European Tangos part 1

The opinions on European tangos are very mixed. Some conservative tangueros don't consider them appropriate for milongas. Other, more “progressive” dancers and DJs simply love it! A few years ago a festival organizer ”advised” me not to play any non-Argentinian music because the dancers don’t appreciate it. Playing it turned out to be a great success :).

As usually, I think that the best approach is in-between. European tangos should be played in milongas, because they add variety and make milongas more interesting for the dancers. At the same time those tangos should not be abused by playing them too often. The dispute between "conservative" and “progressive” sides is not so important anyways… Vast majority of dancers will probably not realize that they are hearing and dancing to European music :).

In this and few other posts I will present you some of my favorite European orchestras and tangos. Some of them are famous and popular. Others are unknown, but worth discovering.

The most famous and frequently played European orchestra is Rafael Canaro. Some time ago I have written a post about him:

http://tangomusic4all.blogspot.com/2012/10/rafael-canaro.html

Some of my favorite songs are the following:

Paciencia, Canta Luis Scalon, 1938

Que le importa al mundo, Canta Luis Scalon, 1938

Yo no sé por qué te quiero, Canta Raul Sanders, 1936

Rien que nous deux , Canta Raúl Sanders, 1937 - in French

La mélodie de notre adieu, Canta Roger Toussaint, 1936 - in French

Jean Auguste Pesenti was a leader of another orchestra, which I would like to present in this post. Unfortunately, I can’t find any online information about this ensemble. You can find several interesting recordings below:

Duelo Criollo, Jean Auguste Pesenti, 1932

Poema, Jean Auguste Pesenti canta Nena Sainz, 1932

Paris, Paris, Jean Auguste Pesenti canta Nena Sainz, 1933 

More to follow in coming posts. Stay tuned :)