Classic Tango Stars
Here you'll find bios and information on the greatest classic tango stars.
Carlos Gardel (1890 - 1935):
Carlos Gardel was the legendary singer of the new lyrical tango songs that
appeared in Argentina in the 1920s. His light tenor, influenced by the popular opera singers
of the time such as Enrico Caruso, sold millions of records and packed concert halls throughout
South America. Gardel was also an accomplished actor and appeared in many films.
Well-groomed, smiling and handsome, Gardel helped
to make the tango legitimate with other audiences in Argentina for whom the word tango had sleazy connotations.
He was also an icon for the
millions of urban poor in Argentina and beyond who saw him rise from the slums to be an
international star.
Carlos Gardel was born in Toulouse, France in 1890 as the illegitimate son of Berta Gardes.
He came to Buenos Aires in 1893 with his mother to
find a better life. In his teens he began singing native folk and Spanish songs, shimmies, and fox trots accompanied by guitar in the clubs and cafes of Buenos Aires.
He established a well-known singing duo with Jose
Razzano, performing in venues located as far as
Uruguay. Carlos Gardel also appeared in big music-halls, where he performed with
light classical singers such that the lyricisms of his songs, coupled with their drama and tragic endings,
were reminiscent of Puccini's operas.
Sometime in 1917 Gardel met Pascual Contursi, a street poet in Montevideo with a talent for
writing risque songs using 'lunfardo' - Buenos Aires street slang. Their meeting resulted in
their first tango song in a whole new genre.
"Mi noche triste"('My sad night') told the tale of a pimp's
lonely nocturnal longings for his whore to come back to him.
Against the advice of his friends, Gardel sang the tango (his first in public) at a theatre
performance. Even though Razzano bailed out, Gardel got a standing ovation at the end.
The new sound of tango had arrived and the record companies couldn't release the records fast enough.
Gardel wrote one hit after the next, songs now considered tango
masterpieces: "El Dia Que me Quieras", "Mi Buenos Aires Querido", "Por Una Cabeza", "Volver", "Silencio",
and "Cuesta Abajo". By the early 1920s
Gardel's recordings had made him an international star. He travelled to Spain and France,
and was swamped by adoring crowds everywhere.
During a promotional tour for "El Dia Que Me Quieras" Gardel visited Puerto Rico, Cuba and finally
Colombia. At Medellin Airport in Columbia, Gardel boarded a short flight to
Cali for a radio interview before returning to Buenos Aires. He never arrived; the plane crashed
shortly after take-off. The effect on the Argentine public was similar to that which followed
the death of Lady Diana Spencer in 1997 in England. Citizens reacted with shock and disbelief
to the news, and life in Buenos Aires came to a halt. Gardel's body was returned to Buenos Aires
and lay in state for a day at the Luna Park arena amid weeping crowds. Eventually the coffin
began its final journey along Corrientes Avenue to the cemetery of La Chacarita, where he was laid
to rest.
His death in a plane crash at the height of his popularity contributed to
the Gardel legend - it's still said that he "sings better every day". The bronze statue of
Gardel in front of his grave in La Chacarita cemetery in Buenos Aires is a shrine to his followers. Fans
light a cigarette and place it in between the fingers of the life-size statue's right hand.
Gardel is also commemorated during Argentina's National Tango Day every 11th of December.
Other tributes to Gardel include a street and a subway station bearing his name.
Astor Piazzolla (1921 - 1992) - Bandoneon player, director and composer
Astor Piazzolla was a remarkable musician, who revitalised the tango and took it from the
clubs and ballrooms into the concert halls.
Various parts of Astor Piazzolla's output, while all based firmly in the
rhythm and passion of his native tango, might be filed under the 'World Music', 'Jazz', 'Classical', or even 'Easy Listening' sections.
Piazzolla was born in Mar del Plata, Argentina.
