Denver Tango Festival Spillover Milonga Playlist, May 2016

Memorial Day Tango Festival in Denver, approaching 20 years of age and once on a brink of extinction, shows a good deal of resilience. The DJs were excellent, the floor, pretty good, and the size of the crowd, generally encouraging. Just like in the years past, my most beloved and must-dance "tango pilgrimage" venues were off-site, at Cheesman Park and at the Avalon Ballroom (I'm partial to old Merc too, but it wasn't happening this time - gotta wait till Tango on the Rocks). And just like in the years past, there was a shadow of tension between the festival organizers and the local orgs of the off-site events. But luckily, not as overt a tension as to damage the festive mood!

A visit to Denver without dancing at Cheesman? No way!
(And it had the best music and the best company, one can count on it)

New for 2017: the City Park Bandstand milonga. We couldn't resist stopping there
too before driving to Boulder, and of course in the end I was scrambling
to put the final touches on my DJ preparation...

I'm not in a hurry to start playing recording music exactly at 6:30. Javier Sanchez is leading a bando jam in the hallway and it's a pretty cool thing to listen to. And I know that with Halina's excellent dinner served in the community kitchen, there won't be anybody on the floor for the next 15 or 20 minutes! Some minutes later I make a plan, to add a pre-tanda track or two, and to start playing it very quietly, creating a soft ambient tango sound in the dance hall but leaving the hallway quiet.It would be unfair if the bandoneonists totally lose track of time and miss dinner, wouldn't it?

001. Quinteto Don Pancho - Instrumental "Loca" 1938 2:57

OK, here we go!

002. Francisco Canaro - Ernesto Fama  "Todo te nombra" 1939 3:07

003. Francisco Canaro - Ernesto Fama  "Tormenta" 1939 2:38

004. Francisco Canaro - Ernesto Fama  "Te quiero todavia" 1939 2:54

005. Alla Pugacheva  "Million Scarlet Roses (cortina long)"  0:39

006. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental "Ataniche" 1936 2:32

007. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental "Yapeyu" 1951 2:26

008. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental "El Internado" 1954 2:34

009. Alexey Kudryavtsev  "The heart breaks cortina long 3"  0:33

As expected, by the 3rd tanda the floor gradually comes alive :) It should be noted that my assignment at the Avalon, as always, calls for a variety of non-classic music. And Alex Krebs's isn't a classic orchestra... but it sure can feel like one?

010. The Alex Krebs Tango Sextet  "Ella Es Asi (feat. Enrique "El Peru" Chavez)" 2011 2:32

011. The Alex Krebs Tango Sextet  "Negrito" 2011 1:53

012. The Alex Krebs Tango Sextet  "Largas las Penas" 2011 3:02

013. Jennifer Gasoi  "Happy happy me (cortina long)" 2012 0:36

Dreamy violin-themed alternative tanda built for its beautiful closing piece

014. Lhasa De Sela "La Cara de la Pared" 2005 4:23

015. Carlos Libedinsky "Vi Luz y Subí" 2004 3:17

016. Shigeru Umebayashi "In The Mood For Love"  2001 2:29

017. Lidiya Ruslanova  "Valenki 5 (cortina)"  0:36

Intense, rhythmic pieces of Laurenz ... alas, I won't have time to play his more dramatic favorites this time.

Caged nightingale?
Not at a milonga :(
(Wikipedia image)

018. Pedro Laurenz - Juan Carlos Casas "Vieja Amiga" 1938, 1938 3:11

019. Pedro Laurenz - Juan Carlos Casas "Amurado" 1940 2:30

020. Pedro Laurenz - Juan Carlos Casas "No me extrana"  2:44

021. Zhanna Aguzarova  "Old Hotel cortina long"  0:38

Love the unusual texture of Lomuto's valses!

022. Francisco Lomuto - Jorge Omar "Damisela Encantadora" 1936 3:00

023. Francisco Lomuto - Instrumental  "Noche de ronda (vals)" 1937 2:34

024. Francisco Lomuto - Fernando Díaz, Mercedes Simone  "Lo que vieron mis ojos" 1933 2:22

025. Alla Pugacheva  "Million Scarlet Roses (cortina long)"  0:39

Avalon's obligatory tanda of Polish and European tangos is a DJ's black eye this time :(  To play Utesov's famous "Mystery", I removed its long intro and closing parts, but the remaining section fooled replay gain calculation by several decibels. But it was nothing compared to the problems with Savva's Nightingale. Taisa Savva had a unique skill of artistic whistling, and sometimes she even performed from an oversize golden bird cage, carried onto the scene by four men. But the low-bitrate record did an awful service to her higher-pitch whistle. Ouch. Note to self, never download a cool tune at the last moment!

026. Jerzy Petersburski - Mieczysław Fogg "To ostatnia niedziela" 1936 3:59

027. Leonid Utesov  "Taina (Mystery) (milonga cut)" 1937 2:31

028. Ferdinand Krish - Taisa Savva "Nightingale Tango" 1940 3:13

029. Alexey Kudryavtsev  "The heart breaks cortina long 4"  0:35

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

031. Sexteto Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental "Belen" 1929 2:44

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

033. Leonid Utesov  "S Odesskogo Kichmana" 1935 0:44

Time for a milonga? With a twist.

034. Eendo  "Eshgh e Aasemaani" 2011 3:31

035. Goran Bregovic "Maki Maki" 2009 3:33

036. Kevin Johansen "Sur O No Sur" 2002 4:53

037. Jennifer Gasoi  "Happy happy me (cortina long)" 2012 0:36

038. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray "Nieblas del riachuelo" 1937 2:25

039. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray "Sollosos" 1937 3:27

040. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray  "No quiero verte llorar" 1937 2:42

041. The Blues Brothers  "Theme From Rawhide (overlay cortina)" 1980 0:27

"Sweet" Fresedos are followed by some of the most bitter Donatos. Great memories of this tanda!

042. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "Se Va La Vida" 1936 2:39

043. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "Lagrimas" 1939 2:50

044. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "Me voy a Baraja" 1936 2:30

045. Zhanna Aguzarova  "Old Hotel cortina long"  0:38

Andréane Bossé,
 Las Piernas,
2 weeks earlier

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

047. Enrique Rodriguez - Roberto Flores "Las Espigadoras (vals)" 1938 2:47

048. Enrique Rodriguez - Roberto Flores "Los Piconeros (vals)" 1939 2:47

049. Alla Pugacheva  "Million Scarlet Roses (cortina long)"  0:39

050. announcements and a birthday vals request

051. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "Quien Sera - vals" 1941 2:15

052.  "silence30s"  

053. announcing the community "waterfall" dance. This is the traditional Canaro, but slightly later years than the usual. I owe the inspiration to DJ Andréane Bossé of Montreal's Las Piernas. The strong, grounded drive of "Infamia" is something. Perhaps a version of this tanda will sound at a milonga near you soon.

054. Francisco Canaro - Eduardo Adrian  "Amando en silencio" 1942 2:54

055. Francisco Canaro - Eduardo Adrian  "Decile que vuelva" 1941 2:31

056. Francisco Canaro - Eduardo Adrian  "Infamia" 1941 3:00

... and a chacarera ... no, make it two!

057. Juan Maglio Pacho, Jorge Cafrune  "Characera loca de Ledesma"  0:26

058.   "silence30s" 

059. Varios  "Chacarera del Rancho"  2:21

060.   "silence30s" 

061. Various lbum ar "Chacarera del violin"  2:12

062. Jennifer Gasoi  "Happy happy me (cortina long)" 2012 0:36

D'Arienzo's to re-initiate the milonga flow after all the specials and breaks

063. Juan D'Arienzo - Alberto Echagüe "Indiferencia" 1938 2:31

064. Juan D'Arienzo - Alberto Echagüe "Ansiedad" 1938 2:38

065. Juan D'Arienzo - Alberto Echagüe "Que dios te ayude" 1939 2:28

066. Alexey Kudryavtsev  "The heart breaks cortina long 4"  0:35

I am not a natural for Troilo, even though I appreciate his contrasts of fast and slow... and my first intuition would be to play a tanda of his uptempo pieces (or a vals tanda). But it's time to diversify. So I put together a more lyrical tanda for this night, and it feels good.

