Tango Club

In today’s episode we talked about Catulo Castillo, one of the great creators that Tango gave. We discussed in earlier episodes, the history of tango, the lyrics of tango and the earlier composers like Angel Villoldo, Pascual Contursi, Cadicamo, Homero Manzi and Santos Discepolo. Cátulo Castillo, with his lyrics, dug the subjects that always haunted tango: the painful nostalgia for what is lost, love sufferings and the decline of life. Tangos: Silbando La Violeta Maria La Ultima Curda El Ultimo Café

I bet you know El Choclo, probably one of the most popular tangos along with La Cumparsita. We shared the story of its creator Angel Villoldo, a pioneer. He bears the title of Father of Tango, a somewhat exaggerated qualification because there were many circumstances which originated our music. But his influence was so important in the beginnings and its development which made him deserve this designation. He is the great transformer of the Spanish tanguillos, the cuplés, the habaneras, turning those musics into a River Plate rhythm. A natural artist, he avoided no activity which enabled him to earn some money for a living. It is said that he was a typographer, circus clown and any other job he was required for. With a facility for writing, he devised stanzas for carnival costumed groups and numerous poems and prose writings for well-known magazines of the time: Caras y caretas, Fray Mocho and P.B.T.

In this episode, we talked about an icon of tango, his name was Carlos Gardel. We could make hundreds of programs talking about him; he was tango's first superstar and still one of its most enduring performers. He died young in plane crash in 1935, and he was the first singer to adopt the tango as a form of popular song. Previously, it had been entirely instrumental dance music, played marginal places. Gardel didn't change those qualities, but his work popularized the genre beyond all expectations. Thanks to extensive touring and movie career, Gardel was able to become a star throughout Latin America, the USA and Western Europe; in fact, tango's international acceptance legitimized it in the eyes of Argentine skeptics. Blessed with an expressive, sobbing baritone voice, Gardel helped establish an important part of tango's emotional language. Moreover, his charismatic personal style made him a folk hero to countless fans. His rise symbolically paralleled tango's path to international fame; in Gardel the common folk of Buenos Aires saw themselves and their culture validated on a massive scale. Since his death, we say that he sings better every day. Gardel is still The King of Tango.

In this episode we discussed the origins of this lovely music called tango. Few people know that the major influence of this music is actually African, and it evolved from the candombe. We talked about how this marginal music and culture surged from so many different sources like that afro Argentinean, the European and the native Argentinean coming from the gauchos, and we dove deeper on the black culture of the 1880s to analyze how it nurtured this genre.

Iconic tango composed by an Argentinean and Uruguayan 100 years ago, and probably the most played and danced, in all tango shows and milongas around the world and it is a tradition to be the last song in these events. "La cumparsita" is a tango written at the end of 1916 by Gerardo Matos Rodríguez, with lyrics by Pascual Contursi and Enrique Pedro Maroni. Roberto Firpo, director and pianist of the orchestra that premiered the song, added parts of his tangos "La Gaucha Manuela" and "Curda Completa" to Matos' carnival march ("La Cumparsita"), resulting in "La cumparsita" as it is currently known. There are contradictions of opinions as for the date and, as we shall further see, also about what orchestra was the first one to record it. For Legido and for Matos Rodríguez´s grandniece, Rosario Infantozzi Durán, the dates are in 1917 and the first recording was by the Alonso-Minotto orchestra. It is not at issue that the Roberto Firpo orchestra had been the first that played “La cumparsita” in public. The dispute is about the year. Truth is that it turned a centennial and became one of the most famous tangos in its different versions. About the title: Cumparsa: Lunfardo (dialect of Buenos Aires) word that denotes a group of people that attends the carnival festivals dressed in a similar fashion (usually, but not exclusively, wearing masks). The term seems to be a corruption of the italian 'comparsa'.

In this episode, we talked about a beautiful, sad love story, Gricel, the love story that was immortalized in a tango song. The most interesting of this, is that this story goes beyond this 3 minute tango written by Jose Maria Contursi, because it’s actually a real love story, and in real life had a happy ending. This tango tells the story of a character who tries to win Gricel’s heart. He finally succeeds on this, but he shouldn’t do it. He then lost her love and he regrets for this the rest of his life. Jose Maria Contursi was an awesome lyricist, a close friend of Carlos Gardel and he composed for the biggest tango orchestras and singers. Legends says that after a passionate and forbidden romance, Contursi left Grisel because he was married and they both propose themselves to forget each other, but they find that forgetting was impossible. Over time, Contursi is obsessed with the memory of his beloved Gricel and, from then on, in every one of his tangos (including the this one named "Gricel"), disappointment and unhappiness are present. This tango was written in 1942 and Mariano Mores, another great musician and composer put music to these beautiful words. It could have been the plot of a soap opera. Or a radio drama. But the story is not only real, it also became a symbol in the world of tango, where the musical poetry of Buenos Aires became universal. The title of the legend has only six letters: Gricel .

If we talk of art in general and music in particular, and tango if we want to dig deeper, the lyrics have born many decades after the music of its hundred plus years of life. In this episode, we talked about the lyrics of the Tango. It was originally, in the 1880s, improvised instrumental music to cheer up parties and brothels, and with time it started to add lyrics that painted the life in those marginal areas, with time this lyrics had the complexity, and sensitivity that never other cultural expression had before, having compositors like Homero Manzi, Enrique Cadicamo, Catulo Castillo y Enrique Santos Discepolo. Themes: Gaucho and Pampa Sex Nostalgia and homesick Barrio (neighborhood) Arrabal and belonging WomenBuenos Aires Disappointments You can check our web site: tangoclubshow.com and please leave your comments on iTunes or via email to podcast@tangoclubshow.com

Tango is our passion. We dance it, we sing it, we feel it and we podcast about it. It has to do with immigration; it was born in the late 1800 and has a lot of nostalgia. Tango historians defined 6 eras of tango since it was born. Those are: The Origins (until 1895)La Guardia Vieja – the old guard (1895-1925)La Guardia Nueva – the new guard (1925-1950)The vanguard and modernization  (1955-1970)Contemporary period (1970-2000)Current Period (since 2000 on) In this first episode, we'll review all these periods and we'll talk about musicians, composers, singers and poets, and we'll analyze the lyrics and the social context that made these pieces of art appear. You can check our web site: tangoclubshow.com and please leave your comments on iTunes or via email to podcast@tangoclubshow.com