[Tango-L] Better? Worse? Just different

[Andrew RYSER SZYMAÑSKI]

--- On Wed, 13/4/11, Mario <sopelote at yahoo.com> wrote:

one thing for
> sure is that I don't want to reward bands who practise at
> the milonga...they should be more professional and get their
> act together before they ever play for dancers....be
> demanding please...I heard one trio get up on stage and brag
> that this was only the second time that they had played
> together.....ufffffff    They should have been hooked off
> of the stage right then and there

A bit extreme isn't it? We have here in London a number of professional tango bands who have been together for over 10 years & still sound, as some people have said, "like a Jewish wedding". They don't pack any punch. It's an effort to dance to them. They are highly skilled classical musos who play tango as if it was Mozart. A good example is Baremboim who, over 10 years ago made a CD "Tango among Friends" where he got the best tango sidemen from Bs As and the whole thing still ended up as a flop, because the fact that he himself was from Bs As did not guarantee that he could play a tango with the necessary "mugre". However, experienced improvising musicians can certainly deliver the goods, & I've seen it done. Tango is a FEEL. You don't learn it at the conservatory, or by rehearsing until you're blue in the face.

Andrew W. RYSER SZYMAÑSKI,
23b All Saints Road,
London, W11 1HE,
07944 128 739.