[Tango-L] Some questions answered on "Some live tango

[Barnes, Bob]

Hi-

I totally agree with what Anfractuoso had to say about the pre-1920 "Habanera" beat on old sheet music.  Those 2-page sheets are a lot of fun to play solo, but they are missing a lot of contramelodies and basslines that make a tango orchestra danceable.

  > As to the excerpt below, I am curious, Bob, which recordings on your 2005 CD 
  > are copies of arrangements of D'Arienzo, Canaro, Di Sarli or Troilo, if any. 
  > Of course your band does not seem the size of those orchestras so there must 
  > have been some changes still?

Our 2005 CD is not very dancable.  Half of the tracks are with our "full orchestra" (2 vln, viola, cello, bass, piano, accordion) and were arranged before I fully compreheded "the beat".  The other half are an "a la parilla" session with our "Tango Godfather", Max Valentinuzzi, a retired professor who put himself though Medical School in Buenos Aries in the 1950s by playing tango piano.  He is a joy to play with, but those sessions are a bit rough and don't really represent how we play for a Milonga now.  

We're working on a new CD this summer.  Here are some tracks that were recorded live at a show earlier this month.  They are very rough and will not be used on any commercial CD we will release, but you can get a feel for how we sound live.  I've chosen 4 transcriptions/adaptaions I made from bigger orchestras so you can hear how a small group can channel the sound of a full orquesta tipica.

Silueta Porteña, ripped off from Canaro: 
http://www.mandragoratango.com/music/2007/05/30/Silueta%20Portenita%20(Canaro%20Transcription).mp3

La Tablada, ripped off from D'Arienzo: 
http://www.mandragoratango.com/music/2007/05/30/La%20tablada%20(D'Arienzo%20Transcription).mp3

La Yumba, ripped off from Pugilese: 
http://www.mandragoratango.com/music/2007/05/30/La%20yumba%20(Pugliese%20Transcription).mp3

Melancholico, ripped off from Troilo: 
http://www.mandragoratango.com/music/2007/05/30/Melancolico%20(Troilo%20Transcription).mp3


-Bob Barnes from Mandrágora Tango
http://www.mandragoratango.com