i meant tango music.. and any bands, local or intl.
...am enjoying the responses, and hearing about groups that i will look up.
Dancing to live tango music.. got a favorite tango band
- Thread starter pkh.tango
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i meant tango music.. and any bands, local or intl.
...am enjoying the responses, and hearing about groups that i will look up.
jantango
Well-Known Member
If you attend a milonga in Buenos Aires with an orchestra, dancers will listen to their first piece. That's the way it's done.
At one time, there were many orchestras working every night of the week at all the clubs, cabarets, and salons in BsAs. Orchestras played 30 minute sets of tango, and then a jazz orchestra played for 30 minutes. They alternated sets. No orchestra played tango all night long. The music had to be arranged for each orchestra. I recall someone telling me that he knew what tango came next, because the orchestra played the same ones night after night to a different group of dancers.
It's so small task to form an orchestra, have arrangements made, and then play every night of the week to large crowds so musicians can be paid well.
The music of the golden era of tango is recorded. I don't see the point in having an orchestra try to perform like the recordings. It's an impossible task and one that doesn't receive compensation.
There are those who want live music at tango events, yet there are dancers who can't be bothered with dressing well or observing the codes and customs. We can only imagine the cabarets and salons during the 1950 in Buenos Aires where the upper class dined and danced to two orchestras and all were well dressed. Milongueros can tell us the way it was.
At one time, there were many orchestras working every night of the week at all the clubs, cabarets, and salons in BsAs. Orchestras played 30 minute sets of tango, and then a jazz orchestra played for 30 minutes. They alternated sets. No orchestra played tango all night long. The music had to be arranged for each orchestra. I recall someone telling me that he knew what tango came next, because the orchestra played the same ones night after night to a different group of dancers.
It's so small task to form an orchestra, have arrangements made, and then play every night of the week to large crowds so musicians can be paid well.
The music of the golden era of tango is recorded. I don't see the point in having an orchestra try to perform like the recordings. It's an impossible task and one that doesn't receive compensation.
There are those who want live music at tango events, yet there are dancers who can't be bothered with dressing well or observing the codes and customs. We can only imagine the cabarets and salons during the 1950 in Buenos Aires where the upper class dined and danced to two orchestras and all were well dressed. Milongueros can tell us the way it was.
opendoor
Forum Master
Ok, then I will post "Soltango", a band from northern Germany (Rocco, the bandoneonist, is my teacher):
youtube.com/watch?v=0jgxUNzIurs
[YT]0jgxUNzIurs[/YT]
The guys from "Perfume de Mujer" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=444JQTLgKIU
and "Calle Maria" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOyDfrrkqUQ are friends of mine, too.
sixela
Well-Known Member
That highlights one of the reasons underlying the convention to listen to the first song: personally, I usually wouldn't dance to either of the two first youtube clip songs (even though I like the music and I'd certainly listen), but I'd consider dancing to the next song of the third orchestra.
It's not infrequent to select the dance partner (for both leader and follower, if you're lucky enough to dance where the cabeceo actually works) according to the style of music (and the style you want to dance that corresponds to it).
If you haven't heard a live orchestra yet, it's hard to know exactly what makes them tick before listening to a full song, so it does make sense to listen to at least one song, if only to mentally prepare yourself and/or select the proper dance partner.
That doesn't necessarily apply to orchestras you know well: in Brussels, some years ago, Alfredo Marcucci and students/friends had regular gigs at the Pianofabriek and we knew well how he'd play any song of which we recognised the intro (and if you arrived in the middle of a tanda, you had a pretty good idea of the vibe just from hearing the end of the previous song). In such a setting, it becomes less important to wait and listen for a full song before you hit (but not pounce on or jump on) the dance floor.
It's not infrequent to select the dance partner (for both leader and follower, if you're lucky enough to dance where the cabeceo actually works) according to the style of music (and the style you want to dance that corresponds to it).
If you haven't heard a live orchestra yet, it's hard to know exactly what makes them tick before listening to a full song, so it does make sense to listen to at least one song, if only to mentally prepare yourself and/or select the proper dance partner.
That doesn't necessarily apply to orchestras you know well: in Brussels, some years ago, Alfredo Marcucci and students/friends had regular gigs at the Pianofabriek and we knew well how he'd play any song of which we recognised the intro (and if you arrived in the middle of a tanda, you had a pretty good idea of the vibe just from hearing the end of the previous song). In such a setting, it becomes less important to wait and listen for a full song before you hit (but not pounce on or jump on) the dance floor.
I wonder, though, if this was or was not common practice. I've read more about bands in the Swing Era here in the US, but the best of the band leaders, who actually played for dancers, were good at reading the crowd and figuring out what would be a good next number to play.
I'm wondering if any of the older folks you know have mentioned that?
I'd guess that some of the same factors were at work in the US and Argentina both, to more or less dampen the live music for dancers scene.
And, yes, I often wait to begin dancing, even with recorded music, depending on how the music goes. I certainly wouldn't jump right in with a group I'd never heard before.
opendoor
Forum Master
Hi sixela, .. and this is actually what I expect from professional musicians to do: an aid, now sit down and listen, and now stand up and dance... Simply it is the balancing act between aspiration and party.
jantango
Well-Known Member
in the style of Juan D'Arienzo
When you have an orchestra like this one led by Ernesto Franco, you can dance to music just as it was originally recorded.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jl2Hp7SP6k&feature=related
When you have an orchestra like this one led by Ernesto Franco, you can dance to music just as it was originally recorded.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jl2Hp7SP6k&feature=related