Miguel Caló with Alberto Podestá

In the previous post I wrote that one of Caló's contributions to tango is discovering great singers Raúl Berón and Alberto Podestá. I'm particularly grateful for the second one, since he is one of my favorite singers.

I split recordings of Podestá with Caló into early and late ones. Early recordings cover only 4 tangos. In my opinion it is a mixed bag. "Yo Soy El Tango" is very light, almost kitschy. "Percal" is deep and very emotional. The other 2 songs: "Si Tu Quisieras" and "Dos Fracasos" are somewhere in between.

Alberto recorded those songs under the name of Juan Carlos Morel. Podestá was name after his mother. At that time in Buenos Aires there were some other singers with this name and Alberto wanted to avoid confusion. It was Carlos di Sarli who convinced him to use name Podestá. He said: "Kid, from now on you will be Alberto Podestá and out of all singers with this surname only you will endure".

  

The late recordings cover period from 1954 till 1972, the year when Miguel Caló passed away. Among recordings from this period we will find "Qué Falta Que Me Hacés" - possibly the best tango of all times! This song has everything a great tango should have: beautiful melody, a dose of drama, perfect orchestration, clear & regular rhythm. And let's not forget about the voice of Podestá. Sounds like a perfect recipe for a hit!

Apart from tangos, Podestá recorded with Caló's orchestra a few very popular valses... I will write about them some other time. Stay tuned :)



Early recordings:

Percal, Miguel Caló canta Alberto Podestá, 1943
Yo Soy El Tango, Miguel Caló canta Alberto Podestá, 1941
Dos Fracasos, Miguel Caló canta Alberto Podestá, 1941
Si Tu Quisieras, Miguel Caló canta Alberto Podesta, 1941

Late recordings:

Qué falta que me hacés, Miguel Caló canta Alberto Podestá, 1963
Bailan Javier Rodríguez y Geraldine Rojas

El Bazar De Los Jugetes, Miguel Caló canta Alberto Podestá, 1954
Cómo Le Digo A La Vieja, Miguel Caló canta Alberto Podestá, 1954

Héctor Varela

Orchestra: Héctor Varela

Singers: Jorge Falcón, Argentino Ledesma, Rodolfo Lesica, Fernando Soler, Armando Laborde,  Instrumental

Period: 1950–1979

Héctor Varela has recorded a few hundreds of songs, but only very few titles (10-12) are known to the wider tango audience. Between 1939 and1949 Varela played in d'Arienzo's orchestra, so there's no surprise that his own orchestra was playing very rhythmically. At the same time many songs are dramatic and the singers are very prominent.

I really like Varela's milongas. They are quite difficult to dance, but their energy and humor (e.g. in case of Hazme Cu-Cu) are great! Several valses are very good and it is worth listening to them.

DJ Comment

I think Héctor Varela is an example of "tango fashion". He became very popular some years ago. One could hear a tanda of his music at every big festival. I feel that recently he is becoming a bit less popular, giving space to some other "in-fashion" orchestras (like currently Donato Racciatti).

I am not the biggest fan of Varela's music. But I know that many dancers love it, so I play it occasionally. If I do it, it's normally in a bigger place with high number of tangueros. In my opinion this music is not appropriate for  small, local milongas. If you play a tanda of Varela you may increase the volume a bit, so that people feel more energy and get carried away...

Song examples:

TANGOS

Fueron tres años, Canta Argentino Ledesma, 1956
Bailan Fabian Peralta - Lorena Ermocida
Diego Riemer - Mariana Dragone

Fumando Espero, Canta Argentino Ledesma, 1955

Muchacha, Canta Argentino Ledesma, 1956

Qué Tarde Que Has Venido, Canta Argentino Ledesma, 1956

VALSES

Una Lagrimita, Canta Jorge Falcón, 1973

Igual Que Dos Palomas, Cantan Argentino Ledesma, Rodolfo Lesica, 1953, Bailan Sebastian Jimenez Maria Ines Bogado

Gota de lluvia, Cantan Argentino Ledesma, Rodolfo Lesica, 1956, Bailan Sebastian Arce Mariana Montes

MILONGAS

Con Flauta Y Guitarra, Cantan Jorge Falcón, Fernando Soler, 1973
Con Flauta Y Guitarra, Cantan Armando Laborde, Rodolfo Lesica, 1973
Bailan Sebastian Arce - Mariana Montes

Haceme Cu-Cú, Cantan Jorge Falcón, Fernando Soler, 1973

Azúcar, Pimienta Y Sal, Cantan Jorge Falcón, Fernando Soler, 1973

Silueta Porteña, Canta Argentino Ledesma, 1956

Rodolfo Biagi - Valses

Orchestra: Rodolfo Biagi

Singers: Alberto Amor, Andres Falgas, Jorge Ortiz, Teófilo Ibáñez, Hugo Duval, Instrumental

Period: 1938–1956

Biagi is very highly ranked when it comes to his selection of valses. They are amongst my favorites. The variety of songs is quite high and many recordings are available on CDs (aprox. 22 ). We will find faster ones (in general recorded between 1938-1939) and slower ones (mostly later recordings). All of them have a very clear rhythm, but several songs (e.g. Paloma) are more melodic and softer than others.

