Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Tanda of the Week 52 / 2010 -
Orquesta Los Provincianos
(dir. Ciriaco Ortiz) (Vals)

Download or listen Tanda of the Week 52/2010 - Orquesta Los Provincianos

1. Orquesta Los Provincianos / Luis Diaz - "Junto al mar" 1932
2. Orquesta Los Provincianos / Carlos Lafuente - "Lagrimas y flores" 1931
3. Orquesta Los Provincianos / Carlos Lafuente - "Sueño imaginado" 1932

I remember the late great Pedro "Tete" Rusconi saying something like when you dance vals you should feel like you're flying. Just listen to the bandoneon on "Junto al mar" and get ready for take off!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Tanda of the Week 51 / 2010 -
Alfredo De Angelis

Download or listen Tanda of the Week 51/2010 - De Angelis

1. Alfredo De Angelis / Oscar Larroca - "Llevatelo todo" 1951
2. Alfredo De Angelis / Oscar Larroca - "Almagro" 1951
3. Alfredo De Angelis / Oscar Larroca - "Volvamos a empezar" 1953
4. Alfredo De Angelis / Oscar Larroca - "Bailarín compadrito" 1953

To get more inspiration for new tandas I sometimes like to watch tango videos on YouTube. The maestros perform to excellent songs and from one of these videos I found this version of the first song of this tanda "Llevatelo todo". Check out also the fantastic late 20's instrumental version from Luis Petrucelli!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Tanda of the Week 50 / 2010 -
Miguel Caló


Download or listen Tanda of the Week 50/2010 - Calo

1. Miguel Caló / Raúl Iriarte - "Cada día te extraño más" 1943
2. Miguel Caló / Raúl Iriarte - "Verdemar" 1943
3. Miguel Caló / Raúl Iriarte - "De seis a siete" 1944
4. Miguel Caló / Raúl Iriarte - "Trenzas" 1945

http://open.spotify.com/user/anttiveikko/playlist/5w1syTVYJUWSCfkThni2Ee
http://www.deezer.com/playlist/776773405
Some of my favorites from Miguel Caló with Raúl Iriarte. All great classics of tango that were recorded by many orchestras.

Calo, Miguel - TOTW - Todo Tango tango.info - iTunes Store

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Tanda of the Week 49 / 2010 -
Juan D'Arienzo (milonga)

Download or listen Tanda of the Week 49/2010 - D'Arienzo

1. Juan D'Arienzo / Alberto Echague - "Oro de ley" 1944
2. Juan D'Arienzo / Alberto Echaque - "Milonga del recuerdo" 1939
3. Juan D'Arienzo / Alberto Echaque - "La cicatriz" 1939

Some great milongas from D'Arienzo. Not sure if I'd play them this way anymore though... (3.3.2013)

D'Arienzo, Juan - TOTW - Todo Tango tango.info - iTunes Store
Echagüe, Alberto - TOTW - Todo Tango tango.info - iTunes Store
 

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Tanda of the Week 47 / 2010 -
Rodolfo Biagi







1. Rodolfo Biagi / Alberto Amor - "Lucienne" - TangoTunes
2. Rodolfo Biagi / Alberto Amor - "Tus labios me dirán" - TangoTunes
3. Rodolfo Biagi / Alberto Amor - "Café de los Angelitos" - TangoTunes
4. Rodolfo Biagi / Alberto Amor - "Cuatro lágrimas" - TangoTunes

Something nice and relaxed from Biagi for the early hours of the milonga for example. For high quality versions go to TangoTunes.com and purchase the songs from their online store.


Biagi, Rodolfo - TOTW - Todo Tango - tango.info - TangoTunes

Tanda of the Week 46 / 2010 -
Carlos Di Sarli (Vals)



1. Carlos Di Sarli / Roberto Rufino - "Alma mia"
2. Carlos Di Sarli / Agustín Volpe - "Ausencia"
3. Carlos Di Sarli / Roberto Rufino - "Cortando camino"


http://open.spotify.com/user/anttiveikko/playlist/6Trwc7hSxbWIZSAlZDFYUF
http://www.deezer.com/playlist/1028008651

This weeks vals tanda is another one from Di Sarli. Enjoy!
 
