TBY Lost Afterparty IV - 1951
Dag Stenvoll and Michael Lavocah · 17 Feb 2021 · 3:16:35
This 'lost afterparty' revisits 1951, a year the hosts found far more diverse than expected once they moved past the 'big four' orchestras. D'Arienzo turned backward to a leaner, faster 1930s-style sound after splitting from arranger Hector Varela, while Troilo went the other way, fully absorbing Piazzolla's modern ideas both as arranger and composer. The vocal 'tango song' era that had dominated since 1938 was fading: 1951's repertoire was mostly instrumental, solo singers like Mercedes Simone and Ignacio Corsini were losing label support, and Pugliese's Barro shows Alberto Moran beginning to break free of the decade's tightly integrated singer-orchestra formula. The show also surfaces several obscure or short-lived orchestras (Lorenzo Barbero, Victor D'Amario, Florindo Sassone, Raul Kaplun, Joaquin Do Regis, Mario Demarco, Jose Basso) and closes, after the main broadcast, with a bonus set and a preview of the series' next, much earlier target: 1926-27.
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Tango 1926-1927Episode 33 · 3 Mar 2021 · 2:56:45What this episode gave Tangopedia
Facts said in the episode, each now cited to the minute it is said.
By 1951 D'Arienzo had split from arranger Hector Varela and dropped the lyrical, 1940s-style arrangements, returning to the simpler, harder-driving 1930s formula but played by a much tighter band.
The era of the vocal 'tango song,' begun mid-1938 under Troilo's influence, was effectively over by 1951; that year's repertoire was mostly instrumental.
The waltz De Vuelta, best known from Carlos Di Sarli, was actually composed by bandoneonist Carlos Lazzari, who joined D'Arienzo's orchestra around 1951 and brought the piece with him.
By 1951 Di Sarli had two vocalists, Oscar Serpa and Mario Pomar; of the first 20 tracks recorded for the new Musica label, only one had a vocal, and releasing them as four-track EPs (waiting until the first 20 were ready) confused the recording dates.
Biagi never played with his own band on Sundays; the band performed without him while he went to the horse races, being a committed gambler.
Chapter · 7:46
The record that sold a million - twice
Same two songs, same orchestra, years apart - and the second time it sold a million copies.
New 1951 recording of the B-side of D'Arienzo's biggest-selling single (A-side La Cumparsita); fast and tight, called 'rock and roll' by the hosts.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 1:30 ·
A less well-known 1951 D'Arienzo tango chosen for its wild violin slides near the beginning and near the end.
♪ Music · 2:27 ·
Watch it danced · 73
This waltz, best known from Carlos Di Sarli, was actually composed by bandoneonist Carlos Lazzari, who had just joined D'Arienzo and brought the piece with him; here it's played as simple joy rather than Di Sarli's tenderness.
♪ Music · 2:27 ·
Watch it danced · 7
An old Guardia Vieja tango, composed by Francisco Canaro in 1916 and recorded by Di Sarli in 1951.
♪ Music · 2:00 ·
A short introduction leads straight into Di Sarli's left hand rambling around the bottom of the keyboard.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 2:00 ·
Demonstrates Di Sarli's 3-3-2 piano rhythm, building late on into a true polyrhythm (piano in groups of 3 against the orchestra's 4 beats) to a powerful climax.
♪ Music · 3:00 ·
Chosen for its unusual opening: heavy vibrato in the bandoneon's left hand like a low moan, very expressive for Biagi.
♪ Music · 2:18 ·
Watch it danced · 19
Chapter · 40:01
The bandoneon solo that's a century old
This 1951 recording plays a melody written in 1856 - before tango existed.
A slow milonga from Barbero's genre-blending 'Orquesta de la Argentinidad'; the melody, by early bandoneon player Santiago Ramos, is said to date from around 1856, decades before tango existed. Has an uncredited vocal refrain.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 1:54 ·
Vidal left Pugliese's orchestra this year specifically so he could go back to performing with guitars; a romantic serenading waltz.
Only in the episode
D'Amario's La Plata orchestra finally got Radio El Mundo relays; this is from his first studio session, a well-known tango chosen so listeners could compare it to countless other versions.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 2:18 ·
Sassone's own composition, surprisingly dramatic and atypical of his usual Di Sarli-imitating style; the only other orchestra known to have recorded it is Pugliese, in the 1960s.
♪ Music · 2:00 ·
Composed and arranged by Piazzolla for Troilo's orchestra; described as finally 'Piazzolla and Troilo in union,' with a pizzicato violin passage recalling Tanguera (1956).
♪ Music · 3:00 ·
Watch it danced · 17
A joyful milonga composed by Troilo himself, built almost entirely on the offbeat.
♪ Music · 2:10 ·
An emotionally overwhelming version with Carlos Figari (not Orlando Goni) on piano and the cello pushed further forward than in Troilo's 1940s recordings.
