TBY Lost Afterparty V - 1926-1927
Dag Stenvoll and Michael Lavocah · 10 Mar 2021 · 2:43:30
A 'Lost Afterparty' that lets Dag Stenvoll, who missed the main 1926-27 broadcast through illness, catch up on the year and play listener-requested tracks that Michael Lavocah didn't use. The year sits at tango's technological hinge: the switch from acoustic to electrical recording during 1926 opens up the sound of the orchestras, especially the bandoneón. Victor, having lost its biggest star Fresedo to rival label Odeon, responds by building its own house orchestra (Orquesta Típica Victor) out of session musicians it can never lose. Pedro Maffia and Pedro Laurenz's bandoneón duets, born almost by accident when Maffia's new band wasn't yet recording, turn out to be a direct root of Aníbal Troilo's later style, while Julio De Caro's harmonically adventurous arrangements already point decades ahead, at the cost of being hard to dance to. Firpo and Canaro still dominate by prestige and sheer output respectively, but it is Fresedo, 'unplugged' and still playing his own bandoneón solos, whom Lavocah names his favourite orchestra of the year.
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Tango 1949Episode 35 · 17 Mar 2021 · 3:54:37What this episode gave Tangopedia
Facts said in the episode, each now cited to the minute it is said.
In 1927 alone, Canaro recorded over 350 tracks by himself, an extraordinary rate of production.
Canaro was still in Paris at this time; his orchestra's 1926 recordings were actually directed by Minotto, and even into early 1927 it may still have been Minotto rather than Canaro himself.
A violinist (heard as 'Vodaro'/'Vardaro') appears as an uncredited session player on many Victor and Maglio recordings of this era, recognizable by his tone, though he never led a commercially successful band of his own.
Pracánico was both Electra's musical/artistic director and the composer of well-known tangos including 'Corrientes y Esmeralda' and 'Mentira.'
French labor law made it hard for foreign musicians to get work permits, so touring Argentine tango bands registered as 'foreign artistes' rather than musicians and had to perform, and even travel between gigs, in gaucho costume.
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A record not yet identifiedRosita Quiroga & Agustín MagaldiWarm-up track before the main program; a tender, prayer-like duet that Stenvoll says he saved from the main show but liked as an opener.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 2:39 ·
Firpo's jazz-band side project, played to show tango's overlap with the jazz orchestras of the same era.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 4:25 ·
A Russian romance (not tango) about a man left alone, played for its 'deep Slavonic sadness,' similar in feeling to tango lyrics.
Only in the episode
A simple vals Canaro liked enough to record twice: acoustically in early 1926, then again electrically in 1927; picked for its delicate piano playing.
♪ Music · 2:30 ·
Picked for its violin counter-melody (obbligato) against delicate piano; used to explain what a counter-melody is.
Picked for its delicate piano against Lomuto's usual heavy beat.
♪ Music · 2:30 ·
Paired with Bacán fulero; noted for a violin counter-melody late in the piece.
Chapter · 34:17
Victor Built Its Own Orchestra So It Could Never Lose a Star Again
When Fresedo defected to a rival label, Victor didn't find a replacement. It built one that could never leave.
Chapter · 36:02
The First Viola in Tango
A dark, low note nobody could place, until two tango nerds solved a 95-year-old mystery.
Played to test a mystery low string solo; its key (F# minor, dipping to F#) rules out a violin, pointing to what may be the first viola on a tango record.
An early OTV electrical recording (Odeon wasn't electric until November 1926); praised for its spacious, soft, almost hypnotic sound.
One of Simone's earliest recordings, backed by guitars; played partly to debate whether 'el morito' refers to a horse or a person (the lyrics suggest a person).
Only in the episode
An instrumental vals by the Electra label's pianist-composer-director, chosen for its timeless, almost hypnotic charm.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 2:20 ·
A dark, emotionally overt Parisian recording; Rajá is lead vocalist with Bianco and the rest of the band joining the chorus.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 2:46 ·
An instrumental paired with Crepúsculo, sharing its special 'sound picture.'
Only in the episode
Chapter · 1:06:11
Dressed as Gauchos to Play Tango in Paris
To legally play music in Paris, these tango musicians had to pretend they weren't musicians at all.
A De Caro-orchestra era bandoneón composition by Laurenz, picked for its bubbly piano B section (Francisco De Caro).
An instrumental by the De Caro family, played to hear the post-Maffia bandoneón line-up (Laurenz and Blasco).
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 3:00 ·
Composed by Francisco De Caro; played for its true classical counterpoint and 'astonishing' piano conduction.
Watch it danced · 34
A bandoneón-duo version of the year's biggest hit, sourced by a listener (Jenny); showcases Maffia's velvety tone and ligado phrasing with his 17-year-old protégé.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 3:00 ·
Another bandoneón duo from when Maffia and Laurenz still played together, prized for how distinctly their two personalities come through.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 2:49 · The lyrics, on the song's page
One of the earliest recordings of this well-known vals, played by a pianist performing in Firpo's style (not Firpo himself).
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 0:02 · The lyrics, on the song's page
Chapter · 1:38:58
The Teenager Who Wrote Tango's Loneliest Waltz
He was 17 when he wrote one of tango's most heartbroken melodies.
Chapter · 1:39:19
The Boy Who Sold Papers at Seven, Danced Tango into His Nineties
He started working at seven. Decades later he was a living link to tango's first generation.
A melancholy tango, later known from Troilo-Marino; composed by Alfredo De Franco at age 17.
Paired with Cotorrita; Lavocah calls it outstanding and notes the double bass present throughout both pieces, giving a new walking beat.
Only in the episode
An instrumental version that reminded Stenvoll of 'Champagne Tango'; notable for an old-fashioned high bandoneón second melody.
Only in the episode
An unannounced guessing-game track with guitar backing; identified from the lyrics and later discussion as D'Arienzo's much later hit 'Mandria,' sung here by a woman.
Only in the episode
A rare, little-heard Maglio instrumental with a strong beat reminiscent of D'Arienzo.
Only in the episode
A choral number named for champion jockey Irineo Leguizamo; unusual for having vocals in a year of mostly instrumentals.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 2:44 ·
A unique instrumental recording Stenvoll hadn't found in other versions, praised for its mysterious mood and for Elvino Vardaro's violin.
A Guardia Vieja-style instrumental; its jazzy piano B section briefly made Stenvoll suspect a young Biagi, before Lavocah ruled it out by date.
Only in the episode
Chapter · 2:18:06
The Night They Almost Caught a Young Biagi Red-Handed
For five minutes they thought they'd found a secret young Biagi recording. Then the dates ruled it out.
A sweet, stripped-back six-piece Fresedo piece, chosen to open his segment as Lavocah's favourite orchestra of the year.
♪ Music · 3:00 ·
A delicate, intimate instrumental, the only recording of this Juan Carlos Giro composition.
A solo bandoneón piece played by Fresedo himself, offered as a special treat for 'bandoneon addicts.'
Only in the episode
Closing La Copacita segment: Gardel's guitar-backed vocal recording of La cumparsita under its alternate lyric title, said to be the only Gardel Cumparsita the show has ever played.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 6:29 ·
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Tango By Year is Dag Stenvoll and Michael Lavocah's, published here with their permission. The audio plays from SoundCloud.