Practica del Centro with QTANGO, June 2015

Erskine Maytorena, Olga Tikhovidova, and Natalia Tikhovidova of QTANGO Orchestra may not need an introduction to the Salt Lake Tango community, they are our old friends. On their June road tour, QTANGO planned a 4-night stay in Utah before continuing to Idaho, Montana, Alberta CA, and Colorado. I was to provide recorded music support on the 2nd night of the workshop, in the loft of Squatters Pub where we scheduled a musicality class and a practica with a long live music segment.

For a pre-class warm-up, Erskine asked me to play a set of different orchestras with strong contrasts, and oh, how about starting it with El Recodo? I had to think real quick and I probably had a deeply puzzled look of my face - well, how do you get contrast and continuity at the same time?? - before picking Di Sarli's 1951 "El recodo", D'Arienzo's 1970s "La torcacita", and 1942 "Trasnochando" of Miguel Caló with Raúl Berón.

The class was themed "How each orchestra can change your dance", and Olga and Natalia wonderfully conjured up the spirits of the steady-matching Canaro, the fiery rhythmic D'Arienzo coming to the rescue of the moribund pre-Golden Age tango scene and evolving over the years, and the dramatic, accelerating and slowing, passionate Pugliese. Actually, the topics of the class ranged even farther, with an intro on the tango instruments and their staccato and melodic abilities and roles - piano vs violin and bass, the voice of the bandoneon and the human voice - and with segments about stimulating female musicality, even in such traditionally lead-dominated contexts as the song endings ("the poses of the cha-chan") !

Focusing on piano...

... and on violin!

Then it's time for the musicians to take a short break, and for me, to play a few tandas which, I assume, will keep the energy strong without an overlap with QTango's repertoire and style.

01. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental "Derecho viejo" 1939 2:24
02. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental "Joaquina" 1935 3:01
03. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental "Champagne tango" 1938 2:26
04. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "A media luz" 1941 2:31
05. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos y Romeo Gavioli "Amando en silencio" 1941 2:52
06. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "Lagrimas" 1939 2:50
07. Quinteto Pirincho - Instrumental "El torito" 1950 2:20
08. Quinteto Pirincho - Instrumental "Orillera" 1960 2:24
09. Quinteto Pirincho - Refran "El esquinazo" 1951 2:28
10. Carlos di Sarli - Alberto Podestá "Nido gaucho" 1942 3:22
11. Carlos di Sarli - Alberto Podestá "Tu el cielo y tu" 1944 2:59
12. Carlos di Sarli - Alberto Podestá "Lloran las campanas" 1944 2:58
13. Enrique Rodríguez - Armando Moreno "Tango argentino" 1942 2:37

QTango start super-rhythmically and the floor literally bursts with energy with the opening bars of their signature Felicia. And then the second tanda pumps pure unadulterated Old Guard drive with the trio of El Garron, 9 de julio, & El choclo. This is a practica after a class about orchestras and styles, and Erskin often precedes the songs with a short talk-through about what's special about these pieces, and this format works great with the dancing crowd.

The cooldown tanda starts from a supposedly slow-and-steady vals, Adios juventud, and ends with an officially slow one (subtitled "vals lento"), Piazzolla's Chiquilin de Bachin - buy you gotta listen to these arrangements, they breath fire over the facade of slow steadiness. An hour later comes another amazing lyrical and sad cooldown tanda, a QTango's trademark set of Adios Nonino and Milonga triste. And in the final set, a timeless favorite, El pañuelito. But no Cumparsita even though the time is 10 pm and the practica is supposed to be over. So I keep on playing with a transition tanda, a Pugliese crowning tanda, and the final "exclamation mark and ellipses" for this great night.

14. Enrique Rodríguez - Armando Moreno "Como se pianta la vida" 1940 2:25
15. Enrique Rodríguez - Armando Moreno "Como has cambiado pebeta" 1942 2:37
16. Enrique Rodríguez - Armando Moreno "Danza Maligna" 1940 2:27
17. Osváldo Pugliese - Jorge Maciel "Remembranza" 1956 3:41
18. Osváldo Pugliese - Roberto Chanel "Rondando Tu Esquina" 1945 2:49
19. Osváldo Pugliese - Roberto Chanel "Farol" 1943 3:22
20. Pedro Láurenz - Pedro Mafia "La cumparsita" 1926 3:01
21. Damour Vocal Band "SWAY" 3:49

Christmas Eve Milonga with QTANGO

Our community was truly blessed to host Erskine Maytorena and QTANGO for a series of workshops and live music gigs. I must say that Erskine elevated tango musicality teaching to such a qualitatively different level that every class may be a revelation even for such a dyed-in-the-wool tanguero as myself. One of the most amazing ingredients in the "workshop mix" is the direct assistance of live music. Whenever we were asked to distinguish overlayed staccato and legato themes, or to recognize the music cues used by the tango musicians to forewarn us about coming pauses or phrase endings, or to accelerate and decelerate in and out of contratiempo, Olga's violin and Natalia's piano were always there to offer a remixed tango with the right musical components. When we discussed the changes in music style over the tango eras and between the tango masters, the QTANGO musicians were always ready to conjure up the spirit and the sound of the Guardia Vieja or mature D'Arienzo, late-period Di Sarli or Pugliese. The secrets of the craft revealed, one after another, to enrich our appreciation of our tango musical heritage. It's just incredible... Hats off!

