricardo Tanturi - Alberto Castillo "La Vida Es Corta" 1941 2:26
018. Ricardo Tanturi - Alberto Castillo "Pocas palabras" 1941 2:27
019. Ricardo Tanturi - Alberto Castillo "La copa del olvido" 1942 2:31
020. Alla Pugacheva  "Etot mir"  0:33
Humorous and energetic valses of the following tanda let me showcase another January birthday boy, the singer Francisco Amor who shares the birthday and the birth place with Carlos Di Sarli (January 7, 1906, Bahia Blanca). Of Amor's long and distinguished career, we remember the most his 3 years with Francisco Canaro.
021. Enrique Rodriguez - El "Chato" Flores "Salud, Dinero Y Amor (Vals)" 1939 2:39
022. Francisco Canaro - Francisco Amor  "La zandunga" 1939 3:16
023. Francisco Canaro - Francisco Amor  "Cuando estaba enamorado" 1940 2:48
024. "Entry of Winter"  0:37
Roberto Rufino, "the kid from Abasto", one of the signature voices of Di Sarli's orchestra, is also a January birthday boy (born January 6, 1922). These hits from the romantic revival period pioneered by Di Sarli late in 1941, and soon adopted by the rest of tango orchestras.
025. Carlos Di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "Decíme Que Pasó" 1942 2:39
026. Carlos Di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "Adios te vas" 1943 2:27
027. Carlos Di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "Canta pajarito" 1943 3:16
028. Gilda  "Noches Vacias cortina"  0:22
Andrés Falgás, one of the quintessential voices of Biagi's orchestra, was born on January 15, 1916. A first-generation immigrant kid, he won his first tango prize at 17 and cut his first recording at 20. He spent most of his adult life touring Latin America. They made only 11 recordings in his mere 9 months of work together with Biagi, but these songs are spectacular.

