El rey del compas

I have the feeling that 50% of the music that is played in the milongas is by Orchestra Juan D'Arienzo. The music is mostly rhythmical and pushing, and calm and romantic melodies are rare. I have made calculations and the truth is that for every 10 tandas 2-3 really are D'Arienzo. But the D'Arienzo feeling persists! Often you hear Tanturi, Biagi and Troilo from the 40s, that really sound quite same. Listen to Cachirulo by Troilo and El Africano by D'Arienzo, they sound quite similar! Especially in a milonga setting, when the energy of the music hits you first before you have time to recognize the characteristic style of the orchestra. Or Una noche de Garufa by Tanturi; if you don't know the song, can you name the orchestra?

The other night, Thursday at Nino Bien, I wrote down part of the playlist, and here it is:

Malerba
Tanturi
mixed milonga
D'Arienzo
Biagi (yes, really!)
Troilo vals
D'Arienzo
Calo
Di Sarli instr
Calo vals
Pugliese

Quite classical, I would say... The only Di Sarli I have hear is the good old instrumentals from the 50s. Only once I have heard a classical Rodriguez tanda, only twice a Fresedo tanda (oh how refreshing that was!) and only once or twice a Canaro tanda!!! And a surprise: they love Malerba, and me too, so I'm happy! The truth is that most of the local DJ's don't have so much music, and they don't share, so what they play is quite limited. Maybe Antti and Kristian know more about this. In some ways it is quite nice to dance to familiar music in familiar places: I do love the Troilo-Goyeneche tanda that I count on hearing in Canning on Mondays in the small hours of the morning when the floor is already quite empty...

Wow, now we are playing the "recognize the orchestra" game with D'Arienzo and Troilo. This is fun! And to make it more difficult... add Tanturi or even Biagi! Oh no!!!








And finally, a flower to all the tango DJs and musicalisadores who keep us dancing all day and night long!