While living in Bronx, New York Piazzolla became a promising young
bandoneon player. So promising, in fact, that he
was asked by tango deity Carlos Gardel to play a part in his film 'El Dia que me Quieras'.
Impressed, Gardel offered the young man a place on his forthcoming South American tour.
Piazzolla declined the offer and returned to Buenos Aires, while Gardel went on and tragically died in a plane crash.
Back home, Piazzolla studied under the Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera and also made a name for himself as a
band leader. By 1945 Piazzolla had recorded 25 albums. In 1954 he received a grant to continue his classical studies
with the composer Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Nadia found his classical efforts too full of the 'approved' influences -
Ravel, Stravinsky, Bartok - and not individual, not his own. 'The truth is,' Piazzolla later wrote, 'I was
ashamed to tell her that I was a tango musician, that I had worked in the whorehouses and cabarets of Buenos
Aires. A tango musician was a dirty concept in Argentina when I was young. It was the underworld. But Nadia made me
play a tango for her on the piano, and then told me, 'You idiot! don't you know, this is the real Piazzolla,
not the other one? You can throw all that other music away'. So I threw away ten years of work, and
started with my Nuevo Tango.'
Back in Buenos Aires, Piazzolla started to develop his unique fusion, and formed the Quinteto Tango Nuevo ('New
Tango Quintet') in 1960. Though some purists didn't like it at first, he took the traditional music of Argentina into
new territory, revolutionizing its old image with innovative content and form. Tango could now have jazz chords
and improvisations - or it could be worked into a classical fugue. Piazzolla's tango could be meticulously worked on in a
studio
or spontaneously exuded in the concert hall.
'I think that music or styles of music should not be explained, especially nuevo tango,' Piazzolla said.
'You feel it or you don't. If it's old fashioned, or traditional, or contemporary, that's another story.
This music is
trying to be something else, it's just a new way of feeling the music of my city, Buenos Aires.
Some musicians love it and
music lovers everywhere enjoy the new sound,
but our 'tangueros' hate me, only because I changed the old tango. I only
turned it upside down like a stocking, but the question is why did I do it?
Tango, like jazz, must change. There was a need for new music (harmonies, rhythms, melodies, arrangements) and
a history of 40 years of battling against enemies who wouldn't accept it.'
One of Piazzolla's great compositions from that period, 'Adios Nonino' ('Goodbye Grandpa'), written in memory of his
dying father, displays the new direction of tango: the piece starts with a splashy, jazzy piano introduction
that sounds improvised but isn't. The piece continues with a piano soliloquy,
but turns frantic and introspective and is
brusquely interrupted
by the bandoneon's sound and from there the music alternates between boisterous reminiscence and tender memories.
It was all very different from the tango of Carlos Gardel,
but Piazzolla's music and influence began to spread from Buenos
Aires around the globe. By the end of the 1980s he was a celebrated international artist, having anticipated the
boom in popular world music - or rather, having helped to cause it. In 1989, he formed the Sexteto Tango Nuevo
with two bandoneons, and carried on composing and performing concerts, although many of his compositions were
never recorded in a studio. He became ill in 1990 and died in his beloved Buenos Aires at the age of 71, having almost
single-handedly revived and renewed the artform.
Osvaldo Pugliese (1905 - 1995) - Piano player, director and composer.
Born in Buenos Aires, Osvaldo began his musical career as a pianist in the sextet of Paquita
Bernado. In 1929 he formed a sextet with Elvino Vardaro and by 1939 Osvaldo had formed his own orchestra.
In 1943 he made his first recordings with Odeon, and later with Stentor and Phillips,
while starting to travel the world
widely, including trips to the Soviet Union, China and Japan.
His father Adolfo, worker in the shoe industry, was an amateur flutist and performed in quartets that played tango in the neighborhood. Adolfo's two older brothers played the violin:
Vicente 'Fito' Salvador, and Alberto Roque, the latter was
more involved than the former and was well invlolved in music for a number of years.