Biagi and Falgas at Luna Park - from Tangoarchive

029. Rodolfo Biagi - Andrés Falgás "Queja Indiana" 1939 2:24
030. Rodolfo Biagi - Andrés Falgás  "A mí no me interesa" 1940 2:43
031. Rodolfo Biagi - Andrés Falgás  "Son cosas del bandoneon" 1939 2:44
032. Vitas  "7, the element cortina" 2012 0:23
Di Sarli and Rufino again. Favorite milongas.
033. Carlos Di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "La Mulateada" 1941 2:22
034. Carlos Di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "Pena Mulata" 1941 2:27
035. Carlos Di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "Yo Soy De San Telmo" 1943 2:20
036. Alla Pugacheva  "Winter Night (Svecha gorela) cortina"  0:19
and we return to Francisco Amor's vocals - now in the genre of tango
037. Francisco Canaro - Francisco Amor "Cuartito Azul" 1941 2:43
038. Francisco Canaro - Francisco Amor "Copa de ajenjo" 1941 2:28
039. Francisco Canaro - Francisco Amor "En esta tarde gris" 1941 2:58
040. The Red Elvises "Cosmonaut Petrov 2 (-2 dB)" 1999 0:20
041. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "Se Va La Vida" 1936 2:44
042. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos y Romeo Gavioli "Amando en silencio" 1941 2:51
043. Edgardo Donato - Lita Morales y Romeo Gavioli "Yo Te Amo" 1940 2:50
044. Alla Pugacheva  "Etot mir"  0:33
... and to the voice of Andrés Falgás, with valses
045. Rodolfo Biagi - Andrés Falgás  "El último adiós" 1940 2:09
046. Rodolfo Biagi - Andrés Falgás  "Dichas que viví" 1939 2:17
047. Rodolfo Biagi - Andres Falgas  "Dejame amarte aunque sea un dia" 1939 2:55
048. Gilda  "Noches Vacias cortina"  0:22
Paying homage to Di Sarli's earliest records, from before the Great Depression made him quit the bandleader job for much of the 1930s...
049. Sexteto Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental Carlos Di Sarli "Belen" 1929 2:44
050. Sexteto Carlos di Sarli - Ernesto Fama Carlos Di Sarli "Flora" 1930 2:38
051. Orquesta Tipica Victor (dir. A. Carabelli) - Instrumental "Coqueta" 1929 2:47
052. Gogol Bordello  "Pala Tute cortina 1" 2012 0:18
Tanturi's orchestra is best known by their vocal records, and when I play his instrumentals, it often ends up being a mixed vocal / instrumental set. But tonight, we are going for a whole tanda
053. Ricardo Tanturi - Instrumental "Argañaraz" 1940 2:22
054. Ricardo Tanturi - Instrumental "El buey solo" 1941 2:45
055. Ricardo Tanturi - Instrumental "Una Noche De Garufa" 1941 2:29
056. Lidiya Ruslanova  "Valenki 3 (cortina)"  0:24
With the Uruguayan  milonga tanda, I get a chance to celebrate Emilio Pellejero. As it usually happens with Uruguay, records are sparse (just 7 over 6 years!) and of uneven quality. And bios are a mystery. A birthday of January 1, 1911 is given, and it's about as much as I could figure out. But what a milonga!
057. Emilio Pellejero - Enalmar De Maria "Mi Vieja Linda" 1941 2:26
058. Ángel Sica - Roméo Gavioli "Rebeldia" 1942 2:20
059. Miguel Villasboas - Instrumental "La Milonga Que Hacia Falta" 1961 2:18
060. Alla Pugacheva  "Winter Night (Svecha gorela) cortina"  0:19
061. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray  "Ojos tristes | Ojos muertos" 1938 2:37
062. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray  "Dulce amargura" 1938 2:29
063. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray "Angustia" 1938 2:39
064. Victor Tsoy  "Gruppa Krovi (cortina long)"  0:36
065. Fervor de  Buenos Aires  "Quien Sos" 2007 3:08
066. Fervor de Buenos Aires  "E.G.B." 2007 2:26
067. Ojos De Tango  "El Adios" 2011 3:13
068. Gilda  "No Me Arrepiento de Éste Amor cortina long"  0:40
069. Color Tango  "Illusion de mi vida" 2005 3:00
070. The Alex Krebs Tango Sextet  "Romance de Barrio" 2011 2:41
071. Osváldo Pugliese  "Desde El Alma" 1943 2:56
072. Alla Pugacheva "Million Scarlet Roses" 1982 0:19
We return to Tanturi's best hits - now the melodic ones, with the vocal of Enrique Campos
073. Ricardo Tanturi - Enrique Campos "La Abandone Y No Sabia" 1944 2:50
074. Ricardo Tanturi - Enrique Campos "Oigo Tu Voz" 1943 3:07
075. Ricardo Tanturi - Enrique Campos "Que Nunca Me Falte" 1943 2:42
076. Alla Pugacheva  "Etot mir"  0:33
Hector Varela, born on Jan 29, 1914, with his dramatic hits of the 1950s, is a perfect match for the crazy last hours of a good tango event. One may forget that Varela was a disciple, and arranger for, Juan D'Arienzo, and directed his own rhythmic, youthful tangos in the 1930s.  
077. Hector Varela - Argentino Ledesma "Fueron tres años" 1956 3:26
078. Hector Varela - Argentino Ledesma "Muchacha" 1956 3:19
079. Hector Varela - Argentino Ledesma "Si me hablaras corazon" 1956 3:18
080. Zhanna Aguzarova "Old Hotel" 1987 0:22