QTANGO trio at the North Church

 I DJ'd during QTANGO's final night in Salt Lake, on Xmas Eve in the old North Church. Just two small stretches of recorded music before and after live music, and greatly (and happily) overshadowed by QTANGO's play.
01. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida "Recuerdos De Paris" 1937 3:12
02. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida  "Nada mas" 1938 3:00
03. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida  "Invierno" 1937 3:26
04. Alexander Dolsky  "At last, rainy September! (cortina 1)" 1979 0:15
05. Lucio Demare - Juan Carlos Miranda  "No te apures, Carablanca" 1942 3:29
06. Lucio Demare - Juan Carlos Miranda  "Sorbos amargos" 1942 3:22
07. Lucio Demare - Juan Carlos Miranda  "Manana zarpa un barco" 1942 3:22
08. Eldar Ryazanov - Andrey Petrov "Nature doesn't have bad weather" (cortina) 0:24
09. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno  "En el volga yo te espero" 1943 2:40
10. Enrique Rodriguez - Instrumental  "Siempre fiel (vals)" 1938 3:38
11. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno  "Mariquita no mires al puerto (vals)" 1945 3:01
12. Goran Bregovic  "Old Home Movie" 1993 0:25

Erskine Maytorena is, of course, first and foremost a vocalist, an opera singer before he took up bandoneon and tango teaching and reverse-engineering the best tango danceable music in the nation. So you wouldn't be surprised that he repeatedly pointed my attention to the talented tango vocalists of the past, whom I hardly ever featured in my playlists before. Argentino Ledesma sang mostly for Varela's orchestra, but he also recorded very few songs with Di Sarli, including this totally breathtaking "Fumando espero", one of those virtually unmatcheable tracks. Here I combined it with two other Di Sarli singers, united by the period and by the mood, quite seamlessly for my humble taste ... yet I got an impression that for Erskine, my transitions from a singer to a singer sounded totally abrupt and jarring, that he perceived too great a difference in their voices, talents, and manners of singing! Life to learn...
"Verdemar" is of course hard to match both musically and I guess emotionally too, it's so overflowing with sadness ... I wrote about its mystery before on rio Wang's blog.
13. Carlos di Sarli - Argentino Ledesma  "Fumando espero" 1956 4:02
14. Carlos di Sarli - Jorge Durán  "No me pregunten por qué" 1956 3:29
15. Carlos di Sarli - Oscar Serpa  "Verdemar" 1955 3:01
Now it's time for live music! El gente is truly electrified. Familiar QTANGO hits such as Ultima copa de bebida, vocal Gran muneca, best-ever Milonga triste, and some new super-hits, the most memorable of which is probably wonderfully lyrical instrumental Chiquilín de Bachín, Astor Piazzolla's vals lento which has become so un-Piazzolla danceable in Q's arrangement :) Love!
16. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray "Niebla del Riachuelo" 1937 2:25
17. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray "Sollozos"  3:28
18. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray "Recuerdo de bohemia" 1935 2:36
19. Sofia Rotaru  "Autumn Melody"  0:30
20. Donato Racciatti - Olga Delgrossi "Queriéndote" 1955 2:49
21. Donato Racciatti  "Tu corazón - Nina Miranda" 2:32
22. Donato Racciatti - Olga Delgrossi "Hasta siempre amor" 1958 2:57
23. Canaro - Hugo del Carril  "Marcha Peronista cortina"  0:16
people are palpably tired before the holidays and overflowing with live music's energy, and I find that a milonga tanda is simply a no go. Transitioning to a more dramatic tanda with Mario Pomar, another Di Sarli singer we discussed with Erskine the night before, and for a quicker-than-planned wrap up of the night.
24. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida "Milonga criolla" 1936 3:05
25. Goran Bregovic  "Old Home Movie" 1993 0:25
26. Carlos di Sarli - Mario Pomar  "Tormenta" 1954 3:38
27. Carlos di Sarli - Mario Pomar  "Patotero sentimental" 1953 3:02
28. Carlos di Sarli - Mario Pomar  "Duelo criollo" 1952 2:30
29. Lidiya Ruslanova  "Valenki 1 (cortina)"  0:24
30. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "La torcacita" 1971 2:31
31. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "Zorro gris" 1973 2:03
32. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental "Este Es El Rey" 1973 3:10
33.  "Lady Be Good - Sol Hoopii Trio"  0:23
34. Alfredo De Angelis  - Instrumental "Felicia" 1969 2:48
35. Alfredo de Angelis - Instrumental "Pavadita" 1958 2:55
36. Osvaldo Pugliese - Instrumental  "Recuerdo" 1944 2:54
37. Osvaldo Pugliese - Roberto Chanel "Corrientes Y Esmeralda" 1944 2:49
38. Osvaldo Pugliese - Roberto Chanel "Rondando Tu Esquina" 1945 2:49
39. Pedro Láurenz - Pedro Maffia - Instrumental  "La cumparsita" 1926 3:01
(39 total)