She sang the tango like no one else

	NELLY OMAR with FRANCISCO CANARO

PLAYLIST

1.  Cancion desesperada
2.  Dejame, no quiere verte mas
3.  Sus ojos se cerraron
4.  La cancion de Buenos Aires
5.  Adios pampa mia
6.  Gardel-Razzano
7.  Rosa de otoño
8.  Desde el alma
9.  Nobleza de arrabal
10.Sentimiento gaucho

SYNOPSIS

Nelly Omar passed away in her sleep on December 20, 2013 at the age of 102. The singer was born in the province of Buenos Aires on September 10, 1911. Her artistic career as a professional singer started  in 1924. Between the years 1932 and 1933, she sang on Radio Stentor.

For some decades the quota of tango recordings was considerably restricted. The share corresponding to the ladies was small in relation to the contribution they made to the history of this popular music. The case of Nelly Omar serves well as a good example. She finally recorded in 1946, having already sung professionally for 14 years.
Then, through the sponsorship of Francisco Canaro on behalf of the Odeon label, she recorded ten songs with his orchestra, January 1946 and October 1947. In this album one cannot choose one song above another, because Nelly Omar knew she was making recording history, and that she might not easily come across similar opportunities ever again.

Nelly Omar forged a close relationship with First Lady Eva Perón in 1940. Years later, Omar said that Evita loved her singing style, and helped her get a spot on Radio Splendid.
In 1955, following the military coup that overthrew Peron, Nelly Omar was blacklisted for her close links to Peronism.

She traveled to Montevideo, Uruguay, where her friend Tita Merello offered her a singing role on a stage production. Omar then flew to Venezuela, where she stayed for nearly a year.
She returned to Argentina during Arturo Frondizi’s term in office, but retired shortly after.

She staged a huge comeback in 1972 with guitarrist José Canet, and never left the stage again.

Source: Buenos Aires Herald

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Digging into the trunk of memories

At the gate (I want to go to Mar del Plata ) Singer: Carlos Gardel Music: Francisco Lomuto Lyrics: Francisco Lomuto

The ranchera has its roots in the mazurka, and it appeared in the second decade of the twentieth century. The popularity of the mazurka in the rural areas of the province of Buenos Aires along with the use of the eight bass accordion by Italian immigrants and been, encouraged the Creoles to provide the accompaniment with their guitars, using the 6/8 strumming of El Gato, a popular folklore rhythm. Gradually the transformation of the mazurka in the new world resulted in the ranchera.

Almost all popular singers included in their repertoire this popular musical motive. The two who are among those who contributed to make the Ranchera a famous musical genre were the unforgettable Agustin Magaldi and of course Carlos Gardel.

Recorded on Aug 21, 1930 this is the version by Carlos Gardel with the guitars of Aguilar, Barbieri and Riverol.

To Mar del Plata I want to go
there is only one thing missing
I have a lot of courage
I only need money for travel

I have a house in Colon Street
a few meters from the old Torreon
it’s an the old style cottage
that a good friend is letting me use.

Don’t think that because of this I’m a freeloader
that I do not pay anyone or I’m a shark
Let it be known that I’m very decent,
intelligent and a good-hearted fellow.

If a girl wants to get married
and easily conquer a boyfriend,
two conditions are essential,
having money and a mom who does’t talk;
It is very difficult at present
that little problem of making a home.
And those with pretensions
better to lower those illusions.
Don’t think that I’m a freeloader
that I do not pay anyone or I’m a shark
Let it be known that I’m very decent,
educated, intelligent and a good-hearted fellow.

Honoring Homero Manzi

	HE WHO WROTE POETRY FOR THE PEOPLE

PLAYLIST – All lyrics written by Homero Manzi

1. A HOMERO, Anibal Troilo with Roberto Goyeneche
2. MANO BLANCA, Alberto Castillo
3. BARRIO DE TANGO, Anibal Troilo with Roberto Goyeneche
4. TAL VEZ SERA TU VOZ, Anibal Troilo with Alberto Marino
5. FUIMOS, Anibal Troilo with Alberto Marino
6. DESPUES, Anibal Troilo with Alberto Marino
7. MILONGA TRISTE, Julio Sosa
8. ROPA BLANCA, Anibal Troilo with Alberto Marino
9. NINGUNA, Anibal Troilo with Roberto Rufino
10. FRUTA AMARGA, Anibal Troilo with Alberto Marino
11. SUR, Anibal Troilo with Edmundo Rivero
12. EL ULTIMO ORGANITO, Anibal Troilo with Edmundo Rivero

SYNOPSIS

In the beginning the tango was music, happy music that people danced to. The environmental surroundings of the outskirts of the city began adding refrains that later became words. Words that mixed the language of the thieves and crooks, the lunfardo, with the romantic experiences of the pimps and their prostitutes.

