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Here's something delightful that I found in the El Mundo Dance Guide for 1 October 1944. It's an ad for one of the Club Porvenir's regular dances at the Salón Renacimiento in Avellaneda, this one featuring Enrique Rodriguez.
Then, in really small type below that it says:
"ALSO PLAYING, THE YOUNG LADIES' ORCHESTRA ROLAND CHAVES."
Perhaps you're aware that there were quite a few women's orchestras operating in Buenos Aires back in 1940s. It seems that they weren't exactly orquestas típicas (tango orchestras); they played tango and other rhythms. None of them ever recorded. I've heard of these orchestras before, but this is the first time I've seen one advertised. Just goes to show you, you gotta read the small print!
The fact that the leader of the band was a guy named Rolando? Not ideal, but understandable in that faraway time and place.
It's Sunday, October 1st, 1944. Lots of choices! Where will you dance? Please post your top three choices in the comments below. We'd love to hear your ideas.
"Remember, you are making history....!"
[Note: Tango Decoder is kind of busy with work this week, so we give you the "Dance Guide" as is. Feel free to add your own commentary and analysis. We'll probably chime in later in the week....]
THE IMAGES:
• El Mundo, pp. 16-17
• P. 16, top.
• P. 16, bottom.
• P. 17, top.
• P. 17, bottom.
El Mundo newspaper, 3 February 1944:
"We've already highlighted many times in this column the reappearances that occur on Radio El Mundo and which enrich the station's already valuable programming. We must now add to the published list the reentry of two good típicas: those of the maestros Aníbal Troilo (Pichuco) and Edgardo Donato that began their performance the first day of this month. Today, at 9:30 p.m. the singer Carmen Duval will reappears singing several new numbers....
"Two notable orchestras, the jazz of Barry Moral and the típica of Lucio Demare are in charge of the musical part of the program York Musical Hits that is transmitted tonight at 9 on Radio "El Mundo". The two groups will play the compositions that achieve the greatest success in the country."
EDITOR'S NOTE: Once again we see evidence that Edgardo Donato was alive and kicking follow the breakup of his first orchestra in May of 1943. The month-long contract with Radio "El Mundo" was a regular paying gig and could not be honored without a stable, well rehearsed orchestra. Donato may not have recorded during this time, but recordings were not the main channel for the diffusion of popular music. Radio was.
After perusing the Dance Guide pages we posted for September 17, 1944, our friend DJ Dmitry Pruss made the interesting observation that very few of the ads for live performances stated the price of entry. We're still pondering why that might be, and we'll let you know when we come up with an answer. But just so you don't lie awake wondering what the prices actually were, here's an ad from one of the most popular clubs, River Plate, offering a live appearance by The Maestro himself, Aníbal Troilo. As you can see, the prices are clearly stated. The text reads:
TODAY at 10 p.m.
CLUB ATLETICO RIVER PLATE
Extraordinary Dancing Soiree
in the salons of its Monumental Stadium
Típica: ANÍBAL TROILO
Jazz: RUDY AYALA
=> MEMBERS, $1.50 -- MALE GUESTS, $3 -- FEMALE GUESTS, $1 -- FEMALE MEMBERS, FREE
SPECIAL OMNIBUS SERVICE FROM BARRANCAS DE BELGRANO
By the way, there was a bit of price creep between 1942/43 and this year, '44. Formerly, the price for male guests had been $2 or at most $2.50. By '44, it was more often $3, although some venues held the line at $2. BCGs held the line at $1, ladies usually free.
All prices are in pesos. One 1940 pesos is the equivalent of about $3 USD today.
2nd Meeting
ARGENTINE DANCE CHAMPIONSHIP
Sponsored by the magazine "Dancing"
Típica: OSVALDO PUGLIESE
Jazz: EUGENIO NOBILE
Típica: REINOL
and a great singer ROBERTO QUIROGA
*200 PRIZES*
(Logo: They record on Odeon Records)
Entrance fees: $1.50, $1-, 0.70 — Registration and entrance free to the participants
[13 October 1944]
***
Editor's note: To be perfectly honest, we don't know whether Don Osvaldo's orchestra played for the dance contest or not, although that is certainly one possible interpretation of this ad. It's certainly an interesting idea to ponder....
"...The stretch of Calle Corrientes between Cerrito and Callao was, in the decades between 1920 and 1950, something almost like the Olympus, if not to say the Mecca (...), of tango. On these blocks were concentrated a large number of cafés with live music, cabarets, theaters, and cinemas with a constant influx of spectators inclined to hear and dance tango or attend movies or plays in which that genre played an essential role.
