Making Ballroom sound like Argentine

[Steve Pastor]

an original we call "Astoria".

You wouldn't happen to be in the Northwest, would you?

Someone used the word "strident" when referring to "ballroom tango". As I understand it, when tango became popular in Europe in the early part of the century, both the dance and the music were changed to suit European tastes. One thing that happened was that the music became "more march like". Strident, I'd say, regular, insistent, consistent, statacco?, in it's beat.

Playing something like "Hernando's Hideaway" with a more relaxed feel would move you in the direction you want to go.

 

[Steve Pastor]

I've always liked the idea of not having every player play every song. And I'm sure you are aware that some of the Big Bands would feature a smaller group at times during the Swing Era. This, too, would allow you more control over the instrumentation during your tangos.

Have a web page, facebook, or YouTube example of what you are currently doing with these songs?

Do you have someone who is hot to solo and/or is good at improvisation or scroing their own part? Have them listen to some of the solos in the songs we are throwing at you, and add a solo to the numbers you already know.

 

[opendoor]

I find the whole request interesting.. Most of the AT people I know have made a talent out of doing tango moves to just about any type of music. (much to the horror of purists) It might be worth asking the people making the request just what tango music they have in mind. Typically, IME, the lack of actual Argentine Tango music has not stopped AT dancers from dancing AT.

And I find your post interesting

 

[opendoor]

Saxophon Tango

 

[Ampster]

Originally Posted by Robin12
Hernando's Hidaway

Horrifying!

Learn La Cumparsita... you can always play La Cumparsita if things start to go wrong.

No offense intended, but... Hideous! Hernando's Hideaway was never a tango written for the dance floor. It was a show tune for the musical "Pajama Game."

I've been to milongas before with the scenario you just described, Ballroom band trying to play Argentine Tango. For the unenlightened, it was marginally ok. Not ballroom tango, but not Argentine Tango either, but it was live so, OK.

Since there were tango people in the audience, and on the floor, it did not turn out very well. The music was neither danceable, nor listenable. This was simply because of the lack of experience of the band in the Argentine Tango music genre. No offense intended and I'm just sharing with you what I've experienced.

Here is a link to recourses for Argentine Tango music. Lyrics, sheet music, and how it's supposed to sound: Todo Tango Library

Here's a modern, live Pacific Northwest Band, Orquesta Tipica Krebs. This is how it's supposed to sound and feel like.

La Yumba

No te apures, cara blanca

 

[tangomonkey]

Here's a modern, live Pacific Northwest Band, Orquesta Tipica Krebs. This is how it's supposed to sound and feel like.

Thanks for posting these Ampster. I enjoyed them very much. I didn't know Krebs played bandoneon until BTM posted recently about his New York band. How long has he been playing live in the Pacific Northwest? I would be very interested in going to a milonga in the Seatle area, or Portland, if his band is playing!

 

[bordertangoman]

wow! any recordings?

:notworth:



Footnote: The saxophone was developed in 1841 by Adolphe Sax, a Belgian-born instrument-maker, flautist, and clarinetist working in Paris. While still working at his father's instrument shop in Brussels, Sax began developing an instrument which had the projection of a brass instrument with the agility of a woodwind. Another priority was to invent an instrument which would overblow at the octave, unlike the clarinet, which rises in pitch by a twelfth when overblown; an instrument which overblew at the octave would have identical fingering for both registers.

 

[opendoor]

Re: Scolati Almeida

wow! any recordings?

Seems to be one of those missed composers, no audio track found, only

1893 Nació en Milan (Italia) el pianista, compositor y director FELIX SCOLATI ALMEIDA, autor de tangos tan famosos como "Medallita de la suerte", "La mascotita" con letra de Luque Lobos; "Virgencita de Pompeya" versos de Enrique P. Maroni; "A las nueve en el convento", "La taba de la vida" etc. Falleció en Florencio Varela (Pcia. de Buenos Aires), - el 27 de agosto de 1964.
(clubdetango.com.ar/efemer/octu.htm)

Wrote a late success for Libertat Lamarque

1933 "Delirios". Autor: F Scolati Almeida, A. Varela.
(clubdetango.com.ar/articulos/libertad_disc.htm)

last scores to get at cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380139130755#ht_1698wt_863

Note the different spelling and the use of the term Tango-Milonga for that fast Biagi-like style I refer to as Tango bravo.

Interpretations of his titles:
"Medallita de la suerte" youtube.com/watch?v=0MyDZHZXSDo
"La Mascotita" youtube.com/watch?v=G495TZt2eqA
"Virgencita de Pompeya" youtube.com/watch?v=GoPVzWqTotc

 

[Steve Pastor]

About Alex...

http://www.tangoberretin.com/about-alex/

 

[Ampster]

Thanks for posting these Ampster. I enjoyed them very much. I didn't know Krebs played bandoneon until BTM posted recently about his New York band. How long has he been playing live in the Pacific Northwest? I would be very interested in going to a milonga in the Seatle area, or Portland, if his band is playing!

tangomonkey,

You're welcome. Alex Krebs has had his tango band, formerly "Conjunto Berretin," now "Orquesta Tipica Krebs" for at least half a decade. He even has a couple of CD's and a DVD out. His band plays in Seattle only during our summer Tango festival. However, he plays regularly at his studio "Tango Berretin" in Portland, OR.

Here is his studio schedule for your reference--> Tango Berretin Calendar

 

[tangomonkey]

Thanks guys! Will check it out.

 

[Steve Pastor]

am interested in that italo-connection anywa

Referred to by some as the Italianization of tango.
As with many? all? "historic" styles of music and dance, there is a period of mixing and you get labels like tango creole, tango with a ragtime feel, blues mixed with tango in the US, etc

 

[opendoor]

Re: Saxophone Tango

A cool Milonga de mis Amores arrangement with Saxophones by Luis Borda. Note this is one of the last performances of Juan José Libertella.

youtube.com/watch?v=oVh6Z1NgVqc

 

[UKDancer]

A cool Milonga de mis Amores arrangement with Saxophones by Luis Borda. Note this is one of the last performances of Juan José Libertella.

youtube.com/watch?v=oVh6Z1NgVqc
[yt]oVh6Z1NgVqc[/yt]

I liked it, BIIT? It sounded and looked more like Salsa than Milonga to me - (eg lots of cross body leads in the dancing) - but none the worse for that.

In the voice-over (from 3:05):

Today the tango is as popular with young Argentinians as it was during its peak in the 1930s.

Is this true, anyone?

 

[opendoor]

Think so, rather more instead:

-Back then, the society of BsAs was dramaticly split. Young folks hearing or dancing tango would have been catapulted to hell immediately by their parents (And this mentality is still alive in many families today). The original native tango back then belonged to the red light districts.

-On the other hand: the Golden Age Tango of the Salóns really was no youth culture at all. It was a re-import from Europe and belonged to some trendy middle-class populations.

-Today the tango scenes in BsAs (neotango vs. tourist tango vs traditional tango) are more parted than in european cities. So even Porteños don´t realize how much young people dance tango (because they refuse the neotango scene totally, and dont deal with it at all.) Sometimes I really wonder how ignorant some families from BsAs actually are concerning neotango.