Tango in La Boca

I thought I knew where I was going on Saturday afternoon.  I took the #53 bus to Caminito in La Boca where I’ve gone many times only to discover that I had a long walk under the highway to my destination, La Usina del Arte.  Unfortunately, I arrived late and missed the performance of Alberto Podesta.  Friends found me in the crowd, and we got in line for the next concert by the Chamber Orchestra of Ushuaia with Rodolfo Mederos, bandoneonist, as soloist.

The old power plant is now a state-of-the art concert hall with perfect acoustics.  The hall seats 1,500 in three levels surrounding the stage.  The audience was attentive for this free concert, part of the annual Summer in the City festival.  There isn’t a bad seat in the house.

Rodolfo Mederos gave a magnificent performance.

And his encore solo was incredible.

What appears as a vertical building facade in this photo is actually a mirror reflection of a horizontal structure.  Sit on it and you see yourself  in the mirror  hanging on the side of a building.

The milonga at La Usina had a large crowd with many watching the dancing.

There were women dancing with women…

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And men dancing with men…

And a mother dancing with her daughter…

The biggest surprise for me was two milongueras whom I haven’t seen in years — Ana Gomez and Pilar Segura — because they no longer go to the milongas.

This couple gets the prize for passion.

The mirror gives an overhead view of the milonga floor.

The concerts and milongas at La Usina continue this weekend.

St. Louis Blues

A week ago I listened to a recorded radio interview of American jazz pianist Dave Brubeck who died in December. At the end of the program, he and Marian McPartland play a duet of W.C. Handy’s tune. Brubeck mentions that the first eight measures of St. Louis Blues are written as a tango. That caught my attention and launched an interesting investigation about the composer and his music.

The sheet music for Saint Louis Blues is easy to find on the internet, and there are many recorded versions. The left hand rhythm in the piano score is tango and milonga. W.C. Handy was formally trained in music and known as the Father of the blues. He was 40 years old when Saint Louis Blues was published in 1914.

Eight minutes with Osvaldo Pugliese

In this clip edited by Henryk Gajewski, the maestro says:

The future of the tango depends upon the economic situation and growth of the country, etc., but basically we have to continue struggling to stop the influence and penetration from abroad and from inside from the monopolies, especially the record monopoly. The tango will grow with the talents of those who will come and those who are here now with new styles that will rise from the place where they are invented from society.

Día del Bandoneón

Día del Bandoneón commemorates the anniversary of the birth of Aníbal Troilo.  The front page of Clarin has a photo of 14 grand bandoneonists of tango who have recorded a new CD dedicated to Troilo.  The release date is August 6, and they will perform at Teatro El Maipo on September 11 and 18.

1. Medianoche (1933) – Alberto Garralda
2. Toda mi vida (1941) – Ernesto Franco
3. Pa’ que bailen los muchachos (1942) – Julio Pane
4. Barrio de tango (1942) – Víctor Lavallén
5. Garúa (1943) – Walter Ríos
6. María (1945) – Daniel Binelli
7. Romance de barrio (1947) – Juan Carlos Caviello
8. Sur (1948) – Raúl Garello
9. Che bandoneón (1949) – Leopoldo Federico
10. Responso (1951) – Ernesto Baffa
11. A Pedro Maffia (1954) – Roberto Alvarez
12. A la guardia nueva (1955) – Osvaldo Montes
13. La última curda (1956) – Néstor Marconi
14.. Milonguero triste (1965) – Pascual Cholo Mamone

The new Raul Berón

I swoon when I hear Ariel Ardit sing.  A few years ago I heard him sing at the Biblioteca Nacional.  I was early for the afternoon concert and met Ariel as he arrived.  I told him that I had come to hear the “new Raul Berón.”  Berón sang with the orquestas of Miguel Caló and Lucio Demare.

I had another opportunity to swoon at a free public concert at the Centro Cultural San Martin.  Ariel Ardit Orquesta Tipica performed in the Salon Carlos Morel for 90 minutes on Friday evening.  This wasn’t an auditorium with chairs; it was an open space where the audience stood or sat on the floor.

I felt like I got a glimpse of tango’s golden era with Ariel’s tribute to tango legends Alberto Podestá, Floreal Luiz, Angel Vargas and others.  Ariel has great respect for that era.  All the arrangements by Andrés Linetzky are strict tempo for dancing.  Ariel sang Al compás del corazón which Miguel Caló recorded 70 years ago with Raul Berón.