067. Anibal Troilo - Francisco Fiorentino "Pa Que Bailen Los Muchachos" 1942 2:49

068. Anibal Troilo - Francisco Fiorentino "Sosiego En La Noche" 1943 3:05

069. Anibal Troilo - Francisco Fiorentino "No Le Digas Que La Quiero" 1941 2:51

070. Leonid Utesov  "S Odesskogo Kichmana" 1935 0:44

071. Carlos di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "La mulateada" 1941 2:21

072. Carlos di Sarli - Roberto Rufino  "Pena mulata" 1941 2:27

073. Carlos di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "Zorzal"  2:40

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

An alternative tanda of unhurried guitars...

075. Jem "Come On Closer" 2004 3:47

I only played the following Ukrainian/Russian track at one hometown venue before, where the organizer likes it. Its lyrics are crudely antiwar, which may no longer be popular in that part of the world. I don't know, I just couldn't help noticing a perplexed look or two from the public. But I would be very hesitant to ban a song from a milonga because of its lyrics .... believe me, there are so many questionable letras in old tangos! What do you think?

076. 5Nizza "Soldat" 2003 3:13

077. Damien Rice "Volcano" 2003 3:21

078. Jennifer Gasoi  "Happy happy me (cortina long)" 2012 0:36

079. Enrique Rodríguez - Armando Moreno "Como Has Cambiado Pebeta" 1942 2:37

080. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno "Tabernero" 1941 2:33

081. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno "Llorar Por Una Mujer" 1941 2:47

082.   "silence30s" 

Javier Sanchez plays a wonderful composition ... alas, limiting it to just this one piece.

083. Leonid Utesov  "Road to Berlin (slow)"  0:27

084. Rodolfo Biagi - Andres Falgas "El Ultimo Adios" 1939 2:09

085. Rodolfo Biagi - Andres Falgas "Déjame amarte aunque sea un día" 1939 2:55

086. Rodolfo Biagi - Jorge Ortiz "Por Un Beso De Amor" 1940 2:44

30+ second cortinas seem to be too long for the night, so I start replacing them with shorter ones.

087. Lidiya Ruslanova  "Valenki 4 (cortina)"  0:24

I already played a tanda of the more classic 1935-1937 Fresedos with their bel canto of Roberto Ray. There is a distinctly different vibe in Fresedo records of about 1940, with their cascading harp. It reaches a pinnacle in "Buscandote", and it's always an interesting challenge to build a tanda leading up to it. Here I stay with Ricardo Ruiz's vocals, but perhaps instrumentals like "Arrabalero", or very late Roberto Ray records like "Vuelves", would fit even better?

088. Osvaldo Fresedo - Ricardo Ruiz "Y no puede ser" 1939 2:28

089. Osvaldo Fresedo - Ricardo Ruiz "Plegaria" 1940 2:24

090. Osvaldo Fresedo - Ricardo Ruiz "Buscándote" 1941 2:49

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

092. Lucio Demare - Juan Carlos Miranda  "Sorbos amargos" 1942 3:22

093. Lucio Demare - Juan Carlos Miranda  "Manana zarpa un barco" 1942 3:22

094. Lucio Demare - Juan Carlos Miranda  "No te apures, Carablanca" 1942 3:29

095. Anzhelika Varum  "Autumn Jazz"  0:20

When the milonga's end is in sight at the beautiful Avalon, I can't ever resist this type of a non-traditional tanda with its overpowering late-night drama. This night's selection starts a bit softer and a bit closer to the classics, with a 1960's ensemble of such titans of the dusk of the Golden Era as Pedro Laurenz, Horacio Salgan, Leopoldo Federico. Then it snowballs on to the most recent decade of BsAs tango music!

096. Nuevo Quinteto Real  "Ensuenos" 1966 3:10

097. Orquesta Tipica Fervor de Buenos Aires "Quien Sos" 2005 3:08

098. Analíá Goldberg y Sexteto Ojos De Tango "El Adiós" 2011 3:13

099. Alexey Kudryavtsev  "The heart breaks cortina long 3"  0:33

100. Edgardo Donato - Lita Morales - Romeo Gavio  "Mi Serenata" 1940 3:01

101. Edgardo Donato - Lita Morales,  Horacio Lagos y Romeo Gavio "Sinfonia de Arrabal" 1940 3:07

102. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos y Lita Morales "Carnaval De Mi Barrio" 1939 2:25

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

104. Osváldo Pugliese - Roberto Chanel "Farol" 1943 3:22

105. Osváldo Pugliese - Instrumental "Malandraca" 1949 2:52

106. Osváldo Pugliese - Instrumental "Gallo ciego" 1959 3:33

107. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "La cumparsita" 1951 3:49

for those who can't stop, and for cleanup and furniture moving, a few more minutes of music with a bonus Cumparsita "estilo rumba"

108. Goran Bregovic  "To Nie Ptak" 1999 4:41

109. Goran Bregovic  "This Is A Film (feat. Iggy Pop)" 2003 4:18

110. Harry Roy "La cumparsita" 1938 2:58

Milonga Sin Nombre "Homenaje a Edgadro Donato" April 2016

The milonga is dedicated to Edgardo Donato's orchestra which I really love (please check the milonga flyer!). 

I managed to put 6 full and 3 partial Donato's tandas in 4 hours of music. It feels great, but I also fear that I used too much dependable and unsurprising music for the rest of the night, and that I may be becoming too predictable.

001. Quinteto Don Pancho  - Instrumental "Champagne tango" 1938 2:30

002. Quinteto Don Pancho - Instrumental "El garron" 1938 2:27

003. Quinteto Don Pancho - Instrumental "Loca" 1938 2:57

There is an all-new set of cortinas for the night, some lighthearted like this Vitas track, some fiery-passionate from Gogol Bordello, and one slow and sultry from Alla Pugacheva. And the intro section of "Anyuta", a silly and ephemeral Russian hit, just bursts with the raw energy of the 90's rock.

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

005. Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental "Siete Palabras" 1945 2:44

006. Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental  "Marejada" 1941 2:32

007. Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental  "Ensueños" 1943 2:44

008. Gogol Bordello  "Pala Tute cortina 3" 2012 0:19

The Donato selection begins with valses...

009. Edgardo Donato - Hugo Del Carril  "El vals de los recuerdos" 1935 2:18

010. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos, Lita Morales, Romeo Gavioli  "La shunca" 1941 2:35

011. Edgardo Donato - Félix Gutiérrez "La Tapera" 1936 2:54

012. Gogol Bordello  "Pala Tute cortina 2"  2012 0:19

013. Ángel D'Agostino - Ángel Vargas "Adiós, Arrabal" 1941 3:10

014. Ángel D'Agostino - Ángel Vargas "Shusheta (El aristocrata)" 1945 2:50

015. Ángel D'Agostino - Ángel Vargas "Caricias" 1945 2:44

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

... and continues with Donato's most-played tango composition

017. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "A Media Luz" 1941 2:31

018. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos  "Te busco" 1941 2:26

019. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "Se Va La Vida" 1936 2:39

020. Gogol Bordello  "Pala Tute cortina 1" 2012 0:18

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

022. Carlos di Sarli - Roberto Rufino  "Pena mulata" 1941 2:27

023. Carlos di Sarli - Roberto Rufino  "Yo soy de San Telmo" 1943 2:16

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

025. Orquesta Típica Víctor "Fumando Espero" 1927 3:14

026. Orquesta Típica Víctor "Bajo el Cono Azul" 1944 2:43

027. Orquesta Tipica Victor "Una Vez" 1943 3:22

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

The sweet and romantic side of Donato's orchestra:

029. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "El Adios" 1938 3:09

030. Edgardo Donato - Lita Morales, Romeo Gavio  "Mi Serenata" 1940 3:02

031. Edgardo Donato - Lita Morales,  Horacio Lagos y Romeo Gavio "Sinfonia de Arrabal" 1940 3:12

032. Gogol Bordello  "Pala Tute cortina 3" 2012 0:19

This mixed vals tanda contains an old-fashoned gem of Donato's, from the time when he barely split with Zerrillo & still worked with Brunswick Records

033. Los Provincianos - Alberto Gomez  "Samaritana (vals)" 1932 2:58

034. Edgardo Donato - Luis Diaz "Amargura (vals)" 1931 2:30

035. Orquesta Tipica Victor - Carlos Lafuente  "Intima" 1940 2:28

036. Gogol Bordello  "Pala Tute cortina 2" 2012 0:19

and a step even further back in time, when the fellow Uruguayans, Donato and Zerrillo, led the orchestra together. Many records of that era have a quaint, slowly marching character, but these pieces are more dynamic and powerful. In the tanda, I combined them with a similarly energetic favorite piece of Firpo from the same epoch.