Di Sarli, Carlos - TOTW - Todo Tangotango.info - iTunes Store
Rufino, Roberto - TOTW - Todo Tango - tango.info - iTunes Store 

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Tanda of the Week 45/2010 - Pedro Laurenz

Download or listen Tanda of the Week 45/2010 - Pedro Laurenz

1. Pedro Laurenz / Alberto Podesta "Alma de bohemio" 1943
2. Pedro Laurenz / Alberto Podesta "Nunca tuvo novio" 1943
3. Pedro Laurenz / Alberto Podesta "Garua" 1943
4. Pedro Laurenz / Alberto Podesta "Que nunca me falte" 1943

This weeks tanda comes from the blogs first guest dj: DJ Tangess from Ukraine. She's the organizer of Tango Remolino dj festival in Ukraine and will also be playing at the Frostbite festival in Finland in february next year. She describes this tanda as something she'd like to play as the final tanda of the milonga and gave me a special cortina to place before the tanda to set the mood right. Enjoy!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Tanda of the Week 44/2010 - Carlos Di Sarli



1. Carlos Di Sarli - Jorge Durán - "Un tango y nada más" 1945
2. Carlos Di Sarli - Jorge Durán - "Solamente ella" 1945
3. Carlos Di Sarli - Jorge Durán - "No esperaba verte más" 1946
4. Carlos Di Sarli - Jorge Durán - "Gracias" 1946

http://open.spotify.com/user/anttiveikko/playlist/4i8RwboheftoLkoJMcIlc2
http://www.deezer.com/playlist/758642021A tanda starting with the classic "Un tango y nada más" that captures perfectly the special mood and style of Di Sarli with Durán.

I recommend checking out Carlos Di Sarli on TangoTunes.com for high quality digitalizations of original Di Sarli shellac recordings.

You can also listen to a more recent tanda of Di Sarli with Durán on Tanda of the Week 03 / 2014. Enjoy!


Di Sarli, Carlos - TOTW - Todo Tangotango.info - iTunes Store
Durán, Jorge - TOTW - Todo Tango - tango.info - iTunes Store

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Tanda of the Week 41/2010 - Tango Finlandia

Download or listen Tanda of the Week 41/2010 - Tango Finlandia

1. Henry Theel - "Plegaria (Kellot Soi) 1943
2. Olavi Virta - "Siks' Oon Mä Suruinen" 1944
3. Metro-Tytöt - "Unikuva" 1951
4. Veikko Tuomi ja Dallape Orkesteri - "Yön Hetket" 1951

As argentine tango landed in Europe, even before it's golden era, it made it's way all the way to Finland and the melancholic nation of ours gave it a very warm welcome. Although we quickly transformed tango argentino to tango finlandia or "suomi tango" simplifying the rhythm and orchestration I believe that a lot of the essentials of original tango music still remained.

I will serve you with this tanda which includes some of my favorite finnish tangos that, in my opinion, also have qualities that are easier to appreciate to fans of tango argentino. To make the approach to this style of tango easier the tanda starts with "Plegaria" by Henry Theel which is the only argentine tango "cover" of the tanda and an interesting one at that (check out Osvaldo Fresedo's "Plegaria" from 1940). Next up is one of the finest songs from Olavi Virta, who is the Carlos Gardel of finnish tango music, followed by Metro-Tytöt, a female vocal trio with a great orchestra, and Veikko Tuomi and one of the best orchestras Dallape (which is still/again active and recording!).

I will also add an interesting trailer to a documentary related to finnish tango. Check it out!


Trailer Tango Suomi from gabriela aparici on Vimeo.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Tanda of the Week 40/2010 - Ricardo Tanturi (vals)


1. Ricardo Tanturi/Alberto Castillo - "Recuerdo" 1941
2. Ricardo Tanturi/Alberto Castillo - "Mi Romance" 1941
3. Ricardo Tanturi/Alberto Castillo - "La Serenata" 1941

Unfortunately these great valses are not available on Spotify or Deezer yet.