Atahualpa Yupanqui in Paris, from Clarin

It's time to pay homage to the great Argentine folklore singer Atahualpa Yupanqui (born Héctor Roberto Chavero on Jan 31, 1908). A son of a mestizo father, he adopted the names of Inca royals for his scenic names. Communist beliefs caused Atahualpa Yupanqui many years of exile and many arrests, but he worked tirelessly to promote the folk motifs of the Pampas, including Southern, or Pampas, milonga style which permeates this slow milonga tanda. "Los Ejes De Mi Carreta", composed and frequently performed by Yupanqui, has been recorded by such classic tango orchestras as Canaro and Troilo, but I am more partial to this contemporary Peruvian cover:
081. Paco Mendoza & DJ Vadim  "Los Ejes De Mi Carreta" 2013 3:23
082. Hugo Diaz Trio  "Milonga Para Una Armonica" 1974 4:24
083. QTango Erskine Maytorena Qtango "Milonga Triste" 2011 4:17
084. Zhanna Aguzarova  "Miracle Land cortina"  0:31
085. Edgardo Donato - Romeo Gavioli y Lita Morales "Mi Serenata" 1940 3:01
086. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos, Lita Morales y Romeo Gavioli "Sinfonía De Arrabal" 1940 3:09
087. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos y Lita Morales "Carnaval De Mi Barrio" 1939 2:23
088. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos y Lita Morales "Sinsabor" 1939 2:53
089. Zhanna Aguzarova  "Zvezda (The Star)" 1984 0:28
Violinist and bandleader Florindo Sassone was born an Jan 12, 1912 in Buenos Aires. A disciple of Fresedo and a fan of Di Sarli, Sassone was a master of melodic elegance in his own right. He made a stellar tango career in the 1930s, but, just as the tango music scene was beginning to get crowded by 1940, the 28 years old musician called it quits. So Sassone missed being a part of Tango's Golden Age. Yet he came back and organized his own orchestra again in the late 40s, and gradually returned to fame. And carried the flame of tango through its darkest era of the 1960 and 1970s, innovating, bringing tango to the international audiences, even remixing several antebellum European hits in the authentic Argentine style. Such tangos as The Song Of The Rose from the movie Casablanca, or Tango Notturno from the eponymous German talkie. But the one most dear to my heart is, of course, his cover of the 1928 Russian hit, "Ojos Negros".  

090. Florindo Sassone - Instrumental "Ojos Negros (Oscar Strok)" 1968 2:28
091. Florindo Sassone - Instrumental "Adios corazon" 1968 2:16
092. Florindo Sassone - Instrumental  "Bar Exposicion" 1968 3:26
093. Soda Stereo  "Profugos"  0:33
094. Enrique Rodriguez - El "Chato" Flores  "Las Espigadoras" 1938 2:47
095. Enrique Rodriguez - El "Chato" Flores "Los Piconeros (Vals)" 1939 2:47
096. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno  "En el volga yo te espero" 1943 2:40
097. Alla Pugacheva  "Winter Night (Svecha gorela) cortina"  0:19
we close the tributes with a beautiful dramatic vocal tanda of Di Sarli's late years
098. Carlos di Sarli - Mario Pomar  "Patotero sentimental" 1953 3:02
099. Carlos di Sarli - Mario Pomar  "No me pregunten por qué" 1952 3:33
100. Carlos di Sarli - Mario Pomar  "Duelo Criollo" 1953 2:25
101. Soda Stereo  "En la ciudad de furia"  0:24
102. Donato Racciatti - Olga Delgrossi "Hasta siempre amor" 1958 2:57
103. Donato Racciatti - Olga Delgrossi "Queriendote" 1955 2:49
104. Donato Racciatti - Olga Delgrossi "Sus Ojos Se Cerraron" 1956 2:47
105. Viktor Tsoy  "Good morning, last Hero cortina long" 1989 0:35
106. Alfredo de Angelis - Instrumental  "Mi Dolor" 1959 2:51
107. Alfredo de Angelis - Instrumental  "Pavadita" 1958 2:53
108. Alfredo de Angelis - Instrumental  "Felicia" 1969 2:48
109. Alfredo de Angelis - Instrumental  "La cumparsita (Matos Rodríguez)" 1961 3:35

Tango West con Livia Comerci!

A grand occasion, yet a very minor DJ assignment: I was supporting a live music event of the Tango West Orchestra with short segments of recorded music before, after, and during the intermission. On this special night, a notable porteña tango singer, Livia Comerci, joins our local tango band! We were privileged to host Livia last year at the beautiful Ladies Literary Club, but tonight's performance at our new Templo de Tango a.k.a. Garbett Center for the Choral Arts is a whole lot more special. Livia struck a chord with our local tango musicians, and they had a lot of fun rehearsing and dining together. The whole performance wasn't just artistically amazing, but also unbelievably warm and inspiring. We are the community together!