037. Edgardo Donato - Luis Diaz "Adelina" 1930 2:58

038. Edgardo Donato - Luis Diaz "Como Lo Quiso Dios" 1929 2:46

039. Roberto Firpo - Instrumental "Una Noche En La Milonga" 1929 2:56

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

041. Enrique Rodríguez - Armando Moreno "En la buena y en la mala" 1940 2:26

042. Enrique Rodríguez - Armando Moreno "llorar por una mujer" 1941 2:51

043. Enrique Rodríguez - Armando Moreno "Danza Maligna" 1940 2:27

044. Stas Borsov  "Anyuta cortina" 2000 0:21

a gradually accelerating milonga tanda of Donato's (luckily Brian, who might have objected to the changing tempo, isn't on the floor yet)

045. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "Ella Es Así (Milonga)" 1938 2:35

046. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos y Randona  "Sácale punta" 1938 2:18

047. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos, Lita Morales  "Repique del corazón" 1940 2:14

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

Haven't played Calo with Iriarte for a long time, and the title "April rain" sounds irresistible :)

049. Miguel Caló - Raúl Iriarte  "La vi llegar" 1944 3:24

050. Miguel Calo - Raul Iriarte  "Lluvia de abril" 1945 2:42

051. Miguel Caló - Raúl Iriarte  "Cada día te extraño más" 1943 2:35

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

053. Pedro Laurenz - Juan Carlos Casas "No me extrana" 1940 2:44

054. Pedro Láurenz - Juan Carlos Casas  "Vieja Amiga" 1938 3:12

055. Pedro Láurenz - Juan Carlos Casas  "Amurado" 1940 2:30

056. Gogol Bordello  "Pala Tute cortina 3" 2012 0:19

057. Alfredo de Angelis - Carlos Dante, Julio Martel  "Pobre flor" 1946  2:43

058. Alfredo de Angelis - Floreal Ruiz  "Mi novia de ayer" 1944 2:38

059. Alfredo de Angelis - Carlos Dante, Julio Martel  "Soñar y nada más" 1944 3:08

060. Gogol Bordello  "Pala Tute cortina 2" 2012 0:19

Another tanda of romantic and uplifting hits of Donato

061. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos y Lita Morales "Carnaval De Mi Barrio" 1939 2:25

062. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos y Romeo Gavioli "Amando En Silencio" 1940 2:51

063. Edgardo Donato - Romeo Gavioli "La Melodía Del Corazón" 1940 3:18

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

065. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental "El Cencerro" 1937 2:40

066. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental "Ataniche" 1936 2:31

067. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental "El flete" 1936 2:58

068. Stas Borsov  "Anyuta cortina" 2000 0:21

069. Orquesta Tipica Victor - Mariano Balcarce  "Milonga De Los Fortines" 1937 2:52

070. Orquesta Tipica Victor - Carlos Lafuente "Cacareando" 1933 2:45

071. Emilio Pellejero - Enalmar De Maria "Mi Vieja Linda" 1941 2:26

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

The lone alternative tanda for the night - of course there will be assorted all tracks after the Cumparsita, too

073. Feist and Ben Gibbard  "Train Song"  3:03

074. Damour Vocal Band  "SWAY - Damour Vocal Band"  3:49

075. Fool's Garden  "Lemon tree" 1995 3:09

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

077. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno "Mi piba linda" 1943 2:51

078. Enrique Rodriguez - Instrumental "El morochito" 1941 2:34

079. Enrique Rodriguez - Armando Moreno "Como Se Pianta La Vida" 1940 2:25

break for raffle and for a birthday vals - which kind of celebrates Donato's birthday, too

080. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "Quien Sera - vals" 1941 2:15

081. Rodolfo Biagi - Andrés Falgás  "El último adiós" 1940 2:09

082. Rodolfo Biagi - Alberto Amor  "Paloma" 1945 2:29

083. Rodolfo Biagi - Alberto Lago  "Amor y vals" 1942 2:48

084. Folk  "Shumel Kamysh "  0:23

085. Carlos di Sarli - Alberto Podestá  "No está" 1942 2:45

086. Carlos di Sarli - Alberto Podestá  "Volver a vernos" 1942 2:48

087. Carlos di Sarli - Alberto Podestá  "Tu el cielo y tu" 1944 2:59

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

This Donato's tanda with the vocals of Lita Morales transitions from childish and funny to poignant and even bitter

089. Edgardo Donato - Lita Morales y coro "Triqui trá" 1940 2:34

090. Edgardo Donato - Lita Morales y Romeo Gavioli "Yo Te Amo" 1940 2:50

091. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos, Lita Morales "Sinsabor" 1939 2:53

092. Stas Borsov  "Anyuta cortina" 2000 0:21

Aces of candombe, the closing track from one of Donato's scattered former band members, back in his native Uruguay

093. Canaro, Francisco - Carlos Roldan "La negrita candombé (Rumbita candombé)" 1943 2:36

094. Alberto Castillo  "El Gatito en el Tejado" 1957 2:37

095. Romeo Gavioli y su orquesta típica  "Tamboriles" 1956 2:56

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

097. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray "Sollosos" 1937 3:27

098. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray "Vida mia" 1933 3:23

099. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray "Nieblas del riachuelo" 1937 2:25

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

101. Lucio Demare - Juan Carlos Miranda  "No te apures, Carablanca" 1942 3:29

102. Lucio Demare - Juan Carlos Miranda "Sorbos Amargos" 1942 3:22

103. Lucio Demare - Juan Carlos Miranda  "Manana zarpa un barco" 1942 3:22

104. Gogol Bordello  "Pala Tute cortina 2" 2012, 2012 0:19

105. Alfredo de Angelis - Instrumental "El Tango Club" 1957 2:40

106. Alfredo de Angelis - Instrumental  "Felicia" 1969 2:47

107. Alfredo de Angelis - Instrumental "Mi dolor" 1957 2:51

108. Cuarteto Almagro "Cosmotango (cortina)" 2003 0:18

109. Osváldo Pugliese  "Recuerdo" 1944 2:39

110. Osváldo Pugliese - Roberto Chanel "Farol" 1943 3:22

111. Osváldo Pugliese - Roberto Chanel "Rondando Tu Esquina" 1945 2:49

112. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "La cumparsita" 1951 3:49

113. 17 Hippies  "Marlène" 2005 3:54

114. Goran Bregovic "Maki Maki" 2009 3:33

115. Cream Margot "Krem-Margo-Poka-igraet-dzhaz"  3:16

116. Leonid Utesov  "S Odesskogo Kichmana" 1935 2:43

Let's celebrate Edgardo Donato

April is the birth month of Edgardo Donato!

** A Milonga sin Nombre flyer **

Edgardo Donato

(14 April 1897 - 15 February 1963)

It is a pleasure to celebrate one of the most talented and at the same time most under-appreciated orchestra leaders of the golden years of Argentine Tango.