"This reporter begins by stopping in front of number 1124, where once stood Marzotto, a café that reached its peak during the 40s. There Angel Vargas had worked as a vocalist for the now forgotten orchestra of Lando and Mattino, though the reporter confesses that he has not been able to determine whether this last was Carmelo or Fortunato [Mattino]. The problem is that they were brothers, both bandoneonistas, and both played in the orchestra of [Francisco] "Pancho" Lomuto, Fortunato leaving in 1938 to join a lineup with the young Alberto Marino.
"And here one must reflect on something that cannot be repeated often enough in these reports: in the field of popular culture there isn't always reliable information about specific events or figures, since generally the oral sources--as opposed to court testimonies, newspaper accounts, etc.--are almost always subject to the fragility and subjectivity of human memory.
"...One repeats that condition in the case of Alfredo De Angelis. While some authors assert that his first orchestra debuted at the cabaret Marabú, others date it to March 20, 1941 at Marzotto, accompanied by singer Héctor Morea, who never managed to record.
"What is certain is the debut, in this café, of the second orchestra of the pianist Osmar Maderna in 1945. It all started at the end of 1944, when the "orchestra of the stars" of Miguel Caló dissolved and some of its very young members formed their own groups, like Enrique Mario Francini and Armando Pontier on one side, Domingo Federico on another, and Maderna who put together a lineup with Raúl Iriarte,* an orchestra that didn't last long before Iriarte went back to Caló. In that same Café Marzotto, Maderna held a trial of singers ... the winner of which was Orlando Verri with Pregonera, who was accompanied in the resulting aggregation by the violinist Aquiles Roggero and the bandoneonista Leopoldo Federico, among others...
Text and photo "Calle Corrientes 1930" extracted from: Cafés del centro/3... by Diego Ruiz, "musicologist and street reporter," and his fascinating blog Café Contado that covers the cafés of Buenos Aires. Translated by Tango Decoder.
*Note: Diego's original article seems to conflate singer Raúl Iriarte (b. 1916) with Rafael "El Rata" Iriarte, a guitarist born in 1890. It was the younger man, Raúl, who sang with Caló and Maderna, not Rafael "El Rata." (To compound the confusion, the younger man's birth name was Rafael Fiorentino.) I have corrected the error in my English version. Thanks to Renata for pointing out the error.
17 September, 1944. Club Atlético Sportsman, in the far southern barrio of Barracas, announces a Gran Soiree featuring the tango orchestras of Osvaldo Pugliese and Alfredo De Angelis and jazz guitarist Oscar Alemán's band. One has to read the small print to see that the three acts are to appear en versiones fonoeléctricas, which is a fancy way of saying "on recording."
It's a puckish, inside joke, I suppose: advertising the names of three orchestras, even though they'd be heard on recordings only. (And they seem to have involved Odeon Records in the jest, since the ad bears the record-company's by-now-ubiquitous logo!) Then again, all three orchestras had appeared earlier, in the flesh, at Sportsman, so the claim wasn't completely unfounded--I'm sure all three bandleaders had left behind mucho DNA on Sportsman's stage.
But there's a deeper logic for tango fans living in or near Barracas: True, all three orchestras are appearing live in BsAs tonight -- De Angelis in Villa Urquiza, in the far north of the city; Pugliese in Liniers, way out west; and Alemán in Villa Devoto, even further to the northwest. But why spend a small fortune (up to $3 pesos per show, about $9 in today's dollars), schlep all over town, and fight the crowds on pistas the size of a football field, when you can hear the same three orchestras right there in your own neighborhood club for just $1 peso? Now that's an offer you can't refuse!
RELATED POSTS:
Map of all the Buenos Aires dances advertised on this day, 17 September 1944.
Tango Time Machine for 17 September 1944.
17 September, 1944. Club Atlético Sportsman in the far southern barrio of Barracas announces a Gran Soiree featuring the tango orchestras of Osvaldo Pugliese and Alfredo De Angelis and jazz guitarist Oscar Alemán's band. One has to read the small print to see that the three acts are to appear en versiones fonoeléctricas, which is a fancy way of saying "on recording."
It's a puckish, inside joke, I suppose: advertising the names of three orchestras, even though they'd be heard on recordings only. (And they seem to have involved Odeon Records in the jest, since the ad bears the record-company's by-now-ubiquitous logo!) Then again, all three orchestras had appeared earlier, in the flesh, at Sportsman, so the claim wasn't completely unfounded--I'm sure all three bandleaders had left behind mucho DNA on Sportsman's stage.