Tanturi, Ricardo - TOTW - Todo Tangotango.info - TangoTunes - iTunes Store

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Tanda of the Week 39/2010 - Juan D'Arienzo (instrumentals)

Download or listen Tanda of the Week 39/2010 - D'Arienzo


1. Juan D'Arienzo - "Canaro En Paris" 1950
2. Juan D'Arienzo - "Yapeyu" 1951
3. Juan D'Arienzo - "El Simpatico" 1951
4. Juan D'Arienzo - "El Puntazo" 1952

Ok I'll admit it. I played at the Tokyo Milonga last friday and I went a bit overboard with romantic tangos for some of the japanese dancers. What can I say? I'm a romantic guy, heh. So this tanda is for Japan. My personal favorite from the tanda is "Yapeyu". I usually tag songs with "uptempo" or "dramatic" and so on but this song was tagged with only one word and some exclamation marks: "BASS!!!!!". Oh and "El Puntazo" was tagged with "uptempo killer!". Somehow tags like this catch your eye better when scrolling through your library of tangos.

ps. I was asked to play again at the Tokyo Milonga on the 7th of October so one too many romantic tandas certainly wasn't too much for the organizer. Next time though I will focus more on the rhythmic strong tangos like in this tanda.

D'Arienzo, Juan - TOTW - Todo Tango tango.info - iTunes Store

Monday, September 20, 2010

Tanda of the Week 38/2010 - Enrique Rodriguez

Download or listen Tanda of the Week 38/2010 - Rodriguez

1. Enrique Rodriguez / Armando Moreno - "Este Es Tu Tango" 1945
2. Enrique Rodriguez / Armando Moreno - "Ya No Cantas Chingolo" 1943
3. Enrique Rodriguez / Armando Moreno - "Traje De Novi" 1945
4. Enrique Rodriguez / Armando Moreno - "Tu Y Cielo Y Tu" 1944

For me Rodriguez is one of the orchestras I need to play in every milonga to make the night complete and this is possibly my favorite (and a great alternative to the most common) tanda from Rodriguez. The amazing "Este es tu tango" starts the tanda with it's strong midtempo drive and the tanda finishes with the beautiful "Tu Y Cielo Y Tu". When I created this tanda I had these two songs I wanted to play, but I didn't want to put them one after the other as they were too different in my opinion. I had to find songs that would work as a bridge between the two and was able to create a tanda which I feel has a smooth transition between songs that were slightly different style.

-----

As I am writing this and analyzing the tanda again I'm not at all certain that you can't play the example songs one after the other. Sometimes a dj thinks too much. But nevertheless... this tanda is lovely to dance to.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Tanda of the Week 37/2010 - Adolfo Carabelli



1. Adolfo Carabelli / Alberto Gómez - "Alma" 1932
2. Adolfo Carabelli / Carlos Lafuente - "Mentira" 1931
3. Adolfo Carabelli / Mercedes Simone - "Volvé" 1932
4. Adolfo Carabelli / Alberto Vila, Alberto Gómez - "Tango del querer" 1932

http://open.spotify.com/user/anttiveikko/playlist/6OoCijXBh4T6WyiD40Et3R
http://www.deezer.com/playlist/1016081821Carabelli (1893-1947) was an outstanding pianist, composer and orchestra leader often described as "one of the musicians of most complete training that appeared in the tango field but also one of the most underrated".* Fortunately the tangos from Carabelli have lately been very popular among many dj's and dancers. * More about Carabelli at todotango.com

Carabelli, Adolfo - TOTW - Todo Tangotango.info - iTunes Store - TangoTunes 

Monday, September 6, 2010

Tanda of the Week 36/2010 - Francisco Canaro (milonga)




1. Francisco Canaro / Roberto Maida - "Milonga criolla" 1936
2. Francisco Canaro / Roberto Maida - "Silueta porteña" 1936
3. Francisco Canaro / Roberto Maida - "Milonga brava" 1938


http://open.spotify.com/user/anttiveikko/playlist/6u2nQEdOi3c8qatNgqOehm
http://www.deezer.com/playlist/1016192301I love the milongas from Francisco Canaro and here are some of my favorites. The tanda starts with two midtempo classics and finishes off with a great uptempo milonga. Unfortunately "Milonga Criolla" was not available on Spotify and Deezer so I changed it to "Milonga de mis Amores" for the playlists and the tanda for fine like that too.