"Edgardo Donato and his guys"
(one of whom is a girl. obviously)
From El Espejero's tangoblog

Edgardo Donato grew up and became a jazz violinist in Montevideo, Uruguay. He started composing tangos there in the early 1920s (the most famous of his compositions, the 1925 "A media luz", is among the most-played tangos ever). From the very beginning, Donato's tangos were touching racy themes, and their earliest lyrics were written by the master of urban slang, Afro-Argentine songwriter "El Negro Cele" Flores. The lyrics of "A media luz", a poetic premier of a fellow Uruguayan Carlos Lenzi, sang of an illicit drug den hiding in the shadow of the Obelisk. The Uruguayan origin of Donato, and his creativity reaching beyond the edges of "the decent society", meant that tango historians often discounted his talent and his influence.

Edgardo Donato convened his first tango orchestra in Montevideo only in the age of 30, in collaboration with a fellow Uruguayan violin player, 25 years old Roberto Zerrillo (who has just returned from a stint with the Parisian tango orchestras). Soon, Donato-Zerrillo orchestra took BoA, by storm (They also recorded under Brunswick label). After 1930 Edgardo formed his own, truly stellar band, with his brothers Ascanio and Osvaldo on cello and piano, and with black vocalist Luis Diaz, True to his reputation of not caring about societal "proprieties". Edgardo also employed women and gays, and commissioned lyrics to great female poets, Maria Luisa Carnelli and Maruja Pacheco. Through the Great Depression years, when most tango bands folded and the public all but stopped dancing, Donato kept the flames of tango going in roughneighborhood joints such as Ocean Dancing. His fiery rhythms and pauses presaged the "D'Arienzo revival" of 1936, and Edgardo's own

Edgardo Donato presents "the musical surprise of 1942"
in Ocean Dancing Club, Buenos Aires.
Alas, his orchestra is about to unravel...
From Tango Time Machine / Tango Decoder,
a blog on history and poetry of tango

violin solos were truly remarkable.

 Continuing to innovate, Edgardo Donato pioneered male-female vocal duets, first with the voice of "Randona” ( actually a feminine alter ego of violinist Armando Julio Piovani), then with amazing Lita Morales, making it a trio with her husband Horacio Lagos and Uruguayan Romeo Gavio. Donato's young accordionist Bertolin, playing a special lightweight "kid's accordion", added an unsurpassed effect.

Edgardo Donato (left) and his orchestra in 1939. Note
little Bertolin, from row, center.
From Tangos al bardo history blog

The success of the Uruguayans in Buenos Aires started to unravel in 1942, just when the culture of Argentine Tango music neared its zenith. First they lost Lita Morales, apparently pregnant and haunted by the rumor of infidelity involving fellow singer Gavio. She was essentially erased from the history of tango, and we still don't know even as much as her years of birth and death. Romeo Gavio returned to Uruguay and convened his own band, but eventually, unable to cope with depression, killed himself by driving off the pier into the waters of La Plata. Accordionist Bertolin quit the band, and tango, at about the same time, forming his own jazz outfit by the end of 1942. Maruja Pacheco left the world of tango for good, too. The remaining band must have been tainted by the scandal, and they weren't able to record again after summer 1942, but they still had some good gigs until the coup d'état of June 1943.

The new nationalist military government cracked down hard on the city slang (the famous "lunfardo") and immorality (purging any references to booze, sex, and fights from the public entertainment), relying on the previously unenforced "Language Purity" law. Post-1943 tangos turned increasingly romantic and melodic. Edgardo Donato tried to conform to the new trends by parting with his old compositions and old band members, and convening an all-new "Modern" tango ensemble (Orquesta Tipica Moderna). Most of his old musicians, and singer Horacio Lagos, joined another band led by Edgardo's brother Osvaldo Donato. Both outfits enjoyed some success on live music scene, but never produced recordings matching Donato's glory days. Their contribution into the development of musical culture of tango was largely forgotten. But Donato's tangos, valses, and milongas are still widely played around the world!

Milonga Nuestra playlist, March 2016

It was a challenging night. My laptop's hard drive died and I had to play from an old, broken down computer, and to pray that it doesn't die in turn... It hasn't been synched in ages, but luckily still had a reasonable collection :)

01. Carlos Di Sarli - Instrumental  "Comme il faut" 1955 2:33

02. Carlos Di Sarli - Instrumental  "El Once" 1951 2:48

03. Carlos Di Sarli - Instrumental "El ingeniero" 1952 3:25

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

05. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "Champagne tango" 1938 2:26

06. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "Jueves" 1937 2:33

07. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "Joaquina" 1935 3:01

08. Boney M  "Rasputin cortina 1 " 1998 0:22

I wrote about Los Provincianos before; in my opinion their valses are under-appreciated. The early 1930s, the Depression years before the D'Arienzo revial, were very difficult for tango, and we must be grateful to the pioneers like Ciriaco Ortiz and his "Los Provincianos" for keeping the flame going! 

09. Orquesta Tipica Victor - Lita Morales  "Noches de invierno" 1937 2:47

10. Los Provincianos - Alberto Gomez  "Samaritana (vals)" 1932 2:58 

11. Cuarteto Roberto Firpo "El Aeroplano (vals)" 1936 2:14

12. Zemlyane  "Trava u Doma 1"  0:19

13. Ángel D'Agostino - Ángel Vargas "Solo compasion" 1941 2:58

14. Ángel D'Agostino - Ángel Vargas "Mano Blanca" 1944 2:43

15. Ángel D'Agostino - Ángel Vargas "Ninguna" 1942 2:59

16. Zhanna Aguzarova  "Old Hotel cortina long"  0:38

17. Aníbal Troilo - Francisco Fiorentino  "Una carta" 1941 2:50

18. Aníbal Troilo - Francisco Fiorentino  "Pa'que bailen los muchachos" 1942 2:49

19. Aníbal Troilo - Francisco Fiorentino  "El bulín de la calle Ayacucho" 1941 2:30

20. Russian Elvises  "Cosmonaut Petrov 2 (-2 dB)"  0:20

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 "Milonga criolla" 1936 3:00

24. Zhanna Aguzarova "Cats" 1987 0:21

25. Fool's Garden  "Lemon tree" 1995 3:09

26. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole  "Over The Rainbow" 2001 3:32

27. Souad Massi  "Ghir Enta" 2008 5:06

28. Zhanna Aguzarova  "Old Hotel cortina"  0:22

29. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos  "Gato" 1937 2:42

30. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos, Lita Morales, Romeo Gavioli  "Triqui trá" 1940 2:34

31. Edgardo Donato - Lita Morales "Yo Te Amo" 1940 2:50

32. Boney M  "Rasputin cortina 3" 1998 0:17

33. Rodolfo Biagi - Jorge Ortíz "Pajaro Herido (vals)" 1941 2:18

34. Rodolfo Biagi - Jorge Ortíz "Por Un Beso De Amor (vals)" 1940 2:44

35. Rodolfo Biagi - Instrumental "Lagrimas Y Sonrisas (vals)" 1941 2:41

36. Leonid Utesov  "S Odesskogo kichmana (cortina)" 1935, 1935 0:22

Roberto Firpo was one of the trailblazers of the Old Guard, composing some of the best tangos of the 1900s and 1910s, and of course shaping La Cumparsita as we know it. Because of the poor quality of tango recording before the late 1920s, we miss most of his hits. At the turn of the Great Depression, Firpo quit tango, as he thought, for good, and his grand Orchestra Tipica never played again. But his retirement plans were short lived, and in a few years Firpo was leading a smaller tango band again - you've just heard a track by his quartet a few tandas before.