But there's a deeper logic for tango fans living in or near Barracas: True, all three orchestras are appearing live in BsAs tonight -- De Angelis in Villa Urquiza, in the far north of the city; Pugliese in Liniers, way out west; and Alemán in Villa Devoto, even further to the northwest. But why spend a small fortune (up to $3 pesos per show, about $9 in today's dollars), schlep all over town, and fight the crowds on pistas the size of a football field, when you can hear the same three orchestras right there in your own neighborhood club for just $1 peso? Now that's an offer you can't refuse!
RELATED POSTS:
Map of all the Buenos Aires dances advertised on this day, 17 September 1944.
Tango Time Machine for 17 September 1944.
The morning edition of El Mundo for Sunday, 17 September 1944 is a mine of rubies, and it's yours to excavate! Thirty-nine events in all; thirty live performances and nine BCGs (dances with recorded music), spread out all over the map.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Juan D'Arienzo at the Club Sarmiento, Homero 853 in Villa Avellaneda
• Osvaldo Pugliese with Roberto Chanel at Amanecer, J. L. Suarez 470 in Liniers
• Aníbal Troilo at Independiente, Av. Mitre 450 in Avellaneda
• Carlos Di Sarli with Alberto Podestá at Independiente, Rivadavia 6302 in Flores
• Roberto Rufino at the Nueva Chicago, Tellier 2319 in Mataderos
• Ricardo Tanturi at Mi Club, Moreno 2967 in Balvanera
• Pedro Laurenz at Club Resurgimento, Gral. Artigas 2250-62 in Villa del Parque
• Osvaldo Donato at the Club Sarmiento, Quintana 2236 in Olivas
• Francisco Fiorentino at the Nueva Cervecería Argentina (w/ pullman gratis, free bus, from Tellier and J. B. Alberdi)
That's only a partial list, so dig into the page-views below, find your favorite orchestra or BCG, grab your Most Favored Dance Partner (MFDP), and get out there and dance. Remember, you are making history!
Click for hi-res views.
Top: Right hand page, upper.
Second: Right-hand page, lower.
Bottom: Left-hand page, all.
Horacio Salgán was born in 1916 and he's still alive today, 99 years old as of this writing. He joined the staff of Radio Belgrano as a soloist and backing musician in 1934. Two years later he was hired as a pianist by Roberto Firpo. (The Firpo orchestra, formed in 1919, was by some accounts the last great orchestra of the Guardia Vieja.) Salgán made his first recordings in 1942 and formed his own orchestra in 1944. What you see here is the primicia, the first announcement, of a performance by Salgán's new group. The date is 25 March 1944.
Here's a fantastic 1939 performance of Curda completa by Firpo's orchestra with piano by one of his two pianists at the time, Carlos Garcia and Horacio Salgán. We don't know which of the two this is, but it's exceptional, and gives you an idea of the company young Salgán was keeping at age 23. Thanks to ace DJ Theresa Faus for bringing this to our attention!
El Mundo, 7 January 1942: "The maestro Horacio Salgán, noted exponent of our popular song, brilliant pianist and inspired composer, will appear today at 21:30, playing the organ and directing his Conjunto Melódico, a new orchestra that draws together a number of selected players, with whom the new director will perform a major work for radio. Maestro Salgán will build, in this way, an extensive catalog of lovely and beautiful tunes."
A nice Sunday afternoon performance by Lucio Demare's orchestra with Raúl Berón. Admission $1, ladies free.
Count me in!
Quick! Name the tango orchestra that, from mid-1942 to early 1943, featured both Roberto Rufino and Alberto Marino at the mic. Tango geeks already know the answer, but just in case, here it is....
There's something really special about this song, composed in 1927. It was recorded twice by male singers (Carlos Gardel, Oscar Larocca) and both times it fell flat, in my opinion (although its composer, Osvaldo Fresedo, recorded a very fine instrumental version, and Juan "Pacho" Maglio gave it his special sauce). The problem is that those male singers had to sing the lyric in the third person, twice removed: a man, telling about a woman, telling about her man: boring!
The song began to smolder in 1950, when songstress Nina Miranda and bandleader Graciano Gomez transposed it to the first person, finally letting the song's high-spirited narrator speak in her own voice. Next, it burst into open flame, or rather exploded, when Diana Durán got hold of it in '52, recording it with Enrique Mora's Quartet. The combination of first-person narration, Mora's punchy arrangement, and Durán's ebullient, tone-perfect delivery brings the song to life once and forever. And it only took twenty-five years!
Tango Decoder's new subtitled video in Spanish and English is below, followed by our full-text translation which was published in an earlier post here.