Homero Manzi deserves the honor of being the first to convert the words of the tangos in poetry. Poetry describing nostalgic neighborhood postcards, like the low rise houses with ivy clinging to the bare walls and people seeing through he eyes of a child from the windows of the mythical religious boarding school in the neighborhood of Pompeya. In other words, his infancy’s lost paradise in a remote city where the days were definitely better. A watercolor of nights and suburban moons.

Manzi invented simple metaphors , strictly visual, using a common artifice of the epoch, the enumeration or description of elements as an integral part of painting a scenery.

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The Brooklyn teen who changed the music of Buenos Aires forever

THE BROOKLYN TEEN WHO CHANGED THE MUSIC OF BUENOS AIRES FOREVER

PLAYLIST 01 La cumparsita 02 Zita 03 Fracanapa 04 Berretin 05 Verano porteño 06 Adios nonino

SYNOPSIS

Today is 4th of July. Another anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.
As the years go by, the memories of that summer night in 1992 when Astor Piazzolla’s life came to an end are still fresh.

I was at the controls of a radio station in San Francisco in the middle of the night, and all I could feel at that moment was an uncontrollable desire to cry.

I wonder now, how many of my fellow tango friends have ever shed a tear for the loss of Astor Piazzolla?

There has been so much bullshit invented in the name of Piazzolla, and so many excuses given for shoddy dancing and mediocre musicians, but the words of the Brooklyn teenager who went back to Buenos Aires to face a world that was foreign to him, explain why he became a hot rod that changed the way the world looked at the music of Buenos Aires forever.

http://elfirulete.wordpress.com/2008/12/22/maestro-can-you-play-a-tango/

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My old man was a cool dude

CLICK ON THE ARROW TO LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM

PLAYLIST

1. PA’ UD AMIGO, Horacio Laguna
2. MI VIEJO, Piero
3. PAPA QUERIDO VIEJO, Trio San Javier
4. ABUELO, DULCE ABUELO, Trio San Javier
5. PRIMERA CARTA PARA MI SANGRE, Tito Segura
6. EL PADRE, Alberto Paz
7. ADIOS NONINO, Astor Piazzolla

SYNOPSIS

In the beginning God mixed water and dirt to create life.  Since then, fathers and sons have continued the eternal ritual of growing up and multiplying.

It is true that the seed needs the fertile ground to sprout, but the tree that results from that union, only grows and becomes strong because it knows that it is its destiny to give shade to the land where it germinated.

The paternal figure is alarmingly absent from the ethos of the tango, perhaps because of the circumstances of the period when it began its genesis without a father.

Not so in other musical expressions from diverse regions around the country.

Astor Piazzolla, raised in New York, brought the figure of the father to the tango in a very poignant way when he wrote his masterpiece Adios Nonino, in memory of his father who passed away in Argentina while Astor was working in North America.

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La Milonga de New Orleans – Holiday Edition

	La Milonga de New Orleans – Holiday Edition

A special podcast of Radio del Tango dedicated to tango dancers everywhere.
Enjoy 3-1/2 hours of classic tangos, milongas and valses in standard tandas format, separated by New Orleans style holiday cortinas.
Enjoy it wherever you are, listen or dance, at home or at your local milonga hangout.
This is the music we’re dancing at La Milonga of New Orleans today, Sunday, December 23, 2012
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The tangos of Eduardo Arolas

Eduardo Arolas was a bandoneon player, composer and conductor. He was born on February 25, 1892 on the Barracas neighborhood in Buenos Aires. The son of French immigrants, as a child, he learned to play the concertina by ear. Later he learned the guitar, an instrument he played with serenading street groups and trios, playing sporadically in neighborhood cafes.