37. Roberto Firpo - Teofilo Ibanez  "Ya no cantas, Chingolo" 1928 2:56 

38. Sexteto Carlos di Sarli - Ernesto Famá  "La estancia" 1930 3:17

39. Roberto Firpo - Instrumental "Una Noche En La Milonga" 1929 2:56

40. Enrique Rodríguez - Armando Moreno "En la buena y en la mala" 1940 2:26

41. Enrique Rodríguez - Armando Moreno "Que lo sepa el mundo entero" 1943 3:32

42. Enrique Rodríguez - Armando Moreno "Llorar por una mujer" 1941 2:47

43. Russian Elvises Red Elvises "Cosmonaut Petrov 2"  0:20

44. Carlos Di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "Pena Mulata" 1941 2:27

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

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

47. Zhanna Aguzarova "Cats" 1987 0:21

48. Goran Bregovic  "This Is A Film (feat. Iggy Pop)" 2003 4:18

49. Iggy Pop Various Artists "In the Deathcar" 1999 5:13

50. Kayah & Bregovic  "Ta-Bakiera [This Tabakeria]" 1999 4:17

51. Maya Kristalinskaya  "Nezhnost (Tenderness)"  0:17

52. Ricardo Tanturi - Enrique Campos "Oigo Tu Voz" 1941 3:07

53. Ricardo Tanturi - Enrique Campos "La Abandone Y No Sabia" 1944 2:47

54. Ricardo Tanturi - Alberto Castillo  "Así Se Baila El Tango" 1942 2:34

55. Carrapicho  "Tic Tic Tac cortina 2" 2007 0:18

56. Enrique Rodriguez - Roberto Flores  "Salud, Dinero Y Amor (vals)" 1939 2:39

57. Enrique Rodriguez - Roberto Flores  "Tengo Mil Novias (vals)" 1939 3:08

Enrique Rodriguez, a great master of remixes, went all  the way back to 1870 for this rusty waltz from an American theater play - and made a dynamic vivacious miracle out of it.

58. Enrique Rodriguez - Roberto Flores  "Fru Fru (vals)" 1939 2:57 

59. Sandro de America  "Yo Te Amo cortina" 1968 0:23

60. Pedro Láurenz - Alberto Podestá  "Nunca tuvo novio" 1943 3:14

61. Pedro Láurenz - Alberto Podestá  "Garua" 1943 3:09

62. Pedro Láurenz - Alberto Podestá  "Todo" 1943 2:37

63. Maya Kristalinskaya  "Nezhnost (Tenderness)"  0:17

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

65. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Maida "Milagro" 1937 2:56

66. Francisco Canaro - Roberto Mai "Envidia" 1936 3:18

Maruja Pacheco Huergo

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

"El Adios" was Maruja Pacheco Huergo's first composition, a brilliant spark of a song which started her very bright and very short tango career. To a Russian ear, it brings an unforgettable refrain of the "Gypsy girl", a folk song which I sometimes play as a cortina...

68. Donato, Edgardo - Horacio Lagos "El Adios" 1938 3:09 

69. Edgardo Donato - Lita Morales y Romeo Gavio  "Mi Serenata" 1940 3:02

70. Edgardo Donato - Lita Morales,  Horacio Lagos y Romeo Gavio "Sinfonia de Arrabal" 1940 3:07

71. Sandro de America  "Yo Te Amo cortina" 1968 0:23

72. Miguel Caló - Raúl Berón  "Corazon, No Le Hagas Caso!" 1942 3:00

73. Miguel Caló - Raúl Berón  "Tristezas De La Calle Corrientes" 1942 2:46

74. Miguel Caló - Raúl Berón "Jamas Retornaras" 1942 2:31

75. Maya Kristalinskaya  "Nezhnost (Tenderness)"  0:17

76. Osvaldo Pugliese - Instrumental  "Recuerdo" 2:54

77. Osváldo Pugliese Osvaldo Pugliese "Farol" 1943 3:22

78. Osvaldo Pugliese - Roberto Chanel "Rondando tu esquina" 1945 2:48

79. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "La cumparsita" 1951 3:49

80. Damour Vocal Band  "SWAY - Damour Vocal Band"  3:49

81. Leonid Utesov  "S Odesskogo Kichmana" 1935 2:43

(81 total)

Notes from Hernan Prieto's tango music history lecture

From Hernan's website

Hernan's tango music talk at Valentango 2016 was a lot of fun (and I've hardly ever seen a music lecture so well attended!). He has a great way of talking, very entertaining, very well engaging the listeners - and then the body language is something, even impersonating every tango tune Hernan talks about.

Is it an important subject for the tangueros to know? Not really, says Hernan. But it adds to our appreciation of our favorite pastime

Broad historic categories first: from 1895-1920 Guardia Vieja and then through 1935, Guardia Nueva; he considers 1936-1955 to be the years of the Golden Age, and calls the later years “Vanguardia”. 1895 is sort of arbitrary, a way to call attention to the fact that it was then when Rosendo Mendizabal came up with the first score sheet for a tango, "El Enterriano". But of course tango already existed before. Marching band music may have contributed to its birth, as well as cultural amalgamation of the first major wave of immigration to Argentina, spanning 1878-1895.

We generally play at the milongas the music which has been recorded after 1927/28, and before the late 1950s, which is why we call this general time period Golden. Of course the major orchestras' timelines spanned the boundaries of these time periods. And the orchestras changed with the times and the trends, and indeed set the trends.

Canaro's early orchestra, from Tangology101

Francisco Canaro. Since 1914. Rhythmic. First orchestra had flute, guitar. But no piano. No bass. Of course it isn't an “orchestra tipica” with its sections of bandoneons and violins, a piano, and a bass. Indeed, the whole concept of a “tipica" hasn't been popularized yet, not until the 1920s.

Canaro's output of records is worth a place in the Guinness Book. 8000 records! 700 themes composed by Francisco Canaro himself! (or maybe fewer ...much gossip about that). Created copyrighting system in Argentina. Produced movies, theater plays, became a “star factory” of  the Argentine movie and music industry.

In the peak years, Canaro's orchestra recorded almost a song a day. No time to rehearse. Just keep on recording!

The music was characterized by square beat, constant tempo without acceleration or deceleration (driven by piano and bass), simple harmony. Solos aren't typical until very late. Canaro added lots of instruments and was proud of calling his orchestra “symphonic” - sometimes up to 60-strong bands! Bandoneon section was seated in the second row, behind the violins.

Canaro traveled to Paris in 1925 because the recording equipment there was much better there, says Hernan (New York was the other recording capital). Few recordings survive from the era, though; it was expensive to cut a quality record. (DP – the other explanation for Canaro's trip which I mention on this blog was the tragic demise of Bailes de Internados; there also stories about the much higher pay in France). Travel by sea took 45 days!

On Gardel and classification of vocalists:  ~~ Cantor / Chansonnier / Cantante Carlos Gardel was immensely popular in this period of tango history. Gardel was a “cantor” - a singer supported by accompaniment of a very small team, perhaps just a guitar or two. Maybe lack of Gardel's orchestral records is the biggest reason why his recordings aren't played at the milongas today. "The first video clip of tango" has been filmed with Gardel in New York. Chansonnier / refrain singer - popular in the 1920s. "Cantante", singing perhaps the whole of lyrics, like Gardel, but working with an orchestra. The first great success was Charlo with Canaro (the clip of "Yo también soñé" below is from a 1936 movie)

 To avoid taxes or licensing issues, American orchestras in France had to pose as “folkloric bands”. Everyone wore a faux gaucho outfit! The orchestra called themselves a symphony in French. Success in Paris, success with the Pope himself appreciating the music helped cement acceptance of tango among the rich and the influential back home.

One of the band members was Canaro's brother Rafael, who stayed on in Paris when Francisco returned home. Maybe Rafael fell in love with a French girl. Maybe with more than one, says Hernan. Later, on several occasions, both brothers performed the same score in their two countries.

(Lucio Demare was also producing movies and becoming a "star factory" after Canaro).

Movie stars are being born! New celebrities every few years. A singer cast as the main movie character! All women fall in love with the singer-actor ... not like the guys are immune to it, either. Enter Ada Falcon, the green-eyed diva immortalized in "Yo no sé que me han hecho tus ojos" - she sung it in 1930. Real stardom. She had a Rolls Royce convertible, the first one in Buenos Aires, and a mansion in a neighborhood of embassies. Her habit of performing with a veil covering her eyes - the eyes which were for Canaro alone. An anectode how she blurted, "Canaro will buy me another one", after Canaro's wife whacked her convertible with a broom in a fit of rage. Disappeared after Canaro cheated on her with her own sister; not discovered until 1999 in a provincial convent. This plot needs a good movie.