A lot of dancers are absolutely crazy about milonga music and the milonga tandas can be their highlight of the night. Since only one out six tandas is milonga, meaning that in a 4 hour set there will be only 3 or 4 milonga tandas, the dj has to be sure that the dancers really get what they crave for.

Milonga tandas are most commonly only three songs and I believe this is the perfect lenght to dance milonga. Milonga is really about dancing the rhythm of the song and playing with it and a fourth song might be too much especially if the songs are uptempo. The dancers usually want to give it their all and even after three songs you can see people sweating and breathing heavy.

The dj has to feel what is the right tempo for a milonga tanda for the moment and the crowd. In some milongas you might find that people don't want fast milongas at all. But in general first milonga tanda of the night should be slower or midtempo and when the dancers are ready for it later in the night you should give them all that you got; Either having the tanda start off midtempo but finishing more uptempo or just going uptempo all the way. Then again... this theory is just one theory and often I find that people are ready for more uptempo milongas from the start and I might save something a bit slower for the late night.

Canaro, Francisco - TOTW - Todo Tango - tango.info - iTunes Store

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Tanda of the Week 35/2010 - Juan Félix Maglio (instrumentals)


1. Juan Félix Maglio - "Ventanita De Arrabal" 1927
2. Juan Félix Maglio - "Arrabelero" 1927
3. Juan Félix Maglio - "Viejo Smoking" 1930
4. Juan Félix Maglio - "La Copa Del Olvido" 1927

http://open.spotify.com/user/anttiveikko/playlist/1ouCvNobbV0yJGkRF7TD52This tanda by Juan Maglio is featured on my set from the Almacen milonga that was posted on the blog earlier. Maglio (1880-1934) who went by the nickname of 'Pacho' was a bandoneonist, orchestra leader and composer and was one of the most important musicians who followed the the first generation of tango players, the Guardia Vieja.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Tango Argentino on kiva.org

Kiva is a microfinance organization helping small businesses in the 3rd world countries. Through small loans (starting from 25 dollars) people around the world can support small businesses and improve living conditions in developing countries. The loan is paid back and can be either withdrawn from the Kiva account or lent again.

I have been using Kiva for a while and last year I made small deposits every month amounting to about 1000 dollars which I've been re-lending ever since. With this amount of deposits and re-lending I've been able to loan 2000 dollars of which 1600 dollars has been paid back already. My personal rule was that everytime I bought something I didn't really need I would deposit on Kiva and make a loan.

I started a team for people interested in argentine tango and wanting to make a loan through Kiva.org. Check it out! http://www.kiva.org/team/tangoargentino. A 25 dollar loan will get you started or you can purchace Kiva gift cards for presents.

You can also have a look at my personal lender page  
http://www.kiva.org/lender/antti2464

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Tanda of the Week 34/2010 - Orquesta Cayetano Puglisi (instrumentals)

Download or listen Tanda of the Week 34/2010 - Puglisi (instrumentals)

1. Orquesta Cayetano Puglisi - "Así Es La Vida" 1929
2. Orquesta Cayetano Puglisi - "Disfrazate Muchachita" 1929
3. Orquesta Cayetano Puglisi - "Rezongona" 1929
4. Orquesta Cayetano Puglisi - "La Milonga Azul" 1929

Here's something you'd really rarely play at a normal milonga but recently I've been going through a lot of instrumental tangos from the late 1920's. There's really something about the music from this era that has me spellbound. Cayetano Puglisi (1902-1968) was a violinist and a composer who played in Roberto Firpo's orchestra in 1916-1928. After this period he formed a sextet that recorded the following songs featured in this tanda in 1929.

"We arrive at a very important chapter in the artistic career of this great musician. We place it in 1928, a period when the sextets blossomed. This splendid outfit he put together is always remembered with admiration and nostalgia by the lovers of good tango.

He used to play at the cinema Paramount theater. His members were: Armando Federico (piano); Cayetano Puglisi and Mauricio Miseresky (Mauricio Misé) (violins); Federico Scorticati and Pascual Storti (bandoneons) and José Puglisi (double bass). During this cycle, Storti was replaced later by Domingo Triguero. The orchestra always evidenced a trademark of quality, with a special sort of slow beat full of tango colors, and a very hard to match richness of nuances. The crisis brought by the lack of work made this group disband."

