20 Orchestras, 20 CDs
People, especially those new to tango, often ask me to recommend CDs to them. Here's a list of 20 - each of which I think is a classic. Some of them are traditional favourites - Carlos Di Sarli's RCA Victor 100 Años CD is probably the most popular tango CD of all time. Others are a little more off-the-beaten-track (though not much). Every one of these I have played over and over again - and every one is danceable (though maybe not from end to end). At some point I will start adding and augmenting the list; for now, here are 20 of the best no tango dancer or music lover should be without.
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1. Carlos Di Sarli – RCA Victor 100 Años (RCA)
This CD is way overplayed. But there’s a reason for that – there’s nothing quite like it. Even though I’ve heard it too many times, the songs can still take my breath away – even Bahía Blanca.
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2. Juan D’Arienzo – Tango Bravo (Tango Argentino)
The most difficult choice. No single CD stands out as being the one which captures D’Arienzo – there are just too many of them, and on almost all the quality of his songs goes up and down. But this is the one I return to most. Piazzolla wasn’t a big fan of D’Arienzo, but he once referred to his nervous rhythm – and it’s all here. Plus there’s Alberto Echagüe singing on half the tracks. And he was the singer who best captured that sharp, tense joy that lies at the heart of D’Arienzo’s music.
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3. Osvaldo Pugliese – Instrumentales Inolvidables, Vol 2 (Reliquias)
Almost as hard to choose as the D’Arienzo. It’s tempting to suggest Ausencia, which is a great CD, but I slightly prefer this one, maybe because of “Negracha”.
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4. Anibal Troilo – Instrumental 1941-1944 (Tango Argentino)
The instrumentals of this CD suggest walking in the park on a fine day – joi de vivre, as the French would say. My most played Troilo CD, even more so than the ones with Fiorentino.
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5. Francisco Canaro – Poema (Sura Music)
Canaro recorded a lot of songs – 4,000 or so – and there are a lot of CDs with some good stuff, some bad stuff. This is great throughout. Of course it’s got “Poema”, but if I had only to take one song from this collection, it would be “Cambalache”.
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6. Ricardo Tanturi – Muñeca Brava (Magenta)
This was the CD which introduced me to Tanturi – and Alberto Castillo. And though it’s a cheapie, and there are possibly some objectively better sounding recordings in the Coleccion 78 Rpm series (though not in the Tango Argentino series, whose Tanturi offerings for some undefinable reason I’ve never liked very), this is the Tanturi CD I still play the most – because of the wonderful Asi Se Baila El Tango, with its line about having your arm wrapped like a snake around her waist.
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7. Edgardo Donato – 1938/1942 (RCA Coleccion 78 Rpm)
Donato – the most unrepresented great from the 1930s. More of his music should be rereleased.
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8. Francisco Lomuto – 1931/1950 (RCA Coleccion 78 Rpm)
Almost up there with Donato.
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9. Angel Vargas & Angel D’Agostino – Tangos De Los Angeles Vol 1 (Tango Argentino)
There’s no real reason why it shouldn’t have been any other of the four volumes of this series. Any half-serious tango lover should have the lot. But if you need a reason for getting this one first, it’s track 3: “Tres Esquinas)”.
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10. Orquesta Típica Victor – RCA Victor 100 Años (RCA)
A little difficult to get hold of, and not so different from the two Coleccion 78 Rpm OTV selections. But just pips it ahead of them because of its remarkable recording of Don Juan with Alberto Gomez singing.
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11. Osvaldo Fresedo – 1933/1948 (RCA Coleccion 78 Rpm)
Another from the Coleccion 78 Rpm series – and, for me, preferable to the the Fresedo 1938/1948 titled released a little earlier because of its slightly earlier, choppier sound. Late Fresedo – from the 1950s – can be wonderful, but it can also be a little too smooth.
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12. Alfredo De Angelis - Arrablero (Reliquias)
Another difficult choice – but the opening track, “Porque Que Mas Dique”, still has me feeling all shakey, when Oscar Larrocca starts striking the high notes in the first chorus.
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13. Rodolfo Biagi - Sus Exitos Con Andres Falgas Y Teofilo Ibañez (Reliquias)
Biagi’s was the first tango orchestra I went out and bought every CD I could lay my hands on. I have yet to tire of his nervous, chugging rhythm – even more so than when he played with D’Arienzo’s orchestra. “A Mi No Interesa”, with Andrés Falgás singing, will always – I am sure - have me itching for a dance floor.
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14. Miguel Calo – Al Compas del Corazon (Reliquias)
There is nothing quite like hearing “Al Compas Del Corazaon” booming from the loudspeakers as you enter a milonga to wish you had arrived a little earlier.
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15. Pedro Laurenz – 1937/1943 (RCA Coleccion 78 Rpm)
Laurenz’s tango has always struck me as the kind of music tango needs as its backbone – more than solid – strong enough to hang a tradition off.
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16. Ricardo Malerba – Grabaciones Olvidadas (Reliquias)
I’ve never seen dance floors move in unison quite as much as when Malerba is driving the rhythm.
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17. Julio De Caro – Bien Jailefe (Reliquias)
Sometimes Pugliese can be a little too emotional – enough so to drive me from the dance floor. De Caro often feels more appropriate – working the same vein, but a little more restrained.
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18. Roberto Firpo – Tangos y Valsecitos (Reliquias)
Scratchy, nervous. If there ever was such as thing as one-person tango, it has to be Firpo from this period. There is a curious solitary feeling to this collection – though that doesn’t make it any the less danceable.
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19. Lucio Demare – Sus Primeros Exitos (Reliquias)
All three of Reliquias’ Demare CDs are wonderful, but the movement of the piano around the beat in the opening bars of “Tango Guapo” gives this one the edge.
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20. Juan Bautista Guido – 1927 (El Bandoneon)
Why this and not Alberto Castillo, Enrique Rodriguez, Domingo Federico, Jose Garcia or one of the many other orchestras? Just that it’s one of those CDs which gets played more than most. Like various other recordings from the 1920s sounds like it’s coming from a dying tradition (listen to “Noviecita Santa” – that’s not a happy song), but was instread a foretaste of what was to come over the next two decades.
Last updated: 18 November 2008