Osvaldo Fresedo - first recorded in New York rather than in Paris, before Argentina got its own recording studios. Piano and bandoneon are his rhythm-marking instruments. Loved violins. Lots of violins! And cellos... The "strings master". Violins are seated in the first row of the orchestra. Melodies are front and center. "Niebla de riachuelo".

Fresedo's orchestra played in Cabaret Rendez-Vous for the high-class clientele. Never in the basic venues like the sports clubs with their popular dance floors. They performed at the embassy functions, entertained the rich, and this partly explains the detached feeling some Argentines still have towards Fresedo. Fresedo's stylistic influences won the hearts of the tangueros later, with Di Sarli's music.

By 1935, tango was almost dead, persisting only as a complex, rich-folks music. De Caro wasn't really for dancing. For the dancers, the void was filled by fox and jazz, rumba and swing.

Interior of El Chatecler (from jantango's blog)
note lots of tables, not too big a dance floor,
it was meant to be a place of socializing
and entertainment first, and a dance venue
perhaps a distant second

Now introducing Juan D'Arienzo at a newly open cabaret, "El Chantecler". The orchestras performed from the balcony - some tango, some jazz, some Latin; some stand-up comedy, some cabaret girls shows. Certain services were being offered by the dames present there - as Hernan explained, the "working ladies" danced with one another during an opening song, to let the prospective customers know what's going on, which girls were the guests and which one were on a job.

D'Arienzo hired young musicians. The idea was simple, just to excite the crowd into dancing. Bandoneons became "the engine" and were seated in the front row. Bass was used for pizzicato. Everything added together to staccato-ize the music.
Violins? They better don't play too much. Maybe not at all :)
Piano plays separate rhythmic moments. Extra piano notes at the end of the phrases were the invention of Biagi (frenzied, easily bored, "addict").

Hernan shows another picture of Chantecler: no tables anymore, it's overcrowded with the dancers, the owners had to add an outdoor patio with the music delivered by speakers. The success was taxing on the musicians, they played live 7 nights a week, plus on the radio, plus in the recording studio. In 1942 all the musicians left, lead by Polito, the pianist, citing too much work, too little fame. With the replacement hires, D'Arienzo's orchestra changed, mellowing a bit. ( The "King of the Beat" used his connections to deny Polito's crew access to recordings and best venues, so they never grew into a real competition).

Silences and pauses came from D'Arienzo's work, too. Layers of the music weren't complex, in fact one should be able to recognize the whole tango from any of the instruments' parties. The society was split about D'Arienzo's music. Many dancers loved it, but musicians were often bored and dissatisfied. "It's all fast, all simple, and the guy keeps yelling at you, "Faster, faster!"". Pedro Maffia even quit tango in disgust. Hector Maure later said that singing for D'Arienzo was great for the money but very bad for his voice, that the orchestra didn't even reduce the volume when it was his turn to sing, that the speed was destructive...

But the acceleration and "rhythmization" trend ends in 1942. It wasn't totally sudden, but the new trends were felt across the field.

The recording companies, which once used to equate slower beats with the failing pre-1935 tango styles, gradually opened to experimentation with romantic and lyrical styles. Importantly, until 1942 the lyrics of tango were typically based on lunfardo slang. The topics were heavy on loyalty and betrayal, crime and poverty; the women were often described in derogatory ways. But starting from 1943, the government banned lunfardo and "low morality" themes from the airwaves. So romantic tangos became very important.

(Hernan gives this example: so a tango sang how a girl looked so beautiful and graceful, but perhaps it was just an illusion of a guy who drank too much? Not anymore. "Tal vez sera un alcohol", "Maybe it was alcohol", became "Tal vez sera tu voz", "Perhaps it was your voice", under censorship).

Carlos Di Sarli. Famous sunglasses, hiding an eye injured in a gun shop accident, or, some claim, a failed suicide attempt. In 1938-1941 Di Sarli's newly convened orchestra is getting into strongly rhythmical music, likely under pressure from the recording companies too eager to replicate D'Arienzo's success.

1939 - hired Roberto Rufino, age 16, when his dad still doesn't allow the kid to wear grownups' long pants. Rufino had to be at the microphone in shorts. The voice isn't youthful at all, it's deep ... "probably due to too much smoking and booze tried in his first 15 years of life", jokes Hernan. "Corazón" was Rufino's first recording with Di Sarli

1942 - hired Alberto Podesta, age 17. He sang "No esta" on their first day of recording. Rufino and Podesta were both too young to get into the night clubs, not yet 21, so a cabaret owner would signal the orchestra if an undercover cop was in the building - in which case the singers didn't come out from behind the curtains, and the music remained instrumental.

Rufino and Podesta were one of the very few tango examples of what the Argentines call "rubro", a "category" of musicians who fill the same role in the same orchestra, but who don't perform together in a duet.

The change to more melodic and graceful music began with "Cuando el amor muere", August 1941, sung by Carlos Acuña in his only recording with Di Sarli's orchestra. Longer violin melodies, solos characterize Di Sarli's music, while the role of the bandoneons tends to be minor, secondary. Thus, Di Sarli developed Fresedo's stylistic line to perfection.

Hernan's Tango Onthology diagram from the lecture
(I wouldn't put Donato "downstream" of D'Arienzo, though...)

Practica del Centro playlist, February 2016

It's been an unusually long break from tango DJing for me. Busy days here, with the upcoming workshop with Paloma & Maximiliano but I finally found a minute to post the playlist!
01. Francisco Canaro - Instrumental "El cabure" 1936 2:37
02. Francisco Canaro - Instrumental "Hotel Victoria" 1935 2:49
03. Francisco Canaro - Instrumental "El chamuyo" 1933 3:11
04. Adolfo Carabelli - Alberto Gomez  "El Trece" 1932 2:37
05. Orquesta Tipica Victor  "Tango Milonguero" 1940 2:41
06. Orquesta Tipica Victor (dir.Carabelli ) "Nino bien" 1928 2:43
07. Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental "La torcacita" 1941 2:37
08. Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental "El incendio" 1940 2:19
09. Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental "El jaguar" 1940 2:18
10. Quinteto Don Pancho - Instrumental "El garron" 1938 2:27
11. Quinteto Don Pancho - Instrumental "Zorro gris" 1938 2:46
12. Quinteto Don Pancho - Instrumental "Champagne tango" 1938 2:30
13. Osvaldo Fresedo - Instrumental  "Tigre viejo" 1934 3:01
14. Fresedo, Osvaldo  - Instrumental  "Arrabalero" 1927 2:42
15. Osvaldo Fresedo - Instrumental  "Pimienta" 1939 2:52
16. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental "El flete" 1936 2:58
17. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "Derecho viejo" 1939 2:24
18. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "El Cencerro" 1937 2:40
19. Carlos Di Sarli "El Once" 1954 2:47
20. Carlos Di Sarli "Nueve Puntos" 1956 3:27
21. Carlos Di Sarli "El Ingeniero" 1955 3:15

