Last week introduced tango music from Turkey and this week will present a wider range of  music from this independent tango tradition.

That’s Tango Capital, Sunday evening from 7:00pm to 8:00pm:

• broadcasting on 2xxfm 98.3 in Canberra
• streaming to the web at http://www.2xxfm.org.au
• on demand from http://www.2xxfm.org.au/programs/tango-capital/

Image Credit: http://www.tangopedi.com/papatya/

PLAYLIST:

• Başbaşa Kalınca from the ‘Unutulmayan Türk Tangolari’ release; music and lyrics by Necdet Koyutürk and sung by Celâl İnce.
• Kıskanıyorum from the ‘Tangolarımız’ release, meaning ‘Staying Alone’; sung by Celâl İnce.
• Mazi from the ‘Tangolarımız’ release, meaning ‘Past’; music and lyrics by Necip Celal Andel and sung by Seyyan Hanım.
• Mavi Gözler from the ‘Tangolarımız’ release, meaning ‘It’s Enough, I Hope’; sung by Seyyide Poroy.
• Yillar Var Ki from the ‘Tango Türk 4 – Taş Plaklarda Tango’ release; recorded by Necdet Koyutürk; music and lyrics by Necdet Koyutürk and sung by Şecaattin Tanyerli.
• Gel Bekledigim Yeter from the ‘Tango Türk 4 – Taş Plaklarda Tango’ release; recorded by Necdet Koyutürk; music and lyrics by Necdet Koyutürk and sung by Şecaattin Tanyerli.
• Dinle Sevgili from the ‘Tango Türk 3 – Pop Tango’ release in 1998, meaning ‘Listen Dear’; recorded by Özdener Koyutürk; in 1998 music and lyrics by Necdet Koyutürk and sung by Nil Burak.
• Süphe from the ‘Tango Türk 3 – Pop Tango’ release in 1998, meaning ‘Doubt’; recorded by Özdener Koyutürk; in 1998 music and lyrics by Necdet Koyutürk and sung by Erdener Koyutürk.
• Bal Gözlüm from the ‘Tango Türk 6 – Üstad’a Saygıyla Tango1’ release in 2004; recorded by Erdener Koyutürk; in 2004 music and lyrics by Erdener Koyutürk and sung by Erol Büyükburç.
• Dinle Sevgili from the ‘Tango Türk 7 – Üstad’a Saygıyla Tango 2’ release in 2007, meaning ‘Listen Dear’; recorded by Erdener Koyutürk; in 2007 music and lyrics by Necdet Koyutürk and sung by Esin Engin.
• Simsiyah Bakışların from the ‘Tangolarımız’ release in 2000; in 2000 sung by Güven Aydın.
• Aşk from the ‘Tango Alla Türca’ release in 2009; recorded by Canan Altınay; in 2009 with music composed by Canan Altınay.
• La Cumparsita from the ‘Unutulmayan Tangolar’ release in 1970; recorded by Halil Darvaş; in 1970 with music composed by Gerado Matos Rodríguez in 1924 and lyrics by Pascual Corsini, Enrique Maroni, Gerado Matos Rodríguez.
• Sevdim Bır Genç Kadını from the ‘Unutulmayan Tangolar’ release in 1970; recorded by Halil Darvaş; in 1970.
• Mavi Kelebek from the ‘Tangolarımız’ release; sung by Ibrahim Özgür.

 

A discussion of Maggie Ferguson‘s workshop on the bandoneón features, together with a look at the music of doublebass player José Díaz, and the first part of the interview with Serkan Alasya.

That’s Tango Capital, Sunday evening from 7:00pm to 8:00pm:

• broadcasting on 2xxfm 98.3 in Canberra
• streaming to the web at http://www.2xxfm.org.au
• on demand from http://www.2xxfm.org.au/programs/tango-capital/

PLAYLIST:

• Oro Falso, meaning ‘False Gold’; it’s a tango recorded by Astor Piazzolla in 1945, with music composed by Virgilio Expósito in 1944, lyrics by Homero Expósito, and sung by Francisco Fiorentino.
• Volvió Una Noche, meaning ‘Return One Night’; it’s a tango recorded by Astor Piazzolla on 1935, with music composed by Carlos Gardel, lyrics by Alfredo Le Pera, and sung by Francisco Fiorentino.
• Independiente Club, meaning ‘Independence Club’; it’s a tango recorded by Alfredo Gobbi on 8 September 1948, with music composed by Agustín Bardi.
• Racing Club; it’s a tango recorded by Alfredo Gobbi on 13 October 1949, with music composed by Vicente Greco, first recorded in 1916 and lyrics by Ernesto Temes.
• Chuzas from the ‘Tango Project Loco Bohemia’ release in 2011, the name a reference to a weapon, a stick with skewers attached (from lunfardo); it’s a tango recorded by Maggie Ferguson on August 2010, with music composed by Agustín Bardi, first recorded in 1949.
• La Cachila from the ‘Tango Project Loco Bohemia’ release in 2011, the name a reference to a native bird; it’s a tango recorded by Maggie Ferguson on August 2011, with music composed by Eduardo Arolas in 1921 and lyrics by Héctor Polito.
• Hasret from the ‘Unutulmayan Türk Tangolari’ release in 1945-1955, meaning ‘Longing’; it’s a tango in 1945-1955, music and lyrics by Celâl İnce , and sung by Celâl İnce .
• Seven Bilir from the ‘Tango Türk 6 – Üstad’a Saygıyla Tango1’ release in 2004, the name a reference to the joys and sorrows of love; it’s a tango recorded by Erdener Koyutürk in 2004, music and lyrics by Necdet Koyutürk, and sung by Erol Büyükburç.
• Papatya from the ‘Tango Türk 6’ release in 1998, meaning ‘Daisy’; it’s a tango recorded by Okotango Quartet in 1998, music and lyrics by Necdet Koyutürk, and sung by Göbken.

In 1935 Juan D’Arienzo was re-inventing himself for popularity. For dancability he brought back the older “dos” rhythm, the 4/8 of the canyengue era that had propelled tango to international fame 2 decades earlier, although he speeded it up to get people onto the floor, and updated the arrangements. Vals was riding on its 19^th century success and was still one of the great popular dances in the 1930s, so D’Arienzo incorporated plenty of vals as well. But vals was also a victim of D’Arienzo’s success. The tango rhythm that he and Biagi presented over 2 and a half years became overwhelmingly popular with D’Arienzo’s target audiences, and from 1937 he responded to this market pressure by reducing his vals recordings in favour of more tango recordings; overall vals recordings from across the industry followed suit.

D’Arienzo’s first two recording sessions with RCA Victor in 1935 were in successive months, July and August, and the next was only 7 weeks later. Under his contract D’Arienzo maintained an annual recording rate of 13 sessions generating 2 recordings each throughout the 1930s. It is a gruelling schedule as the 2 pieces of music had to be selected and rehearsed over only a few weeks in between maintaining 6-12 live performances a week. But at this time D’Arienzo was paying his musicians more than anyone else, and the money was generated by the phenomenal sales that these recordings drove.

So a basic framework of one tango and one other piece of music per recording session underpins D’Arienzo’s recordings with RCA Victor through to the end of the 1930s. To start with there was a lot of valses, but after two years D’Arienzo experimented with other models. From 1937 the second recording might be a vals or milonga, or might be something else—a polca on two occasions—and towards the end of that year he settled down to regularly recording two tangos per session.

Accordingly the proportions of milonga to tango in D’Arienzo’s recordings remained pretty constant over the 1930s at approximately 1 milonga for every 6 tangos, but the proportion of valses drops from nearly 1 to 1 in 1935 to something closer to the milonga ratio of 1 to 6 by 1939.

Significantly, all of the recordings from D’Arienzo in 1935 are instrumental; none have singing. Avoiding the melodic component of singing was another part of D’Arienzo’s strategy for focusing the dancers on the dance rhythm. In fact, for the first 3 years all recordings except 5 were instrumental (the 5 being 1 milonga in January 1936 and 3 valses in mid-1936 sung by Walter Cabral, and a single tango sung by Enrique Carbel in October 1937). It was not until 1938 that D’Arienzo started to incorporate the melodic accompaniment of Alberto Echagüe as estrabillista. But even then Echagüe is only present less than half (43%) of 1938 output, singing 2 valses, 4 milongas, and 6 tangos. In 1939 his involvement is lifted slightly to 3 valses, 4 milongas and 8 tangos, representing 58% of D’Arienzos’ recordings that year, as D’Arienzo adjusted to the market pressure around him. Echagüe left a few months later, in March 1940, but the 1939 recordings are the last legacy of that working relationship.

Rodolpho Biagi was with D’Arienzo for about half of this time, but not right at the start. Lidio Fasoli played piano on D’Arienzo’s initial recordings with Victor, but was replaced by Biagi in the final session for 1935, on 31 December that year. Two and a half years later, 22 June 1938 was the seventh recording session for that year and the final one with Biagi on piano. Thereafter Juan Polito played a heavy rhythmic style that worked well enough with D’Arienzo’s by now well-established sound.

