First Announcement of Salgan's Orchestra (1944)

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!