Tango

Juan D'Arienzo y Alberto Echagüe – El Raje
Aquellas Canciones, Collectionista
RCA Victor 05(0131)01569
Made in Medellin, