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

Miguel Caló - Overview

Miguel Caló is a name each tanguera and tanguero should be very familiar with. He is best known for his beautiful Golden Age recordings from 1940ies. But that is not all, we should know more...

Caló started his musical career in mid twenties. In 1926 he joined the orchestra of Osvaldo Fresedo, as a bandoneon player. A year later he joined Francisco Pracánico. His first own orchestra was created in 1929, but the project did not last long. Only 3 years later, in 1932, the second attempt of creating orchestra was successful.

Miguel Caló should be appreciated for his great musical legacy. Further more, he had another contribution to tango by introducing two greatest singers in the history: Raúl Berón and Alberto Podestá.

To learn about Caló´s music in more systematic way, I suggest to split his work into 3 parts:

- early recordings (1932-1938)

- Golden Age recordings (1940ies)

- late recordings (1950-1972)

Golden Age recordings are very famous and you will hear them in most milongas. The music from the other two periods is much less known, but also very interesting and worth discovering.

For more detailed biographical and discographical information please go to:
Todo Tango - Miguel Caló

In the next post I will start with Miguel Caló and Alberto Podestá...

Carlos di Sarli, Alberto Podestá

Orchestra: Carlos di Sarli

Singer(s): Alberto Podestá

Period: 1942–1944, 1947

Comment:

We are in 1942. From the previous 2 chapters about di Sarli (Roberto Rufino & Instrumentals 40ies) we know that the music is now slower and more lyrical. For me the voice of Alberto Podesta make the songs very romantic. In my opinion we, dancers in Europe, listen too much to the rhythm and too little to the melody while dancing. Di Sarli with Podesta is a great example of music to listen to the melody. Let's try to slow down more, connect to our dance partner and experience the strong emotion the music can bring us.

DJ:
In 1944 Podesta stopped recording with di Sarli to be back in 1947. It might be not obvious immediately, but the songs from 1947 are quite different from those recorded earlier. There are only 5 tangos recorded in that year (La canción más triste, Por el camino, Soy aquel viajero, Dinero, dinero, Dejame No Quiero Verte Mas). They are less frequently played and in my opinion a little bit more difficult to dance. I would keep them for the moments when we have better dancers on the floor.


Song examples:

Junto A Tu Corazón, Orquesta Carlos di Sarli, Canta Alberto Podestá, 1942
Bailan Sebastian Jimenez - Maria Ines Bogado
Bailan Pablo Rodriguez - Noelia Hurtado

Nido Gaucho, Orquesta Carlos di Sarli, Canta Alberto Podestá, 1942

Lloran las campanas, Orquesta Carlos di Sarli, Canta Alberto Podestá, 1944

Nada, Orquesta Carlos di Sarli, Canta Alberto Podestá, 1944
Bailan Finalistas de Mundial de Tango

La Capilla Blanca, Orquesta Carlos di Sarli, Canta Alberto Podestá, 1944

Dejame No Quiero Verte Mas, Orquesta Carlos di Sarli, Canta Alberto Podestá, 1947

Carlos di Sarli - Overview

Orchestra of Carlos di Sarli is surely one of the most appreciated orchestras by the dancers. As per music survey I have carried out in February 2012, Carlos di Sarli is the most frequently played orchestra in Buenos Aires (tangos only, if we take tango, milonga and vals together - Juan d'Arienzo is the first one).

To better understand the evolution and different music styles of di Sarli, I have divided the information into the following sections:

Sexteto
Instrumentals 40ies
Roberto Rufino
Alberto Podestá
Jorge Durán
Instrumentals 50ies
Singer 50ies

Those 7 chapters can be grouped into 3 main parts: early (Sexteto), middle (Instrumentals 40ies - till Jorge Durán) and late (Instrumental 50ies and Singer 50ies). The music in each part is quite different and can be distinguished easily. I think the most important period is the middle part (1939-1948).

For detailed biographical and discographical information please go to:
Todo Tango - Carlos di Sarli