In 1906 he placed a bandoneon on his lap and soon he learned to play it in such a way that he become a virtuoso earning the nickname “The King” and “El Tigre del Bandoneon”.

His first tango was “UNA NOCHE DE GARUFA” (1909). He appeared with Agustin Bardi and Ernesto Ponzio forming his own group with which he performed at the Royal and the Pigalle cabarets.

Luis Alberto Sierra, credits Arolas with the innovative use of eighth note phrasing with the right hand (fraseo octavado). Julio De Caro – who wrote two tangos in his tribute, AROLAS and EL TIGRE DEL BANDONEON – said that Arolas amazed the public with the sound he created with his right hand. His colleagues who came to listen to him said he was the creator of the “rezongo y el fraseo” (grumbling and phrasing.)

Another great bandoneon innovator, Pedro Laurenz said: “Arolas performance was brilliant, energetic, his way to play the tango was very simple, without variations, very nuanced and colorful.”

Eduardo Arolas authored many tangos among which stood out: “DERECHO VIEJO”, “RAWSON”, “EL MARNE” y “MAIPO”.

He died on 29 September 1924 due to pulmonary tuberculosis.

PLAYLIST
01 Derecho Viejo, Sexteto Francisco Pracánico
02 La Guitarrita, Carlos Di Sarli y su Sexteto Tipico
03 Una Noche De Garufa, Carlos Di Sarli y su Sexteto Tipico
04 La Trilla, Florindo Sassone Tango
05 Maipo, Juan D’Arienzo
06 Rawson, Juan D’Arienzo
07 Lágrimas, Osvaldo Pugliese y su Orquesta Tipica
08 Suipacha, Osvaldo Pugliese
09 El Marne, Anibal Troilo Tango
10 Comme Il Faut, Anibal Troilo Tango
11 La cachila, Astor Piazzolla

GARDEL’S BIRTHDAY – A CELEBRATION

PLAYLIST

1. MILONGA PARA GARDEL, Osvaldo Pugliese with Abel Cordoba
2. MI NOCHE TRISTE, Carlos Gardel
3. BARRIO REO, Carlos Gardel
4. MI BUENOS AIRES QUERIDO, Edmundo Rivero
5. MANO A MANO, Ricardo “Chiqui” Pereyra
6. SUS OJOS SE CERRARON, Libertad Lamarque
7. TOMO Y OBLIGO, Carlos Gardel
8. SOLEDAD, Julio Sosa
9. SILENCIO, Osvaldo Pugliese with Jorge Maciel
10. MELODIA DE ARRABAL, Osvaldo Pugliese with Abel Cordoba
11. SIGA EL CORSO, Carlos Gardel
12. A MEDIA LUNA, Carlos Gardel
13. EL DIA QUE ME QUIERAS, Carlos Gardel
14. VOLVER, Hector Falcon
15. POEM CARLOS GARDEL, Alberto Paz
16. CAMINITO, Carlos Gardel

SYNOPSIS

December 11 is National Tango Day in Buenos Aires in commemoration of the birthdays of Julio de Caro and Carlos Gardel. This special edition of EL CANTO CUENTA SU HISTORIA is dedicated to celebrate another anniversary of the birthday of Carlos Gardel.

Carlos Gardel representing the lyrics of tango was born December 11, 1890 and Julio De Caro representing the music of tango was born December 11,1899.

The story behind the date tells that one night of 1965 composer Ben Molar, standing on the corner of Corrientes and Esmeralda, on his way to celebrate Julio De Caro’s birthday came out with the great idea of an national day for tango.

Eleven years later, after fighting bureaucracy and getting no official response, Molar issued the threat of a great radial, television and media campaign announcing the organization of a monster festival in support of the “Day of the Tango”. The Luna Park was reserved for the 11 of December. The pressure worked. On November 29, 1977 Ben Molar received the news that the Decree Nº 5830/77 of the Municipality of the City of Buenos Aires had been signed. On December 19, 1977 by Decree Nº 3781/77 the Federal government established December 11 the “National Day of the Tango.”

Enjoy.

