"Dark hair, big black eyes and a homburg cocked to one side, flowered handkerchief at the neck and patent leather shoes. He used to sing heartfelt tangos in his sentimental voice and there, in his humble neighborhood, they called him Zorzal—the thrush."
ZORZAL (milonga, 1940)*
Letra: Dorita Zárate
Música: Dorita Zárate
About Dorita Zárate: "Her real name was Teodora María García. She was born in Bánfield (Buenos Aires) in 1917. In her part of the south she studied singing with maestro Pazzi and also guitar with a musician in her family. She was recognized as a folklorist and was highly regarded among those interested in native song. She debuted very young, winning the contest for new voices on the radio show La la voz del aire.
"She even had a chance to sing on the radio accompanied by Ciriaco Ortiz—who called her "the little gaucho girl"—as well as with Rodolfo Biagi. But she passed into history as the composer of the milonga Zorzal, that Carlos Di Sarli recorded on 12 March 1941 with the great voice of El Pibe del Abasto: Roberto Rufino, and that even now is played in milongas all over the world because it is a little gem for dancers.
"Another very good recording was made by José García y sus zorros grises on 27 October 1942. Dorita herself recorded it with the orchestra of Enrique Rodríguez in 1969, the only year she sang with that orchestra."--from Tangos al bardo [Translation by Tango Decoder]
YouTube: A thrush's song • Enrique Rodriguez with Dorita Zárate • Carlos di Sarli with Roberto Rufino
| Morocho de ojazos negros y chambergo requintao, pañuelo florido al cuello y zapatos charolaos. Cantaba sentidos tangos con su voz sentimental y allá, en su barriada humilde, le llamaban el zorzal. Cien noches le cantó El barrio ha quedado triste, |
Dark hair, big black eyes and a homburg cocked to one side, flowered handkerchief at the neck and patent leather shoes. He used to sing heartfelt tangos in his sentimental voice and there, in his humble neighborhood, they called him Zorzal—The Thrush. A hundred nights he sung The barrio's still sad, |
* Zorzal: "The rufous-bellied thrush (Turdus rufiventris) is a songbird of the thrush family (Turdidae). It occurs in most of east and southeast Brazil from Maranhão south to Rio Grande do Sul states, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and northern regions of Argentina. The songs of some thrush species, including members of the genera Turdus, are considered to be among the most beautiful in the avian world."--Wikipedia.
Carlos Gardel, widely considered the greatest tango singer ever, was often referred to by the nickname El Zorzal, obviously reference to his exceptional singing abilities. While the song is not explicitly about Gardel, it describes someone very much like him and would certainly recall his memory to listeners of the time. Unlike the Zorzal of the song, the real-life Gardel died in a plane crash in Colombia in 1935.
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