January is the birth month of Ricardo Tanturi, and what would work better for opening a night than the bright rhythmic tangos of Tanturi's early years! Tanturi's tango orchestra wasn't called a "tipica". Instead, they chose a name "Los Indios", "The Indians", after a favorite sports team. Their first recordings have been made in 1937, but they were truly propelled to fame when a 24 year-old medical student Alberto Castillo joined the band in 1939. Their best recordings were made in 1941-1942, and what a voice it was!

01. Ricardo Tanturi - Alberto Castillo "La copa del olvido" 1942 2:31

02. Ricardo Tanturi - Instrumental "Comparsa Criolla" 1941 2:51

03. Ricardo Tanturi - Instrumental  "Argañaraz" 1940 2:22

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

Both Carlos Di Sarli and one of his most prominent singers, Roberto Rufino, have also been born in the month of January. Rufino, "the kid from Abasto", started singing in his birth neighborhood cafe's at the age of 14. At 17, he joined Di Sarli's orchestra (and, as the story goes, his Italian immigrant father Lorenzo wouldn't yet allow the kid to wear grownup's long pants, so Roberto Rufino had to sing in his shorts). But how mature was the voice of this kid! They made just 46 records over Rufino's on-again, off-again 5 years with Di Sarli, but it's hard to imagine a milonga without these masterpieces. 05. Carlos Di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "Patotero sentimental" 1942 2:34
06. Carlos Di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "Decime Que Pasó" 1942 2:41
07. Carlos Di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "Cascabelito" 1941 2:34
08. Vitas  "7, the element cortina" 2012 0:23
Héctor Varela is also a January birthday boy. My favorite dramatic pieces of Varela's are better suited for the late hours of milongas, but I couldn't miss a chance to spotlight the more lively and dynamic recordings of this 1950s band - their valses with amazing vocal duos 

09. Héctor Varela - Argentino Ledesma y Rodolfo Lesica "Igual Que Dos Palomas" 1953 2:36

10. Héctor Varela - Armando Laborde y Jorge Rolando  "Una Lagrimita" 1962 2:39

11. Héctor Varela - Argentino Ledesma y Rodolfo Lesica "Como tu cariño" 1953 3:33

and then it's time for the live music!

La Melodia de Nuestro Adios - Orquesta Tango West - Instrumental

Malena  - Orquesta Tango West - Livia Comerci

El Adios - Orquesta Tango West - Carl Gorder

Afiches - Orquesta Tango West - Carl Gorder

Los Mareados - Orquesta Tango West - Livia Comerci

Nada - Orquesta Tango West - Livia Comerci

Naranjo en Flor - Orquesta Tango West - Livia Comerci

Uno - Orquesta Tango West - Livia Comerci

we transition into recorded-music intermission with another set of Tanturi-Castillo masterpieces (and, alas, there won;t be enough time for valses and later lyrical tangos of Tanturi and his "Indians")

13. Ricardo Tanturi - Alberto Castillo "Pocas palabras" 1941 2:27

14. Ricardo Tanturi - Instrumental "Una Noche De Garufa" 1941 2:30

15. Ricardo Tanturi - Alberto Castillo "La Vida Es Corta" 1941 2:26

16. Vitas "7, the element cortina" 2012 0:23

17. Rodolfo Biagi - Instrumental  "Pajaro herido" 1941 2:18

18. Rodolfo Biagi - Teofilo Ibanez  "Viejo porton" 1938 2:27

19. Rodolfo Biagi - Andres Falgas  "Dejame amarte aunque sea un dia" 1939 2:55

A special cortina for the Russian Christmas Eve (which is tonight according to the old Orthodox Julian Calendar) - a song based on Pasternak's white-winter-themed verse from "Doctor Zhivago".