It was Osvaldo's father that taught
him his first music lessons,
and Osvaldo started his first steps with the violin, but soon switched to piano, even
though
it took Don Adolfo a certain time to buy the expensive instrument.
After being trained at Conservatories nearby,
at
fifteen Osvaldo started playing at the "Cafe de La Chancha",
so called by the customers in reference to the lack of
hygiene shown by the owner.
Sometime later, he worked at a well known cafe in downtown Buenos Aires, and took part in the group of the first female
bandoneonist in tango, Francisca "Paquita" Bernardo.
Going on with his career, Osvaldo entered Enrique Pollet quartet, and later played in the famous Roberto Firpo
orchestra, and then in 1927 was a pianist in the great bandoneonist Pedro Maffia's orchestra.
Together with the violinist Elvino
Vardaro, Pugliese left the orchestra to form a new group under their own name
which was considered avant-garde for the
time, but it has not left recordings.
Vardaro-Pugliese had their debut at the Cafe Nacional starting a long tour across
the country. They were
accompanied by the poet Eduardo Moreno, their manager and Malena de Toledo, their singer.
Moreno was
the lyricist of "Recuerdo", the most successful tango composed by Pugliese.
The tour turned out a financial failure and
Vardaro had to pawn his "Sartoris" bow to pay the return tickets.
Later, Pugliese in association with another
violinist,
Alfredo Gobbi, formed a group where one of the bandoneon players was the very young Anibal Troilo.
That venture lasted a
few months and after that he formed his own team thanks to an opportunity to play in a couple of local hangouts.
Afterwards he took part in two duets, firstly with Gobbi and later with Vardaro, performing in radio broadcasts. In 1934,
when the bandoneonist Pedro Laurenz assembled an orchestra, Pugliese was chossen to play the
piano. On this occasion he
wrote the first arrangements for some tangos, among these was "La Beba",
which belongs to his inspiration. In 1936 he was
member of the bandoneonist Miguel Calo's group,
still in the De Caro stream, and in this way
he was nurturing his
aesthetic ideas concerning tango.
Until 1938 Pugliese put together new formations which did not
last, and tried
unsuccessfully to put together a cooperative society of workers as an expression of his Communist
ideas.
His
definitive projection towards the tango he conceived commenced on August 11, 1939, when he reappeared
at the cafe
Nacional. Amadeo Mandarino was the singer in his brand new orchestra. After a time he reorganized the group,
then with
Augusto Gauthier as vocalist. Pugliese was the leader, pianist and arranger of a group that at this time was working
as a
cooperative unit. From a cafe placed in the Villa Crespo neighborhood they switched to the most important
broadcast of the
time, Radio El Mundo, so giving origin to an important group of followers made up of fans of his style
and adepts of the
Communist party.
Pugliese was becoming the most faithful example of the De Caro style, but with a
strong rhythmic beat, very
appealing to the dancers but without sacrificing quality.
Of the greatest importance
was, when his orchestra
finally recorded in 1943, the arrival of Roberto Chanel, tough singer, with nasal sound and
"compadrito" style, who left
31 recordings. To achieve a contrast, Pugliese included Alberto Moran as vocalist because of
his dramatism, sensuality,
his rare quality for the mezza voce and perfect match with the orchestral accompaniment. His
appeal on women has never
been equaled by any other singer. Moran left 48 recorded songs. Between 1949 and 1950, Jorge
Vidal, another of the popular
voices in the history of this orchestra, recorded only eight. Among the subsequent singers
outstand, although with
repertories of irregular quality, Jorge Maciel and Miguel Montero.
In the 40s Pugliese recorded some instrumental pieces of his own which anticipated the avant-garde. Such is the case of
"La yumba" (which became a sort of anthem of his orchestra), "Negracha" and "Malandraca". Because of these two latter, he
is regarded as a pioneer in the use of syncopation and counterpoint prior to Horacio Salgan and Astor Piazzolla. Other
important tangos Pugliese composed and played are, above all, the aforementioned "Recuerdo", and "La Beba", "Adios
Bardi",
"Recien", "Barro", "Una vez" and "El encopao".