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BIG GUY, MOODY, GREAT FRIEND, AND SINGER

LISTEN TO PROGRAM

PLAYLIST

1. POR QUE CANTO ASI/LA CUMPARSITA
2. QUE ME QUITEN LO BAILAO
3. MADAME YVONNE
4. EL CIRUJA
5. QUE ME VAN A HABLAR DE AMOR
6. EL ULTIMO CAFE
7. SOLEDAD
8. MARIA
9. EN ESTA TARDE GRIS
10. CAMBALACHE

SYNOPSIS
Julio Sosa, a big guy, moody, great friend and singer was born in the locality of Piedras, province of Canelones in Uruguay on February 2, 1926

He was probably the last tango singer who really attracted big crowds. The fact that almost half of his repertoire was identical to that of Carlos Gardel, didn’t seem to matter although he also interpreted quite a few contemporaries titles.

Historians agree that Sosa’s was one of the most important voices that the tango had during the second half of the nineteen fifties and early nineteen sixties, a period during which the music of Buenos Aires wasn’t doing too well with the younger generations.

His early death, gave some people an excuse to repeat the myth of Gardel, but Sosa was not Gardel. His extroversion and the lack of tenderness in his voice set him apart from the paradigm of the tango singer.

Journalist Ricardo Gaspari, press and promotion executive of a record company, gave Sosa the nickname for which he will be eternally known, El Varon del Tango, (The Male of Tango). That was the name of his first LP. Everything seemed to be going his way. Reality was not far off, as Sosa got the youth to come back to the music that belonged to them in the first place. The tango.

Regardless of the tango and poetry, Sosa had another passion, cars. He owned an Isetta, a De Carlo model 700 and a DKW Fissore. He crashed with all three because he had a taste for high speed. The third accident was fatal. At dawn on November 25, 1964, Julio Sosa run into a warning light lamppost at the corner of Avenida Figueroa Alcorta and Mariscal Castilla. He was admitted to the Hospital Fernandez and then transferred to the Hospital Anchorena, where he passed away at 9:30 am on November 26, 1964.

His remains lay in wake at Salón La Argentina, but an overflow crowd forced the vigil to be moved to the Luna Park (legendary boxing stadium with capacity for 25,000 people). Two days earlier he had sung his last tango, La gayola (The jailhouse). The last verses end in a prophetic way, “To make sure I get flowers when I’m in the coffin.”

His memory remains alive, and his figure continue to acquire myth dimension as the years go by with the generation, and the generations that follow, that lived his rise to fame as one of the most prominent figures in the history of tango.

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THE GLOSTORA TANGO CLUB

	THE FIRST BROADCAST OF THE GLOSTORA TANGO CLUB

PLAYLIST

1. LA BRISA, Carlos Dante with Alfredo de Angelis
2. MISA DE ONCE, Julio Martel with lfredo de Angelis
3. SOÑAR Y NADA MAS, Carlos Dante and Julio Martel with Alfredo de Angelis

SYNOPSIS

On April 1, 1946, radio station LR1 Radio El Mundo, AM1070 began a daily program featuring the orchestra of Alfredo De Angelis and singers Carlos Dante and Julio Martel. The program was broadcast in front of a live audience at the station studios located on Maipu 555. It was a 15 minutes program that aired at 8 pm Monday through Friday. The program went on to become a major success for twenty two years.

According to José Pedro Aresi writing in website Todo Tango, “On the Monday, April 1, 1946 edition of newspaper El Mundo, there was an announcement about the debut of Alfredo De Angelis and his singers Carlos Dante and Julio Martel in a new radio program: “The Glostora Tango Club”, dedicated “to the winning youth”, a span of 15 minutes in which “the hair product of the great world, was brought to within reach of everybody.”

Aresi’s account continues, “At the top of the hour 8 pm an imaginary curtain was raised and the voices of Rafael Diaz Gallardo and Lucia Marco announced “the Glostora Tango Club, the encounter of choice of the triumphant youth”, with the participation of the orchestra of Alfredo De Angelis and his singers Carlos Dante and Julio Martel.

Now, expert tango collector, Jorge Finkielman, an Argentine native currently living in Natick, MA has posted in his Facebook page a video clip with the original broadcast of the Glostora Tango Club, which he laboriously and painfully restored to a very decent listening quality.

This is a major historical feat, and a testimony to a period when the youth of Buenos Aires made the tango their music of choice.

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