Arrabalero
Tango, 1927
Música: Osvaldo Fresedo
Letra: Eduardo Calvo
Lyrics as sung by Diana Durán with el Cuarteto Enrique Mora
| Soy la pebeta más rechiflada
que en el suburbio pasó la vida; soy la percanta que fue querida de aquel malevo que la amuró. Soy el orgullo del barrio entero, tengo una efe que es mi ilusión, pues soy criolla, soy milonguera, quiero a mi hombre de corazón. En un bulín mistongo
Por ser derecha tengo un machito
|
I’m the craziest chick* that ever spent her life in this suburb; I’m the broad who was the lover of that thief who stole her heart.* I’m the pride of all the barrio, my hope is my religion,* because I’m creole, I'm milonguera,* I love my man with all my heart. In a wretched little room I'll tell you straight, I've got a sweet
|
* craziest chick: La pebeta mas rechiflada. Pebeta is Lunfardo slang for "girl, gal, chick, babe." In Lunfardo the adjective rechiflada has a wide range of meanings including "crazy," "mad," "disturbed," "perturbed," or "angry." But the verb rechiflar also means "to whistle loudly," in which case it could mean "whistled at." Which interpretation is correct? It's hard to say. There's something to be said for "whistled at," since by this assertion our proud arrabalera is bragging about her high standing in the arrabal; "crazy, mad" is implied, too. The sheet music for Anselmo Aieta's 1927 instrumental tango La chiflada depicts a beautiful though possibly somewhat deranged young lady; a male passerby is seen in the act of whistling at her. However, contemporary porteños of my acquaintance hear the word rechiflada as "crazy." So I went with that.
* stole her heart: la amuró. The verb amurar has many meanings. Here, "to cause someone to fall head over heels in love."
* hope: efe, slang for fé, "faith." This is an example of Vesre slang, in which the letters of a word are reversed, transposed, or otherwise reordered.
* creole, milonguera: Criolla (f.), a European-descended native of Latin America, originally one of pure Spanish descent. Milonguera, a female patron of milongas, a tango dancer.
* Puente Alsina: Refers to the barrio of Nueva Pompeya, especially the vicinity of the The Alsina Bridge which crosses the Riachuelo, connecting SáenzAvenue in the city of Buenos Aires with the barrio of Valentín Alsina in the province. Nueva Pompeya identified as a typical barrio de tango in many tangos including El Choclo, Barrio de tango, Sur, and Puente Alsina by Benjamin Tagle Lara, recorded by the Orquesta Típica Victor as an instrumental in 1927 and by Osvaldo Pugliese with singer Jorge Vidal in 1949.
* will cry blood: llorará sangre. Gardel and Oscar Larocca both sang the lukewarm llorará siempre ("will cry forever"). The far more passionate llorará sangre, "will cry tears of blood," or simply "will cry blood," seems to have been Nina Miranda's innovation, and Durán sings it that way, too.
Quite a lineup! Demare with Berón today; Troilo with Fiorentino & Marino tomorrow; and Tanturi with Castillo on Tuesday.
"Mireya, darling, aren't you glad we decided to live in Palermo? We can walk to and from all these dances! And you get in free!"
[El Mundo, 29 May 1943]
Seminal bandeonista and bandleader Ciriaco Ortiz (here referred to as "The Captain of Tango") appeared often at the Palermo Palace. This ad is from 30 December, 1943.
CAPTAIN OF TANGO
Fronting The Orchestra of Orchestras - Exclusive Starting 1st of January
PALERMO PALACE - Godoy Cruz and Santa Fe
Gentlemen $1. Ladies Free
Today, Evening and Night
Ciriaco ORTIZ and Ery MAESTRO
El Mundo, 18 July 1942.
PALERMO PALACE
Family-style Dances Every Night and Sunday Afternoon
Godoy Cruz and S. Fe - 72-2425GENTLEMEN, $1.-- LADIES FREE
JAZZ SÁNCHEZ CODECÁ
Tango Orchestra of Angel D'AGOSTINO
Singer A. VARGAS
El Mundo, Thursday, January 1, 1942, page 25.
PALERMO PALACE
Godoy Cruz corner Santa Fe 72-2425
Today from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
2--Grand Debuts--2
JUAN CANARO
Eddie Milton And His Boys
DANCES every NIGHT
Gentlemen, $1.00 Ladies Free
Palermo Palace, at the corner of Godoy Cruz and Santa Fe, was a key tango venue during the 1940s. I don't have any real data about the place itself, but it was advertised regularly in El Mundo. Over the next few weeks we'll collect some of the ads from Palermo Palace, and see what we can learn about the place that way.
If you're reading this any you have any specific knowledge about Palermo Palace, please share it in the Comments or on Tango Time Machine on Facebook. Thanks!