I am sorry that a technical hitch in the studio prevented Serkan Alasya’s interview going to air last night. Whilst an apology was broadcast by the following program a little later, no part of Tango Capital aired.

 

The first part of that interview will be broadcast next week, on Sunday 23 July 2017.

 

Last week recognised the importance of Juan D’Arienzo’s recordings of 1935 in the evolution of tango. This week will review the entire set of recordings from him that year. That’s Tango Capital, Sunday evening from 7:00pm to 8:00pm:

• broadcasting on 2xxfm 98.3 in Canberra
• streaming to the web at http://www.2xxfm.org.au
• on demand from http://www.2xxfm.org.au/programs/tango-capital/

The image shows a very young D’Arienzo conducting in the orchestra pit of a theatre or cinema. That places it no earlier than 1919 and prior to 1928, so he was probably in his early 20s in the photo.

Image Credit: http://www.verytangostore.com/legends/juan-darienzo.html

PLAYLIST:

• Hotel Victoria, the name a reference to the hotel of the same name; a tango recorded by Francisco Canaro on 18 June 1935, with music composed by Feliciano Latasa in 1906, with lyrics by Carlos Pesce.
• Hotel Victoria, the name a reference to the hotel of the same name; a tango recorded by Juan D’Arienzo on 2 July 1935, with music composed by Feliciano Latasa in 1906, with lyrics by Carlos Pesce.
• Desde El Alma, meaning ‘From The Soul’; a vals recorded by Juan D’Arienzo on 2 July 1935, with music composed by Rosita Melo, first recorded in 1927, with lyrics by Victor Piuma Vélez and Homero Manzi.
• Penas De Amor, meaning ‘Sorrows Of Love’; a vals recorded by Juan D’Arienzo on 12 August 1935, with music composed by Augusto Pedro Berto, first recorded in 1933, with lyrics by Jesús Fernández Blanco.
• Tinta Verde, meaning ‘Green Ink’; a tango recorded by Juan D’Arienzo on 12 August 1935, with music composed by Agustin Bardi, first recorded in 1927.
• Re Fa Si, the name a reference to the notes of the sol-fa scale that form the opening bars; a tango recorded by Juan D’Arienzo on 3 October 1935, with music composed by Enrique Delfino, first recorded in 1917.
• Francia, meaning ‘France’; a vals recorded by Juan D’Arienzo on 3 October 1935, with music composed by Octavio Barbero, with lyrics by Carlos Pesce.
• De Pura Cepa, meaning ‘Of Pure Stock’; a milonga recorded by Juan D’Arienzo on 18 November 1935, with music composed by José Ceglie and Antonio Molina, with lyrics by Osvaldo Sosa Cordero.
• Sabado Inglés, meaning ‘English Saturday’; a tango recorded by Juan D’Arienzo on 18 November 1935, with music composed by Juan Félix Maglio, first recorded in 1920, with lyrics by Eugenio Cárdenas.
• Joaquina, the name a reference to a woman of that name; a tango recorded by Juan D’Arienzo on 12 December 1935, with music composed by Juan Bergamino, first recorded in 1907.
• Pabellon De Las Rosas, meaning ‘Pavilion Of The Roses’; a vals recorded by Juan D’Arienzo on 12 December 1935, with music composed by José Felipetti, first recorded in 1933, with lyrics by Antonio Catania and Angela María Catania.
• Orillas Del Plata, meaning ‘Shores Of The Plata’, the name a reference to the Rio De La Plata on which Buenos Aires is situated–the boats of which are a metaphor for the singer’s love; a vals recorded by Juan D’Arienzo on 31 December 1935, music and lyrics by Juan Félix Maglio , first recorded in 1928.
• Nueve De Julio, meaning ‘9th of July’, the name a reference to Argentina’s day of independence; a tango recorded by Juan D’Arienzo on 31 December 1935, with music composed by José Luis Padula, first recorded in 1916, with lyrics by Lito Bayardo.
• Nueve De Julio, meaning ‘9th of July’, the name a reference to Argentina’s day of independence; a tango recorded by Osvaldo Pugliese on 13 May 1954, with music composed by José Luis Padula, first recorded in 1916, with lyrics by Lito Bayardo.

 

 

Tango Capital was nominated for the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) awards this year, and is now a finalist in the category for Best New Radio Program – Music.

There are around 60 finalists overall out of hundreds of nominations this year, and only four finalists in this category so the standard is high.

The awards are made in November each year, but regardless of that outcome it is very exciting  to be recognised in this way as a high quality production.

My thanks to Peter Funnel, then manager at 2XX fm, for his encouragement and advice during the both the initial planning and preparation, and the early broadcasts, and to Myk Dowling for technical and every other kind of support.