Carlos Di Sarli. History of Tango. Escuela de Tango de Buenos Aires. Marcelo Solis

“La Trilla” by Carlos Di Sarli y su Orquesta Típica, 1940.

Carlos Di Sarli: El Señor del Tango

Pianist, leader and composer

(7 January 1903 – 12 January 1960)

He, as nobody else, knew how to combine the rhythmic cadence of tango with a harmonic structure, apparently simple, but full of nuances and subtleties.

He was not enrolled for any of the two streams of his time. His was neither a traditional orchestra, styled after Roberto Firpo or Francisco Canaro nor a follower of the De Caro renewal.

Di Sarli imposed a seal of his own; a different musical profile, which remained, unaltered throughout his prolonged career.

In the beginning, his sextet reveals us the influence of Osvaldo Fresedo. And certainly, I think there would have never been a Di Sarli had not existed a Fresedo. But, only as necessary forerunner of a style that, with time, would become a pure model with its own and differentiated nature.

He was a talented pianist, maybe one of the most important, who conducted his orchestra from his instrument, with which he mastered the synchrony and the performance of the outfit.

In his orchestral scheme there were not instrumental solos, the bandoneon section sang at times the melody, but it had an essentially rhythmic and danceable role. Only the violin was showcased in an extremely delicate way, on a brief solo or on a counter melody. Continue reading.

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“En un beso la vida” by Carlos Di Sarli y su Orquesta Típica with Roberto Rufino, 1940.

Roberto Rufino

Singer and composer

(6 January 1922 – 24 February 1999)

Listening to Roberto Rufino when he sang “María” or “La novia ausente” or “Malena” or any of the tangos he had chosen for his repertoire, was to realize that that tango was unraveling little by little and that the words sprang up separately, without forsaking the whole that gathered them, with the proper strength they had to have in their context.

Rufino was that: a storyteller, a phraser, an interpreter that perfectly knew which was the meaning of what he was singing.

He was born on January 6, 1922, on 753 Agüero Street —in the heart of the neighborhood of el Abasto—, son of Lorenzo Rufino and Agustina Guirin, although in his birth certificate is written the day he was filed on the records, on the 8th day of that same month and year. A little bit yonder, on Agüero and Guardia Vieja Streets, the café O’Rondeman was where Carlos Gardel attempted his early songs. A premonition? Maybe, because Rufino also started at the old café of his neighborhood, which still was run by the Traverso brothers. But there is a further coincidence: in the same year, 1935, his father and Gardel died. And in 1936, a few days after the cortege which was mourning Carlitos to his final abode had passed along Corrientes street, “El pibe del Abasto” —as he was called since the early days at O’Rondeman, made his professional debut; he was also called “El pibe Terremoto”— at the Café El Nacional, as the vocalist of the Francisco Rosse typical orchestra, to switch, a little bit later, to Petit Salón, with Antonio Bonavena orchestra, composer of “Pájaro ciego” and uncle of the would-be boxer.

But we are still in the singer’s prehistory. Continue reading at www.todotango.com...

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Champagne Tango. Argentine music at Escuela de Tango de Buenos Aires.

“Champagne Tango” by Carlos Di Sarli y su Orquesta Típica, 1958.

Manuel Aróztegui

Pianist and composer

(4 January 1888 – 14 November 1938)

He was an Oriental (Uruguayan) born in Montevideo on January 4, 1888. This is the exact date given by his nephew Bernardo, a pianist, who, besides exhibiting documents, stated that the right spelling of the family name is with “z” and not with “s”. As we found a certain generalized confusion about that, we think we have cleared out the issue.

Héctor Bates and Luis Bates (in La Historia del Tango) mention bibliographic references of the composer we are talking about. We include a summary of them:

«He was a little above one year old when he settled in Buenos Aires with his family. He studied up to third degree in grammar school, because he admitted he used to play truant. He carried out varied trades.

«His devotion for music was born after he heard Pacho who, by that time (1905), played at a café placed on Thames and Guayanas (now Niceto Vega).

«In his spare time he devoted himself to learn music: guitar, mandolin and violin. Finally he chose piano; his first lessons were taught by a hatter named Leopoldo, later he continued with Carlos Hernani Macchi. Continue reading at www.todotango.com...

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“Criolla linda” by Cayetano Puglisi y su Sexteto Típico, 1929.

Cayetano Puglisi

Violinist, leader and composer

(2 January 1902 – 2 November 1968)

The eldest in a family of three musician brothers, Cayetano Puglisi was born in Messina, a region of Sicily (Italy).

Emilio, a violinist like him, of an uneasy spirit, after enjoying the sweet smell of success in the Buenos Aires orchestras, played in international orchestras, even in the far distant Teheran (capital of Iran). José, instead, from the humblest place in the teatro “Colón” orchestra of Buenos Aires, carried out his career devoted to violoncello, totally apart from tango life.

Cayetano Puglisi arrived in Buenos Aires in 1909. A violin student, he was alumnus of the maestro Pessina, seeming to become a great player of so difficult instrument. In his beginnings, inclined to classical music, after playing a concert at the Teatro Nuevo, the La Prensa journal granted him a scholarship to polish his studies in Europe, a voyage he was unable to make because the World War burst out in 1914.

By those difficult times, the riverside cafés at the neighborhood of La Boca witnessed his early gigs, although his formal memories as for the name of partners lead us to the famous Iglesias barroom on Corrientes Street, lining up a trio with Carlos Marcucci (bandoneon) and Pedro Almirón (piano), the latter replaced by Robledo, none of them was older than 13. It was a trio of kids. Continue reading at www.todotango.com...

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Juan D'Arienzo y su Orquesta Típica. Argentine Tango music at Escuela de tango de Buenos Aires.

“Loca” by Juan D’Arienzo y su Orquesta Típica, 1942.

Juan D’Arienzo: El Rey del compás

Violinist, leader and composer
(14 December 1900 – 14 January 1976)

In 1949 D’Arienzo said: «In my point of view, tango is, above all, rhythm, nerve, strength and character.

Early tango, that of the old stream (guardia vieja), had all that, and we must try not to ever lose it. Because we forgot that, Argentine tango entered into a crisis some years ago. Putting aside modesty, I did all was possible to make it reappear.» Continue reading at www.todotango.com...