DJ comment

You don’t risk anything by playing a tanda of Biagi valses in any milonga. They always work very well. The quality of the recordings is consistently very good which makes building tandas easier. For me most of the songs are great and I am happy to hear any of them. 

Song examples:

La Loca de Amor, Canta Teófilo Ibáñez, 1938

Amor y vals, Canta Alberto Lago, 1942
Bailan Chicho - Juana
Bailan Claudio Forte - Barbara Carpino
Bailan Mario Consiglieri - Anabella Diaz Hojman

Cuatro Palabras, Canta Jorge Ortiz, 1941
Bailan Fausto Carpino - Stephanie Fesneau
Bailan Alejandro Berón - Verónica Vazquez
Bailan Jaimes Freidgen - Mariana Dragone

Lágrimas y Sonrisas, Instrumental, 1941

Paloma, Canta Alberto Amor, 1945

Viejo Porton, Canta Teófilo Ibañez, 1938, Bailan Arce Montes
Bailan Gustavo Naveria - Giselle Anne
Bailan Sebastian Jiménez - María Inés Bogado
Bailan Ozgur Demir - Marina Marques
Bailan Nestor Ray - Silvina

Adoración, Cantan Hugo Duval, Carlos Heredia, 1951
Bailan Claudio Forte - Barbara Carpino
Bailan Thierry Le Cocq - Alessia Lyndin

Enrique Rodríguez - Foxtrots

Orchestra: Enrique Rodríguez

Singers: Armando Moreno, Roberto Flores, Roberto Videla, Instrumental

Period: 1937–1970

A few days ago I was at a tango marathon. Around 5 a.m. on Sunday the energy of the milonga was going down and the only reasonable choice for me seemed to be going to the hotel. Suddenly the DJ started playing a tanda of Foxtrots by Rodríguez. The floor filled up with the dancers (I was one of them) immediately and it brought the milonga back to life. So here comes the topic for this post...

As I wrote in one of my previous posts, Rodríguez was recording quite many different music genres (e.g. Corridos, Foxtrots, Marchas, Pasodobles, Polcas). His orchestra was called “Orquesta de todos ritmos”. Foxtrots had quite an important place in the repertoire. I´m aware of at least 50 recorded songs. During milongas they can be treated as "special" milongas. They are a bit more difficult to dance than a regular milonga, but I think it does not matter much. The fun you get dancing those foxtrots compensates any difficulties...

In songs recorded by Rodríguez there are many references to locations from outside of Argentina. In his foxtrots there are quite many Hungarian motifs. This is particularly close to my heart as I´m currently living in Budapest. The ones that come to my mind now are:

-          Noches de Hungría (also the name of a great tango marathon of Budapest),

-          Danza Hungara no5 (based on Hungarian dance by Johannes Brahms),

-          Alma de Dios (based on  Cancion Hungara from Zarzuela Alma de Dios)

-          Amor En Budapest

-      Please let me know if there are more of them :)

DJ Comment

I've got only one remark: don't use those foxtrots too often. If you do, their special character will be gone... So "play with moderation" :)

Song examples:

La Calesita Se Destrozó, Canta Roberto Flores, 1937

La Colegiala, Canta Roberto Flores, 1938
Bailan Yanick Wyler - Sigrid Van Tilbeurgh
Bailan Gaston Torelli ' Mariela

Amor En Budapest, Canta Armando Moreno, 1940

Noches de Hungría, Canta Armando Moreno, 1942

Se Va El Tren, Canta Armando Moreno, 1942

Suavemente, Canta Armando Moreno, 1942

Por Las Calles De Istambul, Canta Armando Moreno, 1944

Danza Húngara No. 5, Instrumental, 1947

Japonesita, Canta Roberto Videla, 1951

Osvaldo Pugliese, Jorge Maciel

Orchestra: Osvaldo Pugliese

Singer: Jorge Maciel

Period: 1954–1967

My next post was supposed to be about Fast/Late milongas of Canaro, but I have changed my mind in the very last moment. On Thursday evening last week I DJ-ed an outdoor milonga. It was quite cold but still quite many people came. During the whole evening I was trying to keep the energy high so that the dancers don't get cold and don't go home. Unexpectedly, mainly for myself :), I have decided to play as the last tanda Osvaldo Pugliese with Jorge Maciel. And I liked it a lot. So here comes our new chapter…

A friend of mine commented the previous post about Pugliese: "Many of my most memorable tandas were Pugliese's". He gets the point and I definitely share his opinion. Jorge Maciel is my favorite singer of Pugliese. The songs are not the easiest to dance, but if you put emotions to the dance you have a high chance for a special experience.

