Tanda of the Week 27 / 2013 - Osvaldo Fresedo 1950's Dj Goran

 

1. Osvaldo Fresedo / Héctor Pacheco - "Pero yo sé" 1952
2. Osvaldo Fresedo / Héctor Pacheco - "Patotero sentimental" 1952
3. Osvaldo Fresedo / Armando Garrido - "Déjame soñar" 1950
4. Osvaldo Fresedo / Armando Garrido - "Paisaje"1951

This tanda comes from Dj Goran from Zagreb, Croatia. Here's what he had to say about the tanda:

"Fresedo's music is my current tango love. The romantic sounds, an unusual orchestra for tango (harp, vibraphone, even percussion), the end-of-an-old-Hollywood-movie feeling... it's something special. Discovering a new song by Fresedo always makes me happy. I usually play Ray, Ruiz and Mayel, sometimes Serpa. But this tanda, which by some people may be very borderline tango, is very dear to me. Very dreamy and romantic, this is ideal for a dimly lit milonga, near the end of the evening. I don't perceive the "energy" of a milonga as only rhythm as you can often hear people say. For me this is an intense, energy-packed tanda that will keep the dancers' senses fully occupied and still have them cuddle to the very end of the tanda. 

I sometimes play other songs in combinations with these, such as "Vamos, vamos zaino viejo" or some with Carlos Barrios, but these are my favourites from Fresedo's 50s. Especially "Pero yo se" and "Paisaje". Since those songs are not often played, I usualy start with "Pero yo se". "Patotero sentimental" is a familiar piece to most dancers, but I think "Pero yo se" is very recognisable lately (e.g. Chicho performed to it many times). Paisaje is something really unexpected. Many dancers asked me if it is some Christmas song because of the bells. 

I live and work in Zagreb, Croatia. Although I am a physicist, my 10 years of piano school are much more useful in tango. I don't have any regular event unfortunately, since this is a very small community but I did manage to visit quite a few places in the past 1.5 year of serious DJing. My DJing page with more info is here: https://www.facebook.com/tango.dj.goran"

Thank you Goran! A bit more information for those who like the opening track: The beautiful "Pero yo se" was composed and written by Azucena Maizani. She also recorded the song in 1928 and 1931 (listen on Spotify). Also D'Agostino recorded the song with Vargas (listen on Spotify). 

"Patotero Sentimental" is probably best known as the versions from Di Sarli with Rufino (listen on Spotify) and also Di Sarli with Pomar (listen on Spotify).


Fresedo, Osvaldo - TOTW - Todo Tango - tango.info - iTunes Store

Tanda of the Week 26 / 2013 - Francisco Lomuto 1929

1. Francisco Lomuto - "Media noche" 1929
2. Francisco Lomuto - "Mamita" 1929
3. Francisco Lomuto - "Serpentina doble" 1929
4. Francisco Lomuto - "Viejo amigo" 1929

A guest Dj tanda from the down under! Dj Patricia Petronio from Australia. This is her second contribution to the blog. The first one was a tanda of Jose García (TOTW 52/2012).Unfortunately the second song, "Mamita", was not available on Deezer so I replaced it with "Mi pibe" from 1929 (by suggestion of Patricia).

"Hi Antti,

Last year I saw a mention of Francisco  Lomuto’s recordings of the late twenties.  Michael Lavocah refers to this “very special period in the history of tango .. . the age of the sextets”.  This sparked my curiosity.  So, in May I headed over to the Buenos Aires Tango Club to pick up two Lomuto CDs “Perfume de mujer” (1927-28) and “Quejidos de tango” (1928-30). I was not disappointed! The RGS Tango Collection disc of Lomuto instrumentals also contains some gems from that era.  I love the growling, unhurried and grounded sound, with lovely melodic variations.

Anyway, here’s a tanda I put together from these discs.  1929 is my favourite year from this period.

Dj Patricia Petronio 
www.tangosalonadelaide.blogspot.com" 

Lomuto, Francisco - TOTW - Todo Tango - tango.info - iTunes Store

Tanda of the Week now available on DEEZER !!!

Good news for the growing international fanbase of Tanda of the Week! I've been struggling with solutions to give the possibility of listening to the music and tandas posted on the blog in a legal manner respecting copyright issues. From now on I will be sharing the music not only on Spotify, which is currently limited to only 28 countries, but also on online music streaming service Deezer, which boasts online availability in over 182 countries!

I have already shifted the focus of tandas to feature music available on Spotify, and while the tango collection on Spotify is ever growing, sometimes limiting the selections to the available songs feels like compromising too much. So I will occasionally post tandas of harder to find music not available online, which will probably not please some of my followers, but on the other hand can be more useful for the DJ's and other hard core tango addicts.

I have noticed that not all the songs available on Spotify are available on Deezer (yet?) and therefore, although availability on both services would be ideal, I will prioritize the availability on Spotify and will either offer an alternative tanda on Deezer or unfortunately nothing at all.

You can search with the label "Deezer" to find all the Tandas of the Week available on Deezer so far. Updating the tandas posted in nearly three years takes ages so please be patient.