♪ Music · 2:59 · The lyrics, on the song's page
Chapter · 1:14:42
The pianist who refused to record without his singer
In 1944, a record label rejected tango's most inventive pianist - over his singer's voice.
Compared directly to Troilo's version (a dialogue between bandoneon and piano); Salgan turns the same riff into jazz-like improvisation.
♪ Music · 2:59 ·
A 1927 carnival tango (originally sung by Gardel) about Columbine, the Commedia dell'Arte character.
♪ Music · 6:21 ·
Chapter · 1:29:20
The waltz that isn't a waltz
Listeners called it 'just nuts.' Turns out it isn't even a waltz.
Billed as a waltz but revealed by the hosts to actually be a Colombian bambuco converted into waltz form; sparked chat debate, with one listener calling it 'just nuts.'
Chapter · 1:32:23
Tango's forgotten architect
The name on the label wasn't the one writing the music.
Subtitled 'Acerin Aseran' (see-saw); an old Firpo tango from the late 1920s about striking woodworkers, featuring violinist Elvino Vardaro and pianist Jose Pascual.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 2:30 ·
An old tango also known from D'Arienzo; Gobbi's own violin solos are described as modest compared to Enrique Camerano's showier style.
♪ Music · 2:45 ·
Watch it danced · 2
An unusually tender lyric, described by the hosts as being about 'empty nest syndrome' in a long marriage.
Only in the episode
Recorded on the noisy Teca label; Kaplun had been Miguel Calo's first violin before forming his own, commercially unsuccessful orchestra.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 2:30 ·
Played as a 'mystery tango' guessing game; composed by Roberto Pepe (who joined Pugliese's orchestra in 1952) for Demare's band before Pugliese made it famous.
♪ Music · 2:30 ·
Composed and recorded by Demarco's own, commercially unsuccessful orchestra before he joined Pugliese in the early 1950s and brought the theme with him; Pugliese's version is far better known.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 2:30 ·
Opens unusually softly and gently for Pugliese before turning dramatic later on.
♪ Music · 2:30 ·
An old tango (1910s-20s) by Jose Martinez, a major Guardia Vieja composer; possibly the only recording of it that exists.
♪ Music · 2:55 ·
Watch it danced · 1
Chapter · 2:23:33
The singer who broke the glass box
For a decade, tango's singers were locked inside a formula. In 1951, one of them broke out.
Marks the first time Pugliese lets the singer push against the tightly integrated 1940s 'tango song' formula; lyric uses both 'barro' and 'fango' (mud) to describe a ruined life.
♪ Music · 2:13 · The lyrics, on the song's page
Watch it danced · 111
Recorded by a short-lived orchestra Piazzolla pulled together in 1951, between dissolving his own orquesta tipica (1946-48) and working mainly as an arranger until his move to Paris in 1954.
♪ Music · 3:02 · The lyrics, on the song's page
A non-tango French song used as a cortina (break) between the main broadcast and the extra post-show music.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 2:10 ·
Predates the better-known 1958 Di Sarli recording; 'ficha' is horse-racing slang for a sure winner. An old tango first recorded by Juan Maglio in 1912.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 2:29 ·
Unusual phrase structure: phrases end on the second beat rather than the fourth or first, producing a simultaneous very low and very high note; attributed to Biagi's influence.
♪ Music · 2:30 ·
Written in 1905, before four-beat tango became standard (1912-1917); still carries the older slow milonga/habanera rhythm of its era.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 1:53 · The lyrics, on the song's page
Backed on guitar by Roberto Grela; an exception, since by 1951 labels had largely stopped signing new solo singers.
Only in the episode
♪ Music · 2:20 · The lyrics, on the song's page
Chapter · 2:55:59
The bandleader who paid his way out of obscurity
He led only a second-tier orchestra, so he spent on the one thing that mattered.
An old Gardel-era number; Basso, Troilo's former pianist, was known for paying his singers well. Contradictory macho lyric: the singer insists a man shouldn't cry while clearly weeping.
♪ Music · 2:18 · The lyrics, on the song's page
Composed by Ismael Spitalnik, a trained industrial chemist who treated music as a side activity; more danceable than Piazzolla's arrangements for Troilo from the same period.
♪ Music · 3:00 ·
Watch it danced · 1
Chapter · 3:05:10
The chemist who moonlighted as a tango composer
His day job was breaking down chemicals. At night, he wrote one of Troilo's best milongas.
A second rendition played to compare with Lucho Demare's earlier version; features a roughly two-minute dialogue between violinist Enrique Camerano and bandoneonist Ruggiero.
♪ Music · 2:28 ·
Watch it danced · 1
The night's closing number, one of 1951's big hits; a listener noted Valentino sounds like Charlo, especially on a high note. Chosen as a danceable finish after a varied, less-danceable night.
♪ Music · 5:07 ·
Watch it danced · 20
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Tango By Year is Dag Stenvoll and Michael Lavocah's, published here with their permission. The audio plays from SoundCloud.