- Horacio Loriente, http://www.todotango.com/english/creadores/cpuglisi.asp

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Useful tango links

http://eltangoysusinvitados.blogspot.com/
This blog is a dream come true for every tango dj. The blog is updated frequently with new music and most of it is tango.

http://tangoandchaos.org/
A very entertaining and informative blog from Rick McGarrey about tango, life and milongas in Buenos Aires. A must read for every beginning dancer and one you will go back to every now and then.

http://eng.tango.info/
Almost all the information you need about tango recordings. Who was the singer, when was the song recorded, what other recordings are there from this orchestra etc...


http://www.tangotales.com/
An excellent podcast from Elmira about all sides of the tango culture.

http://www.todotango.com
Information about musicians, poets, singers and the history of tango.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Tanda of the Week 33/2010 - Demare (Vals)


Download or listen Tanda of the Week 33/2010 - Demare (vals)

1. Lucio Demare/Juan Carlos Miranda - "Nunca supe por qué" 1942
2. Lucio Demare/Raúl Berón - "Un vals // Se fue" 1943
3. Lucio Demare/Horacio Quintana - "Dos corazones" 1944

It's 00:27... That means it's already monday and time for this weeks tanda! This is one of the first vals tandas that I made and I still love playing it. It's Lucio Demare with three of the finest singers for your listening and dancing pleasure. Enjoy!

Demare, Lucio - TOTW - Todo Tangotango.info - iTunes Store
Miranda, Juan Carlos - TOTW - Todo Tango - tango.info - iTunes Store
Berón, Raúl - TOTW - Todo Tango - tango.info - iTunes Store
Quintana, Horacio - TOTW - Todo Tango - tango.info - iTunes Store

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Tanda of the Week 32b/2010 - Anibal Troilo (Instrumentals)




1. Aníbal Troilo - "Guapeando" 1941
2. Aníbal Troilo - "Cachirulo" 1941 - TangoTunes
3. Aníbal Troilo - "Cordón de oro" 1941 - TangoTunes
4. Aníbal Troilo - "Milongueando en el cuarenta" 1941 - TangoTunes


While there are not many suprises to anybody in this tanda I think it's a good example of very classic instrumental tangos that should please the old milongueros as well as have enough "umph" for the younger generation of dancers.

EDIT 26.8.2013: These songs truly never get old. I can never get tired of dancing to the finest of Troilo's instrumentals.

Check out the growing collection of digitalized Troilo shellacs in the TangoTunes.com in great quality.

Troilo, Anibal - TOTW - Todo Tangotango.info - TangoTunes - iTunes Store 

Tanda of the Week 32/2010 - Malerba


http://www.tangotunes.com/ricardo-malerba-encuentro-con-ricardo-malerba.html


1. Ricardo Malerba / Orlando Medina - "Gitana rusa" 1942
2. Ricardo Malerba / Orlando Medina - "Ninguna" 1941
3. Ricardo Malerba / Orlando Medina - "La piba de los jazmines" 1943
4. Ricardo Malerba / Orlando Medina - "Remembranza" 1943

http://open.spotify.com/user/anttiveikko/playlist/7dsWefA1vYJnzNxKe5IEHFHere's the very first tanda I'd like to share. It's built around the last song of the tanda, which is the classic "Remembranza". The version from Ricardo Malerba and his orchestra with Orlando Medina on the vocals is one of the nicest versions of this tango.
http://www.deezer.com/playlist/846480481
I had some problems choosing which song would start the tanda but in the end chose "Gitana Rusa" because of the beautiful melody of the violins. At least for me the melody is a clear signal to get on the floor as fast as possible.