I am constantly looking for ways and ideas of how to improve the blog, so please send me any suggestions or feedback you have. I would appreciate it. And while on the topic I would like to thank Heikki Valkonen for the original suggestion of expanding to using Deezer.

Thank you and see you on the dance floor!

- DJ Antti Suniala

Tanda of the Week 25 / 2013 - Edgardo Donato

1. Edgardo Donato / Horacio Lagos - "A oscuras" 1941
2. Edgardo Donato / Horacio Lagos - "Fué mi salvación" 1940
3. Edgardo Donato / Horacio Lagos - "Mis pesares" 1941
4. Edgardo Donato / Horacio Lagos, Lita Morales - "Sinsabor" 1939

Here's a tanda from orchestra of Edgardo Donato including one of their biggest hits regarding milongas of today: "Sinsabor". Ofcourse Donato is more recognized for composing one of the biggest hits in tango ever "A Media Luz", which is said to be one of the tangos with most recordings in the world in the history of the genre. Donato was born in Buenos Aires but raised in Monte Video, Uruguay, where he had his career as a musician, composer and orchestra leader.

"In 1927 he put together an orchestra under the label Donato-Zerrillo, lined-up by Héctor María Artola, Juan Turturiello and Héctor Gentile, on bandoneons; on violins, the two leaders and Armando Julio Piovani (who sang as well), on piano Osvaldo Donato, his other brother Ascanio on cello and A. Bancalá on double bass.

They made their debut in Montevideo on July 14, 1927, where they were heard by the impressario of the Select Lavalle cinema theater of Buenos Aires -a scenery for the best groups- and he hired them to play for a season. They were there until 1930, under the name of Orquesta Típica criolla Donato-Zerrillo and the advertisement announced them as "The 9 tango aces, the most striking native tango orchestra ever heard".

The singer Luis Díaz joined the orchestra as refrain singer, and they finally recorded for the Brunswick label. This vocalist appeared on twenty of the fifty numbers released. In 1930, after a brief tour with the female singer Azucena Maizani, the team disbanded."

"The new orchestra, already with only one leader, started to record for Brunswick and played at different cinemas and theaters; also, on LS9 Radio La voz del aire, where they were announced as "Los ocho ases del tango porteño, Edgardo Donato y su formidable típica criolla". For the Brunswick label he recorded over 130 numbers; on December 9, 1932 he switched to Victor and recorded "El Huracán", with his new vocalist Félix Gutiérrez. He worked with this recording company until the end, apart from a brief stay in the Pampa label, releasing over four hundred recordings."




The orchestra of Edgardo Donato was one of those which were included in the movie "Tango", from 1933, the first talkie with complete soundtrack in the history of Argentine cinema."

- read the full article about Edgardo Donato at Todotango.com by Oscar Zucchi

Donato, Edgardo - TOTW - Todo Tango - tango.info - iTunes Store
Lagos, Horacio - TOTW - tango.info

Tanda of the Week 24 / 2013 - Alfredo Gobbi

1. Alfredo J. Gobbi - "Independiente Club" 1948
2. Alfredo J. Gobbi - "La catrera" 1951
3. Alfredo J. Gobbi - "Racing Club" 1949
4. Alfredo J. Gobbi - "La viruta" 1947

This tanda is from Alfredo Gobbi, one of the most highly regarded musicians and orchestra leaders in tango. I have previously released a tanda from Gobbi with the singer Jorge Maciel (TOTW 21/2012). TodoTango.com has an excellent article about Gobbi, which was originally published in the magazine Tango y Lunfardo (Nº 73, Chivilcoy, 31 March 1992). The author Luis Adolfo Sierra writes:

"The multiple facets of Alfredo Gobbi's personality -composer, violinist, arranger and orchestra leader- granted him a well-deserved and indisputable recognition among the most qualified and important music interpreters of tango. Because Alfredo Gobbi –"the romantic violin of tango"- not only bore the responsibility of an inherited prestigious artistic name. He brought the very personal creation of a tango style. So he established a different way of feeling and expressing tango. He brought in his original esthetic conceptions, of evident innovative character, reminiscences of an old time, framed in the exact balance of the evolutionist values, that allowed him to crystallize one of the most colorful, deep, dense and authentic expressions of the instrumental tango. It has been accurately said that "in the modern musical clothing of Alfredo Gobbi, the last example of tango with long hair was dying down". That was his tango. The unmistakable tango of Alfredo Gobbi, of academic musical structure and outskirts-born deep sensitivity."

Sierra continues to describe Gobbi's style: "His far-reaching contribution to the style of the genre, has "something" so much his own, and at the same time so difficult to define, "something" of De Caro´s school, "something" of Di Sarli (that is not either the fusion of two tendencies so different), "something" of the tango of always. Of Alfredo Gobbi´s tango, that in the expressive language of jazz would be called "swing", and which has no verbal equivalent among us."