20. Alla Pugacheva  "Winter Night (Svecha gorela) cortina"  0:19

Violinist and orchestra leader  Florindo Sassone (12 Jan 1912 - 31 Jan 1982) is another great tango musician to celebrate in January. After several years with Fresedo's orchestra, Sassone formed his first band in 1936, but disbanded it after 5 years, failing to compete with the numerous start-up tango orchestras of these years of the wild tango revival, and missing the Golden Age of Tango almost entirely. But after returning to tango in the late 1940s, Florindo Sassone succeeded in hiring some of the grandest talents, creating the first tango TV shows, touring abroad in Japan and Latin America, and helping to sustain the flame of tango during its Dark Ages. It is these later-era recordings of Sassone which we cherish the most. 

Nicholas DeVitte (from E. & V. Ukolovs book)

Of course I must note a special connection I have with the opening song of Sassone's tando - a composition of the legendary King of Russian Tango, Oscar Strok, which in turns draws on a legendary Russian gypsy romance (already remade into into a different Argentine tango by Francisco Canaro decades earlier). The life story of the "Ojos negros", the Gypsy "Dark eyes", never stops to surprise me. There are so many wild fantasies about the nation's most beloved songs, and so few hard facts. The readers of my blog might remember how I worked to reconstruct the basic details of the biography of the romance's original composer, Florian Hermann. Just last week, I was stunned to discover that the arranger who put the forty-years-old lyrics and the music of Hermann's together in 1881 - a musical director of Moscow's famous Gypsy restaurant and night club "Yar", who is known in Russian as Sergey Gerdel and who is customarily described as "a Jewish pianist from a shtetle of Berdichev" - was actually a Scandinavian named Sophus Herdahl. So much for another legend! Moreover, I also discovered that the lyrics of "Dark eyes", published in 1843, were immediately made into a romance by talented and mysterious young Russian Dutchman, Nicholas DeVitte ... but the original song was a lively mazurka rather than a foreboding waltz melody adapted by Herdahl 40 years later. (Special thanks to Lucia Petkovic for recording DeVitte's composition for me!).

21. Florindo Sassone - Instrumental "Ojos Negros (Oscar Strok)" 1968 2:28

22. Florindo Sassone - Instrumental "Adios corazon" 1968 2:16

23. Florindo Sassone - Instrumental "Bar Exposicion" 1959 3:26

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

Time for the second live music section, which begins with excellent milongas, and continues with Livia's favorite valses:

Silueta Porteña - Orquesta Tango West - Instrumental

Milonga del 900 - Orquesta Tango West - Livia Comerci

Nostalgias  - Orquesta Tango West - Carl Gorder

Romance de Barrio - Orquesta Tango West - Livia Comerci

Desde el Alma - Orquesta Tango West - Livia Comerci

Pedacito de Cielo - Orquesta Tango West - Livia Comerci

Vida Mia  - Orquesta Tango West - Carl Gorder

La Cumparsita - Orquesta Tango West - Livia Comerci

and after a long round of applause, Livia's "otra", another old-time favorite:

El día que me quieras - Orquesta Tango West - Livia Comerci

we return into action with D'Arienzo and Donato:

26. Juan D'Arienzo - Alberto Echagüe "Ansíedád" 1938 2:32

27. Juan D'Arienzo - Alberto Echagüe "Que Importa" 1939 2:08

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

29. Vitas  "7, the element cortina" 2012 0:23

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

31. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos, Lita Morales y Romeo Gavioli "Sinfonía De Arrabal" 1940 3:09

32. Edgardo Donato - Romeo Gavioli y Lita Morales "Mi Serenata" 1940 3:01

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

and we continue to celebrate the tango greats of the month of January with milongas of Di Sarli and Rufino, and the dramatic treasures of Varela:

