The Cabeceo

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Tango By Year, the podcast

Edgardo Donato

27 records across 12 episodes (18 play here), plus 3 chapters that mention them, in the order the music happened.

Records played, by recording year

19301942

0 of 27 heard

1930

  1. Adelina

    Luis Díaz

    From Donato's second recording session ever as a solo leader, after the split; chosen to show the bouncy house piano style of the year.

  2. Mi Sueño Dorado

    An instrumental Donato solo recording showcasing the same bouncy piano feel, played by his brother Osvaldo.

1931

  1. Volvé

    Mercedes Carné

    A heavy lyric in which a woman loves a man who is awful to her; Lavocah calls it the tango version of Billie Holiday's 'My Man'.

  2. Los piratas

    Teófilo Ibáñez

    Features a cello played by Donato's brother Ascanio; the Donato band was a family band.

  3. ChapterThe family band

    Three Donato brothers in one orchestra.

  4. Mar de fondo

    An instrumental whose whole band stops for a piano interlude; Lavocah calls it bonkers and a challenge to Canaro's more complex sinfónica recordings.

    Only in the episode

  5. Second instrumental (title unclear)

    Played with Mar de fondo; Lavocah says these two are better than most of what Canaro did that year.

    Only in the episode

1932

  1. Pobre Yo

    Teófilo Ibáñez

    An older, much slower and heavier Brunswick-era recording, played to contrast with the new energy of El Huracan.

  2. El Huracan

    Donato's first Victor recording after Brunswick folded, marking a real leap in speed and energy though, Lavocah insists, not D'Arienzo's heavy beat.

    Only in the episode

  3. El huracán

    Donato's first Victor recording, from late 1932: the new, deliberately cheerful sound after a year of miserable music.

    Only in the episode

1933

  1. Veneración

    A rocking Donato waltz with a piano melody answered by a cello counter-melody, played by one of his brothers.

  2. Penas

    A less well-known Donato waltz; first of three waltzes.

  3. Pobre soñador

    First of three Donato numbers, a fast tango relying on violin pizzicato, played as a bridge to what D'Arienzo would do.

  4. A record not yet identified

    Closing Donato number whose lyric begins 'What a plate, che!', which Lavocah says listeners will like even more.

    Only in the episode

1934

  1. Esto es el colmo

    Antonio Maida

    A violin- and cello-driven, high-energy Donato side; the cello, played by one of Donato's brothers, is still clearly audible here before it gets buried in his later, more famous sound.

  2. Corales viejos

    Antonio Maida

    A feel-good Donato milonga still well known from milongas today.

    Only in the episode

1935

  1. La caída de la estantería

    An energetic instrumental with mock sound effects of a collapsing shelf; Dag floats Donato as an early bridge to D'Arienzo's style.

  2. La cumparsita

    The show's traditional closing number, this week in Donato's version.

    Only in the episode

1936

  1. A record not yet identified

    Horacio Lagos

    A tango chosen to show Donato's lighter, more playful sound next to D'Arienzo's harder edge.

    Only in the episode

  2. La Trapera

    Félix Gutiérrez

    One of Stenvoll's favourite waltzes of all time, chosen for its joyful but bittersweet lyric and its audible piano accordion.

    Only in the episode

1938

  1. ChapterWhy Donato sounds happy

    One instrument made Donato's orchestra sound happy.

  2. Con tus besos

    Horacio Lagos

    A Donato vals; the accordion in the band gives a lighter sound. Start time approximate.

  3. Sacale punta

    Horacio Lagos and Randona

    A milonga sung by Lagos and Randona, the falsetto stage name of a band violinist. Start time approximate.

1939

  1. Sombra gaucha

    Horacio Lagos

    With Lita Morales; Donato's violin counter-melody, played for his best dance year.

  2. Carnaval de mi barrio

    Lita Morales

    With Horacio Lagos and Romo Gavioli joining the chorus.

  3. De punta a punta

    Horacio Lagos

    A medium-speed Donato milonga, probably the only recording of it, with a bubbly piano.

1940

  1. Sinfonía de Arrabal

    Lita Morales, Horacio Lagos, Romeo Gavioli

    Chosen because all three of Donato's vocalists sing on it, unusual for a recorded tango orchestra.

  2. La Melodía del Corazón

    Romeo Gavioli

    A tango built on Chopin's Tristesse Etude (Op. 10 No. 3), a melody that had already become a popular Paris tango before reaching Buenos Aires.

1942

  1. Mishiadura

    One of Donato's saddest tangos, recorded right as his orchestra was collapsing.

1943

  1. ChapterThe man who drove his car into the sea

    Romeo Gavioli sang candombes with Donato, then a love triangle.

Tango By Year is Dag Stenvoll and Michael Lavocah's, published here with their permission. The audio plays from SoundCloud.