22. Carlos di Sarli - Instrumental  "Catamarca" 1940 2:23
23. Carlos Di Sarli - Instumental "Shusheta" 1941 2:22
24. Carlos Di Sarli - Instrumental "La Trilla" 1941 2:19
25. Francisco Canaro - Ernesto Fama  "Tormenta" 1939 2:35
26. Francisco Canaro - Ernesto Fama  "No me pregunten porque" 1939 2:51
27. Francisco Canaro - Ernesto Fama  "Te quiero todavia" 1939 2:54
28. Enrique Rodríguez - Armando Moreno  "El encopao" 1942 2:34
29. Enrique Rodríguez - Armando Moreno "Como has cambiado pebeta" 1942 2:37
30. Enrique Rodríguez - Armando Moreno "En la buena y en la mala" 1940 2:26
31. Biagi, Rodolfo - Instrumental "Pájaro Herido" 1941 2:18
32. Rodolfo Biagi - Andrés Falgás "Dichas Que Vivi (vals)" 1939 2:16
33. Rodolfo Biagi - Teofilo Ibanez  "Viejo Portón" 1938 2:27
34. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray "Yo no se llorar" 1933 2:36
35. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray "Recuerdo de bohemia" 1935 2:36
36. Osvaldo Fresedo - Roberto Ray "Sollosos" 1937 3:27
37. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos  "Lagrimas" 1939 2:50
38. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos  "A oscuras" 1941 2:48
39. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos  "Me voy a Baraja" 1936 2:30
40. Carlos Di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "Zorzal" 1941 2:40
41. Carlos Di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "Pena Mulata" 1941 2:27
42. Carlos Di Sarli - Roberto Rufino "Yo Soy De San Telmo" 1943 2:20
43. Pedro Laurenz - Alberto Podestá "Garua" 1943 3:11
44. Pedro Laurenz - Alberto Podestá "Recien" 1943 2:43
45. Pedro Laurenz - Alberto Podestá "Todo" 1943 2:37
46. Lucio Demare - Juan Carlos Miranda "Malena" 1942 2:57
47. Lucio Demare - Juan Carlos Miranda "Sorbos amargos" 1942 3:22
48. Lucio Demare - Juan Carlos Miranda "No te apures, Carablanca" 1942 3:29
49. Anibal Troilo - Instrumental "Un Placer (Vals)" 1942 2:19
50. Aníbal Troilo - Floreal Ruiz "Flor De Lino" 1947 2:53
51. Anibal Troilo - Floreal Ruiz "Romance de barrio" 1947 2:40
52. Miguel Calo - Raul Beron "Qué Te Importe Que Te Llore" 1942 2:37
53. Miguel Calo - Raul Beron "Lejos de Buenos Aires" 1942 2:54
54. Miguel Calo - Raul Beron "Jamás Retornarás" 1942 2:28
55. Aníbal Troilo - Francisco Fiorentino "El Bulin de La Calle Ayacucho" 1941 2:29
56. Aníbal Troilo - Francisco Fiorentino "En Esta Tarde Gris" 1941 3:14
57. Aníbal Troilo - Francisco Fiorentino  "Te aconsejo que me olvides" 1941 3:00
58. Edgardo Donato - Hugo del Carril "El vals de los recuerdos" 1935 2:18
59. Edgardo Donato - Félix Gutiérrez "La Tapera - vals" 1936  2:54
60. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "Quien Sera - vals" 2:15
61. Ricardo Malerba - Orlando Medina "Gitana Russa" 1942 2:47
62. Ricardo Malerba - Orlando Medina "Embrujamiento" 1943 2:52
63. Ricardo Malerba - Antonio Maida "Encuentro" 1944 2:20
64. Osváldo Pugliese  "Recuerdo" 1944 2:39
65. Osváldo Pugliese - Roberto Chanel "Farol" 1943 3:22
66. Osváldo Pugliese - Roberto Chanel "Rondando Tu Esquina" 1945 2:49
67. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "La cumparsita" 1951 3:49
68. Harry Roy "La cumparsita [rumba]" 1938 2:58
69. Fool's Garden  "Lemon tree" 1995 3:09

Our wonderful Chilean guests,
  Paloma Berríos Rodriguez and Maximiliano Alvarado Olaguibel.
in wintry Salt Lake City

Dia del Tango playlist 2015

A grand celebration commemorating Gardel's birthday - how else to begin it but with Gardel's famous song which injected set-verse poetry into tango for the first time in 1917, and ushered in the new, beautiful era of nostalgic and sad tango songs? Here's how Gardel sung it to the accompaniment of guitars a decade later:
001. Carlos Gardél  "Mi Noche Triste" 1930 3:20
002. Francisco Canaro - Instrumental "El cabure" 1936 2:37
003. Francisco Canaro - Instrumental "El Chamuyo" 1933 3:09
004. Francisco Canaro - Instrumental "Inspiración" 1951 3:33
A new set of Russian-themed cortinas is actually heavily Caribbean-flavored, while the music borrows from old Turkish folk:
005. Boney M  "Rasputin cortina 1 " 0:22
006. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "Yapeyu" 1951 2:26
007. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "El irresistible (clean)" 1954 2:31
008. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental  "El Internado" 1954 2:34
009. The Beatles  "Obladi-Oblada cortina1" 0:19

Playing from foobar, planning ahead in MediaPlayer,
& feeling stressed in a dark corner behind the coat rack

DJing a holiday night with its lots of assorted specials and a heavy turnout of the inexperienced dancers always promises to be messy. But tonight it will morph into my hardest-ever DJing assignment, because nothing is following the schedule. Which called for a block of back-to-back perfomances punctuated by single tandas of recorded music - which would have to be all-tango, high-drive, high-accessibility sets. But nobody is ready to perform on time, so need to keep adding vals and milonga genres and more lyrical moods and juggling the performers' requests on the fly.
010. Aníbal Troilo - Instrumental "Un Placer (Vals)" 1942 2:19
011. Aníbal Troilo - Floreal Ruiz "Flor de Lino" 1947 2:51
012. Aníbal Troilo - Francisco Fiorentino "Tu Diagnóstico" 1941 2:09
One of my most Argentine cortinas, a beautiful intro from a super-hit of the inaugural decade of "Rock en Castellano" (and thank you Lucia for your help!!)
013. Sandro de America  "Yo Te Amo cortina" 1968 0:23
014.  Announcements break 0:31
015. Orquesta Típica Víctor - Angel Vargas "Adios Buenos Aires"  2:36
016. Orquesta Típica Víctor - Alberto Gomez "Carillon de La Merced" 1931  3:16
017. Orquesta Típica Víctor - Ortega del Cerro "Una Vez" 1943 3:22
018. Sandro de America  "Yo Te Amo cortina" 1968 0:23
019. Carlos Di Sarli - Instrumental "Shusheta" 1940 2:24
020. Carlos Di Sarli - Instrumental "Catamarca" 1940 2:24
021. Carlos Di Sarli - Instrumental "La Trilla" 1940 2:19
022. The Beatles  "Obladi-Oblada cortina1" 0:19
023. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "Sacale punta" 1938 2:16
024. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "De Punta A Punta" 1939 2:20
025. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "Ella Es Asi" 1938 2:35
026. Sandro de America  "Yo Te Amo cortina" 1968 0:23
027. Juan D'Arienzo - Alberto Echagüe "Que Dios Te Ayude" 1939 2:21
028. Juan D'Arienzo - Alberto Echagüe "Que Importa" 1939 2:08
029. Juan D'Arienzo - Alberto Echagüe "Ansíedád" 1938 2:32
030. Alla Pugacheva "Million Scarlet Roses" 1982 0:19
031.  silence 0:31 Finally Florencia and Rodolfo and the bombo drummers are ready for the chacarera!

032. "Chacarera del violin"  2:12

033.  silence  0:06 Call for everyone to join the next chacarera!

