[Tango-L] tango to the blues

[tanguerochino@netscape.net]

-----Original Message-----
Lois Donnay wrote:

>... Blues and tango music share a common history...


A while back, I came home after a milonga, and turned on the TV while I 
was having a snack.  The program was a documentary on the evolution of 
jazz music, and the topic that night was blues.  A the program went on 
to describe how the musical genre came to be, I felt an instant 
recognition.  It is the music of the working class, of the poor.  The 
songs, the lyrics, are all about the hardship of everyday life.  One 
comment from a musician struck me.  He said the people who sing the 
blues are really the happy ones.  Blues is an outlet to let go of their 
daily frustrations of life.  They sing about the hardship so they can 
forget about it, much like tango.

Another thing that caught my attention was a segment on parties.  There 
may have been a name for these, but I don't recall right now.  They 
were talking about the deep south here - Luisiana, Alabama.  Because of 
the heat, they have dances that would start late at night.  The (blues) 
musicians would play and people would come and dance.  The music is 
soulful, and sultry. The dancing and slow, and sweaty.  But everyone 
would hang around, until dawn wakes them from their trance and send 
them home for some sleep.

Sound familiar, doesn't it?