"In each version of Alfredo Gobbi's orchestra we can always find a renewed motive of interest, because of its rich gamut of rhythmic and harmonic resources. Either in his notable refurbishing of old and everlasting pieces -"El incendio", "Chuzas", "Nueve puntos", "La viruta", "Pelele", "La catrera"- always treated with careful respect of their original contents, or in the performance of his own and musically evolved tangos, "Orlando Goñi", "El andariego", "Camandulaje" (which contrarily to what could be thought of, he composed on the piano and not on the violin)-, the esthetic values that prevail in Alfredo Gobbi's way of interpreting are evidenced."


While Gobbi is probably better known for songs like the above mentioned "Orlando Goñi" and "El andariego" I tried to have the dancer's best interest in mind when creating this tanda and chose to go more with Gobbi's arrangements of classics instead of his own compositions.  For listening I have nothing but the upmost respect for these compositions, but for dancing I find them a bit too repetitious.

I hope you enjoy the tanda!

Gobbi, Alfredo - TOTW - Todo Tango - tango.info - iTunes Store

Tanda of the Week 23 / 2013 - Ricardo Pedevilla

Ricardo Pedevilla, Daniel Alvarez & Nicolás Pepe 1935

1. Ricardo Pedevilla / Mario D'Elía - "Vida mía" 1951
2. Ricardo Pedevilla / Oscar Serpa - "Y mientes todavia" 1950
3. Ricardo Pedevilla / Mario D'Elía - "Y siempre pasa igual" 1951
4. Ricardo Pedevilla / Mario D'Elía - "Tus palabras y la noche" 1951

Here's a quality tanda from a more unknown orchesta, Ricardo Pedevilla. I've published earlier one Pedevilla tanda on Tanda of the Week (TOTW 30/2011)  but unfortunately the only Pedevilla song available on Spotify is the "El amanacer". Therefore I will leave it up to the readers of my blog to hunt down these hard to find songs (and especially for the DJ's it will be worth the trouble). However "El amanecer" will give you a clear example of the high quality orchestra that Ricardo Pedevilla had and I'm sure his Di Sarliesque style will please a lot of tango enthusiasts. Just last night I played my above mentioned instrumental tanda from Ricardo Pedevilla in a milonga in Berlin and got good feedback and also questions about the orchestra.

This tanda was sent to us by Gio Il Fuz from Italy. Here's what he said about himself and the tanda:

"I’m an Italian TJ, DJing from 2008, resident in La Maquina Tanguera’s Milonga in Forte dei Marmi (Tuscany) (www.lamaquinatanguera.it) and guest in some Milongas and Festivals.

I send you a Tanda, that I’ve just played in Milonga at Florence last week: good dancers enjoyed and asked me infos about this not so known versions…

This tanda is my second contribution to TOTW (The first one was a Lomuto vals tanda (TOTW 17/2012). It’s a Tanda of Orquesta Ricardo Pedevilla, with Mario D’Elia and Oscar Serpa singers. This tanda born from my research of Tus Palabras y la noche Pedevilla’s version, that I heard some weeks ago during a Tango Stage. In my research, I find also a very stylish and sweet version of Vida Mia…Curiosity killed the cat, but make also a good Tango DJ.

Hasta pronto!

Gio Il Fuz -. https://www.facebook.com/ilfuz"

Tanda of the Week 22 / 2013 - Lucio Demare y Raúl Berón

Raúl Berón in 1943

1. Lucio Demare / Raúl Berón - "Oigo tu voz" 1943
2. Lucio Demare / Raúl Berón - "Una emoción" 1943
3. Lucio Demare / Raúl Berón - "Qué solo estoy" 1943
4. Lucio Demare / Raúl Berón - "Canta, pajarito" 1943

A beautiful tanda of my favorites from Lucio Demare with Raúl Berón. Enjoy!

You can listen to the better known Ricardo Tanturi with Enrique Campos versions of "Oigo tu voz" and "Una emoción" in the tanda of Tanturi/Campos published on week 35 in 2011. You can also listen to the Carlos Di Sarli with Roberto Rufino version of "Canta, pajarito" in the tanda of Di Sarli/Rufino published on week 46 in 2012.

Demare, Lucio - TOTW - Todo Tango - tango.info - iTunes Store
Berón, Raúl - TOTW - Todo Tango - tango.info - iTunes Store

Tanda of the Week 21 / 2013 - Héctor Varela y Argentino Ledesma

 
1. Héctor Varela - "Mi dolor" 1953
2. Héctor Varela / Argentino Ledesma - "Moneda de cobre" 1953
3. Héctor Varela / Argentino Ledesma - "Yo también" 1952
4. Héctor Varela / Argentino Ledesma - "Muchacha" 1956

Here's a tanda of Varela and Ledesma that I thought of as an alternative to playing the more popular "Fueron tres años" and "Que tarde que has venido". You can find both of those songs in the TOTW Varela tanda that was posted earlier on the blog in 2011.

I have never played this tanda yet so all feedback is appreciated! Thank you.

EDIT 9.9.2013 : I played this tanda last night in the milonga at Max & Moritz in Berlin last night and I liked what I saw and I believe it was very well received.

Varela, Héctor - TOTW - Todo Tango - tango.info - TangoTunes - iTunes Store
Ledesma, Argentino - TOTW - Todo Tango - tango.info - TangoTunes - iTunes Store