My favorite tandas: Fresedo –‘Niebla del Riachuelo’
I still remember the first time I heard a Fresedo/Ray tanda: I had never encountered tangos of such exquisite beauty. This set includes two songs composed by Fresedo himself, one by Enrique Delfino,...
View ArticleMy favorite tandas: mixed tanda –‘Pequeña’
This is a mixed vals tanda built around Osmar Maderna’s exquisite “Pequeña”. I picked Calo’s version of “Jugando, jugando” because it features Maderna as pianist and the sound of the orchestra is...
View ArticleMy favorite tandas: Laurenz –‘Abandono’
A tanda featuring four tangos with brilliant bandoneón variaciones by Pedro Laurenz, culminating with “Amurado”, the all-time classic by Laurenz and Pedro Maffia. Abandono (with Héctor Farrel, 1937) No...
View ArticleMy favorite tandas: Caló –‘Nada’
This week’s tanda features Miguel Caló with Raúl Iriarte. The first two tangos are by Enrique Mario Francini; the final two, by José Dames. Mañana iré temprano (1943) La vi llegar (1944) Los despojos...
View ArticleMy favorite tandas: Di Sarli – ‘La capilla blanca’
This week’s tanda, featuring Carlos Di Sarli with Alberto Podestá, includes some of the greatest, most moving tangos ever recorded. Nada (1942) Nido gaucho (1944) Soy aquel viajero (1947) La capilla...
View ArticleMy favorite tandas: Di Sarli – ‘De qué podemos hablar’
This week we have another Di Sarli tanda, which I played at the Oxford Practica yesterday. A friend remarked that she finds these songs kitsch. I think they are wonderful–especially if danced with...
View ArticleMy favorite tandas: Fresedo – ‘Rendez Vous’
The tangos that Osvaldo Fresedo recorded with vocalist Héctor Pacheco are almost never played in milongas. And on the sites featuring tanda collections that I sometimes consult, I could find only one...
View ArticleMy favorite tandas: De Caro – ‘Saca chispas’
This is another rare tanda, comprising three great milongas by Julio de Caro (the first two composed by De Caro himself). My original plan was to play this set at El Metejón, a local BA milonga where...
View ArticleMy favorite tandas: Laurenz/Gobbi –‘Triste destino’
The star of this dramatic mixed tanda is vocalist Alfredo Del Río. As Abel Palermo notes in his biographical sketch, Del Río’s “great vocal facility, his special sense for interpretation, and his...
View ArticleMy favorite tandas: Di Sarli – ‘Volver a soñar’
Another moving Di Sarli tanda from the 1940s, although in a more subtle, intimate way than the one previously featured on this blog. ‘Cuando el amor muere’ is the only recording that Carlos Acuña made...
View ArticleMy favorite tandas: Juan Maglio – ‘Pobre flor’
Almost every dancer is familiar with Alfredo De Angelis’ version of ‘Pobre flor’, but few know that the vals was also recorded by Juan Maglio in 1932. A year before, Pacho recorded another vals, sung...
View ArticleMy favorite tandas: Di Sarli – ‘Los muñequitos’
A while ago, my friend Alia—a superb dancer and DJ—left me the following message on Facebook: “Have you already composed a tanda with this beautiful tango?” The message included a link to Francisco...
View ArticleMy favorite tandas: Mixed tanda – ‘El viejo vals’
This is an experimental tanda, which I included in my recent DJ set for Twilight Milonga @ Studio 1924 (an excellent milonga in Oakland, CA). I absolutely love Charlo’s version of ‘El viejo vals’, and...
View ArticleMy favorite tandas: mixed tanda – ‘A don Pedro Maffia’
Pedro Maffia (1899-1967) played in the orchestras of Roberto Firpo, Francisco Lomuto, Juan Carlos Cobián and Julio De Caro. Perhaps his most important legacy, however, was as a composer of some of the...
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