Ariel and his orquesta tipica leave for Europe on May 14 for a month-long tour in France, Italy, and Spain with performances at el Cabaret Sauvage, Châtelet de Paris, Infanta Isabel de Madrid, and Teatro Victoria in Barcelona.

 

The new Hugo Diaz of tango

Hugo Diaz  made his mark on tango music.  Franco Luciani is doing the same.  I found information about his recent concerts and decided to attend.  Friday was folklore music, and Saturday was tango.  What attracted me was the instrument — harmonica.

My father’s harmonicas have gathered dust on my bookshelf for years.  My new year’s resolution for 2012 was to learn something about this little instrument and maybe learn to play a tango or two.  I thought that couldn’t be too difficult with all my years of musical training for piano and oboe.  I turned to YouTube for beginning instruction.  What I didn’t know was that I had to start memorizing from the start, not an easy task for one used to reading sheet music.

Franco Luciani is an artist with international recognition.  Hearing him in concert was an incredible experience.

Pichuquito

January 21, 1938 – January 21, 2004

Today is Dia nacional del Bandoneon, established by law in 2005, on the birthday of Aníbal Troilo (“Pichuco”) born July 11, 1914. 

I wanted to write this post as a tribute to Pichuquito, but I didn’t know his name.  I searched the internet and found it –  Osvaldo Rizzo, and that he had died on January 21, 2004, at the age of 66. 

Conocido en el ambiente tanguero como Pichuquito, el bandoneonista Osvaldo Rizzo falleció anteayer en el hospital Ramos Mejía, donde había permanecido internado por diversos problemas de salud. El músico tenía 66 años y había nacido el 21 de enero de 1938 en el barrio de Pompeya. El bandoneonista comenzó su carrera en los 50 en las orquestas de Fulvio Salamanca y Héctor Varela. Su profesionalismo lo llevó a ser integrante de otros prestigiosos conjuntos durante los sesenta, como los de Miguel Caló, Alfredo de Angelis, Leopoldo Federico y Mariano Mores. También participó en la orquesta estable de Canal 11, en los años 70. Allí, su versatilidad le permitió tocar acompañando a los aficionados que se presentaban en el ciclo “Si lo sabe cante”, de Roberto Galán. Ultimamente tocaba en diversas tanguerías porteñas.  — La Nacion 23 enero 2004

I filmed Pichuquito playing at this gathering of milongueros in Casa de Gerard on February 28, 2002.  First he performs his interpretation of Quejas de Bandoneon.

Astor Piazzolla lived here

Fileteado by Luis Zorz

There are commemorative plaques everywhere in Buenos Aires, especially for tango icons.  I was walking home along Entre Rios when I noticed this plaque by Luis Zorz.  I went to take a closer look and realized that it was placed about three months ago at the entrance of the building where Astor Piazzolla had lived at Entre Rios 505.

July 1, 1937 at Marabú

This was the date and location of Aníbal Troilo’s debut with his orquesta.  The city legislature resolved to pay homage to this great musician with the placement of permanent plaque on the façade of the building.  The ceremony took place on Friday at Maipu 359 with performances of Troilo compositions by three singers and a presentation by author/poet Juan Jose Vieytes.  Those in attendance went to the street for the unveiling of the plaque and then to the corner of Corrientes and Esmeralda for another brief presentation by Sr. Vieytes (86) who shares his memories with tango.

Luis Zorz - fileteador

 

Juan Jose Vieytes (Chichin de Buenos Aires)

Chichin told us that the dancers at Teatro Maipo on Esmeralda would go to Marabú after their performances. 

Ricardo Marin and Juan Carlos Godoy (88)

Juan Carlos Godoy sings at La Casa de Anibal Troilo (Carlos Calvo 2540 in San Cristobal).  He and Ricardo Marin sang a duet during the homenaje that was fabulous.

This is the sign on the front of what was the cabaret Marabú and later known as Maracaibo until it closed ten years ago.

Adios al Maestro Anibal Arias

July 20, 1922 – October 3, 2010

Another member of Cafe de los Maestros has departed.  Arias went to Hong Kong in March to perform with the other maestros.  He contributed so much to tango as a teacher and musician.  He often gave free classes to young musicians.

I had many opportunities to hear him on guitar at La Casa del Tango where he served as chairman of the foundation.  The duo of Arias and Montes played during the penas de tango there.  While writing, I’m listening to his album la guitarra romantica del tango. 

Chau, maestro.  You always will be remembered for the beautiful music you gave us.