34. Carlos Di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "La Mulateada" 1941 2:22

35. Carlos Di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "Pena mulata" 1941 2:27

36. Carlos Di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "Zorzal" 1941 2:40

37. Alla Pugacheva  "Winter Night (Svecha gorela) cortina"  0:19

38. Hector Varela - Argentino Ledesma "Fueron tres años" 1956 3:26

39. Hector Varela - Argentino Ledesma "Muchacha" 1956 3:19

40. Hector Varela - Argentino Ledesma "Si me hablaras corazon" 1956 3:18

41. Soda Stereo  "En la ciudad de furia"  0:24

At the San Diego Tango Festival, I was really stoked by our beloved Patricia Becker's dance to Horacio Salgan's "Ensueños", a stunning piece juxtaposing tango with dreamy jazz. Couldn't resist trying to mix a new tanda starring this gem:

42. Nuevo Quinteto Real  "Ensueños" 1960 3:10

43. Orquesta Tipica Fervor de Buenos Aires "Quien Sos" 2007 3:08

44. Analíá Goldberg y Sexteto Ojos De Tango "El Adios" 2011  3:13

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

46. Osvaldo Pugliese - Instrumental "Patetico" 1949 2:40

47. Osvaldo Pugliese - Instrumental "Negracha" 1948 2:45

48. Osvaldo Pugliese - Instrumental "Malandraca" 1949 2:52

49. Juan D Arienzo - Instrumental "La Cumparsita" 1955 3:44

50. Kevin Johansen Kevin Johansen + the Nada "Sur O No Sur" 2002 4:53

Milonga del Centro playlist, Feb 1 2015

I reviewed the previous Del Centro playlist thinking how many facets of Di Sarli's 42 years of music I've left unexplored. Closing a few of those gaps today, starting from his mature period's instrumentals (rather than from the 1950s beautiful instrumental records which I've played in the opening tandas too many times!)
01. Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental  "Ensueños" 1943 2:44
02. Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental  "Marejada" 1941 2:32
03. Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental  "Siete Palabras" 1945 2:44
04. Goran Bregovic  "Old Home Movie" 1993 0:25
For the classic D'Arienzo tanda, I tried to pick a few of the "relatively" more melodic pieces
05. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "Derecho viejo" 1939 2:21
06. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "Melodia porteña" 1937 2:48
07. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "Que noche" 1937 2:30

The milonga just barely started yet the dancing pairs
already begin to fill Del Centro's beautiful space

