Several years ago Gustavo Santaolalla decided to try to convince a group of tango musicians and singers to return to the recording studio and collaborate on a new project. He invited true maestros, all over 70 and as old as 90, to participate; several of them have died(*) since the project began in 2003. First, there is a two-CD set of 27 tracks with background text on the musicians. It won the Latin Grammy for best tango album in 2006. The maestros were filmed during the recording sessions and participated in a concert at Teatro Colon in August 2006. The recording sessions and concert have been boiled down to a 93-minute documentary that was presented in February 2008, at the Berlin Film Festival. Finally, a book for Café de los Maestros will be published in English in late 2009.
My friend Diana has a close association with two of the musicians of Café de los Maestros as the artistic director and executive producer of a compact disc by a tango singer. She invited me to join her at the Café de los Maestros reception on March 13, 2008, at the Academia Nacional del Tango where the maestros received certificates for their participation presented to each of them by Gustavo Santaolalla. Diana gave me the Café de los Maestros CDs for my birthday a few weeks ago.
The studio where Café de los Maestros was recorded is located seven blocks from my apartment. Diana invited me to attend a recording session there today. As I walked the hallway, I discovered that this was the studio where every important Argentine recording artist has sung or played. Estudios ION is where Osvaldo Pugliese, Anibal Troilo, and Juan D’Arienzo recorded. The photos on the walls tell the story, as does the impressive list of artists who have recorded there since 1956. I entered the actual studio, where Café de los Maestros was recorded from November 2003 to September 2004, in order to film a recording session by tango singer Ricardo Pol with Anibal Arias and Osvaldo Montes. I watched and listened in the control booth where Jorge Da Silva, the sound engineer for Café de los Maestros, was at the helm. It took three hours to record four tangos. I wouldn’t have missed a minute of it for the world.
(*) Jose Libertella (7/09/33-12/08/04); Carlos Garcia 4/21/14-8/4/06; Lagrima Rios 9/26/24-12/25/06; Oscar Ferrari 8/9/24-8/20/08; Carlos Lazzari 1925 – 6/7/09; Emilio de la Pena 1929 – 6/22/09; Gabriel “Chula” Clausi 8/30/11-2/17/10; Anibal Arias 7/20/22-10/3/10.