Through years, Osvaldo Pugliese orchestra was banned for broadcasting as a means of political censorship but it did not
succeed in diminishing his popular acceptance.
He was extremely well loved and respected by his musicians. When
Pugliese was blacklisted his orchestra would leave a single
red carnation on the empty keyboard to honour his absence. Pugliese developed a unique orchestral sound, regularly
a
rranging his own works to feature the bandoneon of Osvaldo Ruggiero,
with whom he collaborated for almost three decades
(1939-1968).
Their combined skills together with Pugliese's piano playing and visionary musical intelligence
created a music that
remains the
top choice of many stage and salon tango dancers for its intensity and integrity.
"La Yumba" is one of his most famous compositions and was played at his funeral in July 1995.
Carlos Di Sarli (1903-1960) - Pianist, director and composer
Di Sarli, the perfectionist, was a wizard of the keyboard and one of the great composers of tango.
His famous rhythmic sound came from a guitar when he didn't use the bandoneon.
Di Sarli always wore a dark pair of sunglasses to hide an accidental wound that occured in childhood.
Complete Bio
Juan D'Arienzo (1900-1976): - Violin player, director, and composer
Juan D'Arienzo and his energetic beat brought great masses to the milongas and dance halls in the 1930s.
D'Arienzo placed strict emphasis on the rhythmic side of tango, and with a forceful lead, became on of the greatest tango
musicians to dance to.
D'Arienzo also possessed and displayed the lunfardo attitude that the tango was born with.
Complete Bio
Francisco "Pirincho" Canaro (1888-1964): - Violin player, director and composer.
This excellent performer added much to tango music. In the late 1920s Canaro was one of the first to create the unique
sounds of the Fantasia style of Tango. In the late 1950s Francisco also introduced Juan Copes and Maria Nieves in one of
his grand shows.
Complete Bio
Ricardo Tanturi (1905-1973):
Ricardo ameliorated and grew the classic tango sounds with his powerful compilations.
Angel D'Agostino (1900-1991) and Angel Vargas (1904-1959): -
D'Agostino, the pianist/composer and Vargas, the singer, made a tremendios pair that enriched the tango world.
Miguel Calo (1907-1972): - Bandoneon player and orchestra director
Miguel Calo was the master of the tango sound. He could make beautiful pieces sound complete and delightful.
He always recruited the best performers and was a very successful producer.
Roberto 'Polaco' Goyeneche:
The prolific singer Roberto Goyeneche followed Carlos Gardel in his style and worked with many great orchestras.
Anibal Troilo (1914 - 1975):
Troilo was a master of controlling feeling and a had a strong manner of expression. As an orchestra leader, he created an
undoubtable
tango style, balanced, with originality and of undeniable taste. He knew how to choose the best players according to his
musical ideals. Finally, he was an inspired composer, creator of pieces made to that passed the test of time.
Eladia Blazquez:
This renowned singer and composer took her first artistic steps in her early years. At the
age of eight she already sang and played the guitar and piano by ear.
Her compositions deal with melancholy and hope, everyday life and the expression of pain and frustration in home city of
Buenos Aires.
Complete Bio
Maria Grana:
Maria Grana is one of the greatest world-renowned tango singers. She is the daughter of
singer Marcos Grana, and started her career very young, recognized by
Osvaldo Pugliese
who, in 1971, encourages her debut on television and turns her into one of the first singers
of his orchestra.
Complete Bio
Contemporary Tango Stars:
Read bios of the current and latest stars of the Argentine Tango.
More
Tango Dance Stars:
Aside from the great musicians that have shaped the Argentine Tango, there are also phenomenal dancers
that are world renowned for their tango expertise.
More