08. Victor Tsoy  "Gruppa Krovi (cortina)"  0:36

The other day, a linguist facebook friend has posted an image of a Russian icon of Simeon's Prophecy (Luke 2:29–35) and ... it instantly reminded me that I haven't played Troilo's valses for a long time! Yes, the connection here is in the third of the valses, which sings of Our Lady of Sorrows and the tears of the heart pierced by the seven blades of the Prophecy. That's how my own heart cries of pain of not seeing you, continue the verses!
09. Aníbal Troilo - Floreal Ruiz, Alberto Marino  "Palomita blanca" 1944 3:21
10. Anibal Troilo - Floreal Ruiz  "Lloraras, Lloraras" 1945 2:52
11. Aníbal Troilo - Floreal Ruiz, Edmundo Rivero  "Lagrimitas de mi corazón" 1948 2:59
12. "Lady Be Good - Sol Hoopii Trio" 0:23
13. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno "Como Se Pianta La Vida" 1940 2:25
14. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno  "El encopao" 1942 2:34
15. Enrique Rodríguez - Armando Moreno "Llorar por una mujer" 1941 2:47
16. Goran Bregovic  "Old Home Movie" 1993 0:25
Podesta was still a teenager when he recorded these hits with Di Sarli, but what depth of talent!
17. Carlos Di Sarli - Alberto Podestá  "No esta" 1942 2:45
18. Carlos Di Sarli - Alberto Podestá  "Lloran las campanas" 1944 2:58
19. Carlos Di Sarli - Alberto Podestá  "Nada" 1944 2:45
20. The Blues Brothers  "Theme From Rawhide 3" 1980 0:20
The slower milongas, including the two Canaro - Famá 1933 classics which literally blazed the trail of the rebirth of milonga dance - before the dancers and the musicians got even more courageous and the tempos accelerated
21. Francisco Canaro - Ernesto Famá  "Milonga sentimental" 1933 3:10
22. Francisco Canaro - Ernesto Famá  "Milonga del 900" 1933 2:55
23. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida  "Larga las penas" 1935 3:09
24. "Lady Be Good - Sol Hoopii Trio" 0:23
I love the intensity and drive of these more rhythmic Donato records (even though I'm always torn between played them and choosing more romantic Donato's ... so much great music, so few tandas in a night!). It may be the first time I played "A media luz", probably the most famous of Edgardo Donato's compositions, so popular with the musicians that it's got a zillion of "not for the dancers" versions. But for us tangueros, I think Donato's original recording of this ballad of a downtown drugs-and-vice den of hushed lights is absolutely the best.
25. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "Lagrimas" 1939 2:50
26. Edgardo Donato - Lita Morales, Romeo Gavioli "Yo Te Amo" 1940 2:50
27. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "A Media Luz" 1941 2:31
28. Goran Bregovic  "Old Home Movie" 1993 0:25
Whenever I played Demare's tangos, I was always drawn to the dramatic vocals with Juan Carlos Miranda, and overlooked Demare's other excellent records with Horacio Quintana. This tanda tries to fix this omission: 
29. Lucio Demare - Horacio Quintana "Torrente" 1944 3:10
30. Lucio Demare - Horacio Quintana "Igual que un bandoneon" 1945 3:02
31. Lucio Demare - Horacio Quintana "Solamente ella" 1944 3:15
32. Victor Tsoy  "Gruppa Krovi (cortina)"  0:36
33. Alfredo de Angelis - Floreal Ruiz "Mi novia de ayer (vals)" 1944 2:36
34. Alfredo de Angelis - Carlos Dante  "A Magaldi" 1947 2:50
35. Alfredo de Angelis - Carlos Dante, Julio Martel  "Soñar y nada más" 1944 3:08
36. "Lady Be Good - Sol Hoopii Trio" 0:23
"Watch out for the cops!" - "Ahh, they caught me!!" - "Yes, I've been imprisoned by her beautiful eyes, and I may never see freedom again" - that's about how the opening verse of "Araca la cana" would sound in English...
37. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray  "Araca la cana" 1933 2:26
38. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray "Vida mia" 1933 3:23
39. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray "Nieblas del riachuelo" 1937 2:25
40. Goran Bregovic  "Old Home Movie" 1993 0:25
Some of my favorite Di Sarli's in this 1940 tanda, energetic and literally bursting with rhythm:
41. Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental  "La trilla" 1940 2:21
42. Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental  "Shusheta" 1940 2:22
43. Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental  "Nobleza de arrabal" 1940 2:07
44. The Blues Brothers  "Theme From Rawhide 3" 1980 0:20

Milonga lover's tanda (the strange cackling sounds in "Cacareando" are actually an old one-eyed tired rooster's cock-a-doodle-doo, and an old hen's cluck-cluck, which sound "quiquiriquí" and "co-có" in Spanish)
45. Orquesta Tipica Victor - Mariano Balcarce "Milonga De Los Fortines" 1937 2:52
46. Orquesta Tipica Victor - Carlos Lafuente "Cacareando" 1933 2:45
47. Emilio Pellejero - Enalmar De Maria "Mi Vieja Linda" 1941 2:26
48. "Lady Be Good - Sol Hoopii Trio" 0:23

Ledesma and Lesica sing together, with Varela behind them
(from Tangos al Bardo)