DJ:

What I wrote to the post about early recordings of Pugliese will apply here as well. Surely a tanda with Maciel can be "the tanda"of the evening. I usually like to finish the evening with some lighter music (e.g. Donato or Canaro), but that Thursday for some unknown reason I had played Pugliese in the end. And I think it worked pretty well... I would suggest not abusing this type of music. If you play it every week it will lose its exceptional mood and you will not be able to achieve as great an effect as you would have liked to...

Song examples:

Esta Noche De Luna, Orquesta Osvaldo Pugliese, Canta Jorge Maciel, 1955
Bailan Sebastian Arce - Mariana Montes
Bailan Fabian Peralta - Virginia Pandolfi
Bailan Julio Balmaceda - Corina de la Rosa
Bailan Sebastian Achaval - Roxana Suarez
Bailan Edwin Espinosa - Virginia Pandolfi

El Pañuelito, Orquesta Osvaldo Pugliese, Canta Jorge Maciel, 1959

Cascabelito, Orquesta Osvaldo Pugliese, Canta Jorge Maciel, 1955
Bailan Juan Martin Carrara - Stefania Colina

Remembranzas, Orquesta Osvaldo Pugliese, Canta Jorge Maciel, 1956
Bailan Gaston Torelli - Moira Castellano 
Bailan Ismael Ludman - Maria Mondino
Bailan Ozgur Demir - Cécilia Berra

Adiós Corazón, Orquesta Osvaldo Pugliese, Canta Jorge Maciel, 1958

El Adiós, Orquesta Osvaldo Pugliese, Canta Jorge Maciel, 1963

Alfredo de Angelis - Valses

Orchestra: Alfredo de Angelis


Singer(s): Carlos Dante, Julio Martel, Oscar Larroca, Floreal Ruíz

Period: 1944–1961

Comment:

So far I have been writing only about tangos. But now the time has come: valses!

As I wrote before, de Angelis is probably more famous for his valses than for his tangos and milongas. I would split his valses between early and late ones. The early ones (1944-1950) are very popular and highly appreciated by most dancers. The late valses (1950-1961) are less popular and many dancers don't like them. I personally love the late ones, especially those sung by the duo Dante - Larroca. Have a look on the video examples and you will notice the difference very quickly.

DJ:

The valses of de Angelis are similar to the milongas of Francisco Canaro: you can go the whole evening without using them, but you will probably do better to put them on your list :). The late valses are not really appreciated by many dancers, but one tanda played at the right moment may work. Give it a try and challenge your dancers a bit :)

The energy of the de Angelis' valses is quite high but it does not mean that they are very fast. It is not the beats per minute, but rather the orchestration that makes the difference. I propose you a small experiment: compare Lina, Criolla or Como Las Margaritas with d'Arienzo's Mentias or Pabellon de Rosas. All songs have similar beats per minute (aprox 70), but the valses of d'Arienzo seem much slower...Interesting, isn't it?


Song examples:

Mi novia de ayer, Orquesta Alfredo de Angelis, Canta Floreal Ruíz, 1944

El Vals De Nochebuena, Orquesta Alfredo de Angelis, Canta Carlos Dante, 1944

Soñar y nada más, Orquesta Alfredo de Angelis, Cantan Carlos Dante y Julio Martel, 1944

Ilusión Azl, Orquesta Alfredo de Angelis, Canta Carlos Dante, 1945
Bailan Sebastian Arce - Mariana Montes
Bailan Fernando Sanchez - Ariadna Naveira

Pobre Flor, Orquesta Alfredo de Angelis, Cantan Carlos Dante y Julio Martel, 1946

Pequeña, Orquesta Alfredo de Angelis, Canta Carlos Dante, 1949
Bailan Julio Balmaceda - Cecilia Gonzales

El Santo de la Espada, Orquesta Alfredo de Angelis, Canta Julio Martel, 1950

Criolla, Orquesta Alfredo de Angelis, Cantan Carlos Dante, Oscar Larroca, 1951

Como Las Margaritas, Orquesta Alfredo de Angelis, Cantan Carlos Dante, Oscar Larroca, 1952

Lina, Orquesta Alfredo de Angelis, Cantan Carlos Dante, Oscar Larroca, 1952

Adiós, Adiós, Orquesta Alfredo de Angelis, Cantan Carlos Dante, Oscar Larroca, 1955

Angélica, Orquesta Alfredo de Angelis, Canta Juan Carlos Godoy, 1961