Malerba, Ricardo - TOTW - Todo Tango - tango.info - TangoTunes

More about tandas

So as mentioned in the welcoming post a tanda is a set of three to four songs of either tango, vals or milonga* (style of music) played at a milonga* (a tango party) [* The word "milonga" has a number of meanings. It's ok to be confused]. Usually tangos are always played in tandas of four songs while valses and milongas are more commonly played in tandas of three songs. A normal order of tandas is two tandas of tango, one tanda of vals, two tandas of tango and one tanda of milonga. In milongas the dj will play a tanda followed by a cortina (a short song of different style) which will mark the ending of the tanda. During the cortina the dancers will leave the floor and look for their next partners. After the cortina finishes the dj continues with another tanda and after finding a new partner the dancers will get on the dance floor again.

Creating a tanda

It is preferred that a tanda consists of songs from the same orchestra, style and time period. This rule is made having the dancers best interest in mind. When the dj follows this rule the dancers can recognice from the first song of the tanda if they want to dance to the tanda and then choose who they would like to dance it with. For example if the first song is a smooth romantic tango from late 30's from for example Francisco Canaro, the dancers can expect the same style to continue throughout the tanda. If the dj doesn't follow this rule then the dancers don't know what to expect and dance in fear of having to leave the dance floor when the romantic mood might be broken by a randomly selected dramatic uptempo tango from the late 50's from Osvaldo Pugliese. Even though the song itself would be a great one, such change of orchestra, style and time period is too drastic and will destroy the mood and a lot of dancers will leave the dance floor and complain about the dj-ing.

The dj also should play a lot of tandas which have songs that are well known and popular. These are the songs that are played over and over again in milongas everywhere and the dancers know them by heart. The better the dancers know the songs they are dancing to the better they can interpet and dance the music. Playing too many tandas of more unknown tangos will leave the dancers feeling uncomfortable. There's a saying that all the dj's play the same 200-300 tangos just in different order. This is very true in some ways but in every milonga there's space for a couple of tandas of less known tangos and also a lot of possibilities for personality and creativity in how you organize your tandas and when you choose to play them.

The order of the songs

Another important thing in creating tandas is choosing in which order to play the songs. The first song is very important in describing the mood of the tanda and it also needs to be one of the, if not the most danceable song of the tanda making sure everybody wants to get on the dance floor. The second song should continue the same emotion and quality as the first one. The fourth song has to be the best song of the tanda or second to only the first one leaving the dancers in a good mood after the tanda. The third one could be considered as the least important of the songs but it doesn't mean you can use any song you like on this spot. In fact sometimes the third song is of great importance to the tanda. For example if I've played two uptempo songs I might drop the tempo a bit for the third one to make the final uptempo song stand out more and also give better structure to the tanda. A bit of a curve in the emotions even inside a tanda can be good. If you play a tanda of very dramatic tangos the dancers will get very deep in this emotion and it can be a bit tiresome to keep the same intensity of emotion for four songs. Again the third song could be "mildly less dramatic" to give the dancers a bit of a breather without breaking the mood.

The atmosphere of the milonga

During the milonga the dj should play tandas from all the most popular orchestras like Canaro, D'Arienzo, Pugliese, Caló, Di Sarli, Tanturi, Troilo and D'agostino. A good dj can sense the emotions of the dancers and choose the right tandas for the right moment and will know which tanda to play after the other. In the beginning of the milonga it is good to play more cheerful tandas and save the most melancholic and dramatic tandas to be played later during the night. I always try to finish the night off with a very romantic tanda in the style of "the last slow songs of the night". It is also a common practice to play "La Cumparsita" as the very last song of the milonga.

This was a quick introduction to tandas and how a dj of argentine tango works. Later I will get into more detail about tandas and even how to bend the rules in good fashion.

Welcome to "Tanda of the Week"

In this blog I will share my and in fact anybody's favorite tandas of argentine tango. A "Tanda" is by definition a set of music played during a milonga (tango dance parties). The set usually consists of three to four pieces. Common types of music played during a tanda include tango, milonga or vals. A "cortina" is typically played to signal the end of a tanda. A single milonga contains several tandas.

I hope to spark some conversation about what makes a good tanda and what kind of songs you want to dance to in a milonga? I will try add more tandas and the mp3-files of each tanda about once a week. Stay tuned and feel free to comment on the tandas or anything tango related. And remember you can send your own tanda to be shared on this blog.

Welcome... I hope you enjoy my blog.

Antti Suniala.