I think I spent the longest time piecing together this dramatic tanda, then worrying that it won't fly - only to see the floor full of dancers, phew :) It must have been my only 2nd time to play either Varela or Ledesma, and the very first tanda where they appeared together. But we've just celebrated Hector Varela's 101th anniversary on Jan. 29th, and it was absolutely worth a tribute. Varela had a long career as a bandoneonist and arranger for Juan D'Arienzo, and when he assembled his own band in the 1950s, most people expected a kind of D'Arienzo remixed. But the sound of Varela's tangos turned out to be very, very different, and his melodic and dramatic tangos are much loved by many older Argentines who grew up listening to radio and TV in the 1960s and 1970s. Varela's orchestra was truly blessed by the voice of Argentino Ledesma, one of the most talented singers of Argentine tango. In 1956 Ledesma left Varela to join the Di Sarli's orchestra; their collaboration was nothing short of stunning and it could have produced our best tandas ever, had it lasted. But after just a few months, Columbia Records realized just how much it lost with the departure of Ledesma from their orchestra (led by Hector Varela), and they made the singer a generous counter-offer he couldn't resist. Carlos Di Sarli understood. But he regretted the lost opportunity until his death.

María Olivera & Gustavo dance to "Fueron tres años"
in a video Maria posted as a tribute for Varela's birthday

49. Héctor Varela - Argentino Ledesma  "Fueron tres años" 1956 3:28
50. Héctor Varela - Argentino Ledesma "Muchacha" 1956 3:19
51. Héctor Varela - Argentino Ledesma "Si me hablaras corazon" 1956 3:18
52. Goran Bregovic  "Old Home Movie" 1993 0:25
53. Ricardo Tanturi - Enrique Campos "Oigo Tu Voz" 1943 3:07
54. Ricardo Tanturi - Enrique Campos "Que nunca me falte" 1943 2:42
55. Ricardo Tanturi - Enrique Campos "La Abandone Y No Sabia" 1944 2:47

56. Victor Tsoy  "Gruppa Krovi (cortina)"  0:36
57. Rodolfo Biagi - Alberto Lagos  "Amor y vals" 1942 2:48
58. Rodolfo Biagi - Teofilo Ibanez  "Viejo porton (vals)" 1938 2:27
59. Rodolfo Biagi - Jorge Ortiz  "Cuatro palabras (vals)" 1941 2:20
60. "Lady Be Good - Sol Hoopii Trio" 0:23
61. Lucio Demare - Juan Carlos Miranda  "Malena" 1942 2:57
62. Lucio Demare - Juan Carlos Miranda  "No te apures, Carablanca" 1942 3:29
63. Lucio Demare - Juan Carlos Miranda  "Manana zarpa un barco" 1942 3:22
64. Goran Bregovic  "Old Home Movie" 1993 0:25
65. Pedro Laurenz - Alberto Podestá  "Alma de bohemio" 1943 2:43
66. Pedro Laurenz - Alberto Podestá  "Recien" 1943 2:43
67. Pedro Laurenz - Alberto Podestá  "Todo" 1943 2:37
68. The Blues Brothers  "Theme From Rawhide 3" 1980 0:20
And the final milonga tanda is ... the Aces of Candombe!
69. Miguel Caló - Raúl Berón  "Azabache" 1942 3:05
70. Alberto Castillo  "El Gatito en el Tejado" 1957 2:37
71. Romeo Gavioli y su orquesta típica  "Tamboriles" 1956 2:56
72. "Lady Be Good - Sol Hoopii Trio" 0:23
73. Carlos di Sarli - Roberto Rufino  "Adiós te vas" 1943 2:30
74. Carlos di Sarli - Roberto Rufino  "Charlemos" 1941 2:30
75. Carlos di Sarli - Roberto Rufino  "Patotero sentimental" 1941 2:34
76. Goran Bregovic  "Old Home Movie" 1993 0:25
... then cutting straight to Pugliese and the Gran Finale.
77. Osváldo Pugliese - Instrumental "Chique" 1943 3:14
78. Osvaldo Pugliese - Roberto Chanel  "Rondando tu esquina" 1945 2:48
79. Osvaldo Pugliese - Jorge Maciel  "Remembranza" 1956 3:41
80. Alfredo de Angelis - Instrumental "La cumparsita (Matos Rodriguez)" 1961 3:33
81. Goran Bregovic  "Maki Maki" 2009 3:33
(plus another post-Cumparsita track, by a special request from Jose Luis)
82. Hugo Diaz   "Milonga Para Una Armonica" 1973 4:25
(82 total)