034. "Chacarera del Rancho"  2:21
035.   silence  0:06 And to the sound of the drums adding their voice to the recorded music, our wonderful folk dancers come to the floor again - followed by more bombo.
036. "Escondido"  3:44

037.  silence  0:06
038. Ángel D'Agostino - Ángel Vargas "Adiós Arrabal" 1941 3:10
039. Ángel D'Agostino - Ángel Vargas  "Mano Blanca" 1944 2:42
040. Ángel D'Agostino - Ángel Vargas "Ninguna" 1942 2:59
041. The Beatles  "Obladi-Oblada cortina1"  0:19
042.  silence  0:31 Call for a birthday vals for the lucky man who happened to be born on the same December day as Gardel and Julio de Caro - and by the way, speaking of birthdays: the tango cake is ready :)

043. Miguel Caló - Raul Berón "El Vals Soñador" 1942 3:28

Alberto Podestá performing at 82
(totango website)

044.  silence 0:06 Now it's time for everyone to join for the remainder of the vals tanda - and it also marks the first of many times the voice of Alberto Podestá will sound tonight! I already wrote about his 7+ decades of singing tango. The great vocalist passed away at the age of 91 two days earlier, on December 9, 2015. May his voice energize the nights of tango forever!
045. Miguel Caló - Alberto Podestá  "Bajo un cielo de estrellas (vals)" 1941 2:37
046. Miguel Caló - Alberto Podestá  "Pedacito de cielo (vals)" 1942 2:21
047. Sandro de America  "Yo Te Amo cortina" 1968 0:23
048. silence  0:31 Great Daniel Diaz, who played bandoneon in theaters and cafes of Argentina since childhood, makes a multimedia presentation about tango and its history!
049. Boney M  "Rasputin cortina 1 " 0:22
050. Ricardo Tanturi - Instrumental "Una Noche de Garufa" 1941 2:31
051. Ricardo Tanturi - Alberto Castillo  "Pocas Palabras" 1941 2:21
052. Ricardo Tanturi - Instrumental  "Comparsa Criolla" 1941 2:53
053. Sandro de America  "Yo Te Amo cortina" 1968 0:23
2nd Podesta tanda
054. Pedro Láurenz - Alberto Podestá  "Que nunca me falte" 1943 2:49
055. Pedro Láurenz - Alberto Podestá  "Nunca tuvo novio" 1943 3:14
056. Pedro Láurenz - Alberto Podestá "Alma de bohemio" 1943 2:43
057. Beatles The Beatles "All you Need is Love cortina"  0:19

058.  silence 0:06 Tango demos time! Nicholas and Emily perform to Donato, and Yves and Barbara, to D'Arienzo's Cumparsita (the first of this night's three (!) Cumparsitas! )
059. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos y Lita Morales "Sinsabor" 1939 2:53
060. Juan D Arienzo - Instrumental "La cumparsita" 1955 4:03
061. Edgardo Donato - Horacio Lagos "El Adiós" 1938 3:09
062. Edgardo Donato - Romeo Gavioli "Sinfonía De Arrabal" 1940 3:07
063. Edgardo Donato - Lita Morales - Romeo Gavio  "Mi Serenata" 1940 3:02
064. The Beatles  "Obladi-Oblada cortina1" 0:19
065. Orquesta Típica Víctor - Ángel Vargas "Sin Rumbo Fijo (vals)" 1938 2:18
066. Orquesta Tipica Victor - Lita Morales "Noches de invierno" 1937 2:47
067. Orquesta Tipica Victor - Mario Pomar  "Temo" 1940 2:55
068. Sandro de America  "Yo Te Amo cortina" 1968 0:23
069.  silence30 0:31 And it's time for the final - and the greatest  - of the night's specials, live music by Daniel Diaz (bandoneon) and Brian Salisbury (violin) and vocal by Lucho!
070. Boney M  "Rasputin cortina 2" 0:16
071. Anibal Troilo - Francisco Fiorentino "El Bulin de La Calle Ayacucho" 1941 2:29
072. Anibal Troilo - Francisco Fiorentino "En Esta Tarde Gris (Fiorentino)" 1941 3:14
073. Aníbal Troilo - Francisco Fiorentino  "Te aconsejo que me olvides" 1941 3:00
074. Boney M  "Rasputin cortina 3" 0:17
This Podestá milonga tanda combined two orchestras and I loved all of these tracks, but after playing the set I got a feeling that Laurenz's pieces lose in comparison?
075. Carlos Di Sarli - Alberto Podestá "Entre Pitada Y Pitada" 1942 2:33
076. Pedro Laurenz - Alberto Podestá "Maldonado" 1943 2:07
077. Pedro Laurenz - Alberto Podestá "Yo Soy De San Telmo" 1943 2:32
078. Sandro de America  "Yo Te Amo cortina" 1968 0:23
079. Carlos Di Sarli - Oscar Serpa "Verdemar" 1955 3:02
080. Carlos Di Sarli - Mario Pomar "Duelo Criollo" 1952 2:30
081. Carlos Di Sarli - Argentino Ledesma "Fumando Espero" 1956 4:04
082. Boney M  "Rasputin cortina 4" 0:22
083. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental "La torcacita" 1971 2:31
084. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental "Zorro gris" 1973 2:03
085. Juan D'Arienzo - Instrumental "Este Es El Rey" 1971 3:12
086. The Beatles  "Obladi-Oblada cortina1"  0:19
087. Rodolfo Biagi - Instrumental "Lágrimas y sonrisas" 1941 2:41
088. Rodolfo Biagi - Alberto Amor "Manana por la manana (vals)" 1946 2:28
089. Rodolfo Biagi - Alberto Amor "Paloma" 1945 2:28
090. The Beatles "All you Need is Love cortina" 0:19
091. Carlos Di Sarli - Alberto Podestá "La Capilla Blanca" 1944 2:55
092. Carlos Di Sarli - Alberto Podestá "Junto a tu corazón (Hoy como ayer)" 1942 3:00
093. Carlos Di Sarli - Alberto Podestá "Tú, el cielo y tú" 1942 2:59
094. Boney M  "Rasputin cortina 4" 0:22

A special request to play a tribute song to BsAs, a Gardel's composition originally. But I'm not familiar with Galan's vocal tangos and have to figure out how to continue this tanda even as the first song plays..
095. Francisco Canaro - Carlos Galán  "Mi Buenos Aires querido" 1934 3:20
096. Francisco Canaro - Ernesto Famá  "No me pregunten porque" 1939 2:51
097. Francisco Canaro - Ernesto Famá  "Te quiero todavia" 1939 2:54
098. Russian folk  "Murka"  0:20
099. Donato Racciatti - Olga Delgrossi  "Hasta siempre amor" 1958 2:57
100. Donato Racciatti - Olga Delgrossi "Sus Ojos Se Cerraron" 1956 2:47
101. Donato Racciatti - Olga Delgrossi  "Queriéndote" 1955 2:49
102. Boney M  "Rasputin cortina 3" 0:17
103. Osváldo Pugliese "Recuerdo" 1944 2:39
104. Osváldo Pugliese - Roberto Chanel "Farol" 1943 3:22
105. Osváldo Pugliese - Roberto Chanel "Rondando Tu Esquina" 1945 2:49
106. Zhanna Aguzarova "Old Hotel" 1987 0:22
The closing tanda is the 5th set of Alberto Podestá...
107. Pedro Laurenz - Alberto Podestá  "Todo" 1943 2:37
108. Pedro Laurenz - Alberto Podestá "Como el hornero" 1944 2:47
109. Pedro Laurenz - Alberto Podestá  "Recien" 1943 2:43
110. Carlos Di Sarli "La Cumparsita" 1955 3:18

Stanley Black

After a Cumparsita to weep, here comes another one to revel and to smile tonight. A rumba remix of La Cumparsita by Harry Roy Orchestra (best known for their 1931 hit, "My girl's pussy"). Harry Roy, nee Lipman, a British clarinetist and a bandleader, had an unusual journey into the Argentine music. He happened to record Latin-style dance tunes for a 1935 Hollywood comedy, "In Caliente", which soon took Latin America by storm. So in 1937 Harry Roy scored an invite for a South American gig, and his new lead pianist and arranger, 24 years old Stanley Black, fell in love with the Argentine rhythms. Soon, Stanley created jazz arrangements of tangos, first recorded in London by Parlophone label, and reissued by Argentina's Odeon. Stanley Black (whose birth name was Solomon Schwartz) would go on to remix great many tangos, but most of his later work lacks the exuberant naivete of the Roy's Cumparsita. 
111. Harry Roy "La cumparsita [rumba] Odeon 194888" 1938 2:58

and what a better way to bookend the night's list if not by playing Otros's "Percanta" which mixes in the same Gardel's song which opened the night?
112. Otros Aires  "Percanta" 2005 5:01
113. Leonard Cohen  "Dance Me To The End Of Love (Live)" 2002 6:06
(113 total)