Tango bandleader Ebe Bedrune, known as the "The Tango Woman" or "The Lady in White," was a vivacious young pianist whose father, Abel, had been the leader of an orquesta típica in Rosario, Argentina, 150 km north of the Capital Federal. One day her father fell ill and couldn't play that night's show, so Ebe grabbed the baton and led the orchestra herself. Later, she got herself to Buenos Aires, formed her own band, and developed a very distinctive style of playing, arranging, and conducting as well as a flamboyant personal style that ran to white tuxedos and top hats. In her personal life, she liked to wear short skirts, drive a motorcycle, and play Chopin on her piano. She spoke English and studied French, read philosophy, and had a teacher's license. She wore pants onstage because, she facetiously explained, her father had once said, "to conduct tangos takes guts." In Spanish the phrase is Para dirigir tangos, es necesario tener bien puesto sus pantalones. The literal meaning is, "to conduct tangos, you need to have your pants well pressed."
The pictures and text shown here are from a tango and jazz fan magazine called Cantando from 1945. It contains no profound revelations. But it does tell us that way back in the mid-1940s a bold, high-spirited woman had the talent and the courage to wave a baton at an orquesta típica at a time when that activity was exclusively reserved for men, and she did it with great style. And it provides us with some delightful images most of us have never seen before.
Unfortunately, Ebe Bedrune never had a chance to record with her orchestra. It was only in operation about a year, as far as I can tell. She mentions in the article that funding and debt was problem. Maybe it got the better of her. What a shame we haven't got a single recording!
[Note: Ebe wasn't tango's only female bandleader. She was preceded by bandoneonist Paquita Bernardo (whose lineup included Osvaldo Pugliese and Elvino Vardaro) and possibly others. And there were all-women's tango orchestras that played in the barrios, although we don't know much about them. But in 1945, at the height of tango's Golden Age, she was the only woman directing a full-on orquesta típica. Thanks to Aad de Danser for reminding me of this!]
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