Rating:
Genre:
Latin
Release Date: 05/24/2005
The taproots of
tango have been traced back to the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when colonialism, emigration, war and revolutions created unprecedented cultural cross-pollination as musical elements from France, Spain, Africa, Haiti and Cuba -- most notably
flamenco and the contradanza habanera -- began to mingle and morph like never before. While the habanera blossomed in New Orleans and moved north, manifesting itself at the heart of such primal
jazz structures as
W.C. Handy's
"St. Louis Blues" and
Jelly Roll Morton's
"The Crave," the
tango flourished in Buenos Aires, there to achieve international notoriety as an urban dance craze. This sanguine music and its at times provocative choreography became enormously popular in Europe during the late '20s and throughout the '30s.
Living Era's excellent
Vintage Tango Tonight sampler provides examples recorded between 1930 and 1950 in Buenos Aires, Hamburg, Berlin, Paris, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Milan, Amsterdam and London. Anyone specifically interested in the German aspect of this genre will enjoy the eight examples included in this package and should also investigate
German Tango Bands 1925-1939 [
Harlequin 127], for the Germans went especially wild over the
tango until the Nazis declared it verboten. Teutonic participants in
Living Era's
Vintage Tango collection are
Alfred Hause and
the Hamburg Radio Tango-Orchestra;
Hans Carste and
the Ludwig Ruth Orchestra; vocalist
Fritz Weber and His Orchestra;
Kramer & His Solo Players;
Dajos Bela (
Alfred Ditters) and the
Palermo Tango Band,
Heinz Huppertz, and
Robert Renard & His Orchestra. Slavic
tango talent is represented by Ukrainian/Rumanian violinist
Marek Weber & His Orchestra and violinist
Barnabas Von Geczy, The Dutch and Scandinavian players include vocalist
Evert Taube with
Bjorn Schildknecht; violinist
Jens Warny & Son Orchestre, vocalist
Eddie Russell with
Richard Jensen and His Arena Orchestra and
Malando & His Tango Orchestra, recorded in wild and restless Amsterdam. The Parisian
tango scene is well represented here with orchestras led by
A.J. Pesenti,
Tito Henriotti, and
Louis Ferrari; by the
Don Alfredo Marimba Orchestra and the Paris-based
Eldorado Tango Band. The British
tango trend left a swath of dance records in its wake, here personified by
George Scott-Wood and the
London Piano-Accordeon Band,
Victor Silvester & His Ballroom Orchestra,
Sidney Torch & His Orchestra, and violinist
Geraldo and His Gaucho Tango Orchestra. As for authenticity, three of these recordings were actually made in Buenos Aires, by
Francisco Canaro,
Francisco J. Lomuto & His Tipica Orchestra and operatic tenor
Tito Schipa with an unidentified Argentine
tango ensemble. Entertaining? Why, yes! And very educational for those who wish to study the informative liner notes.
~arwulf arwulf, All Music Guide
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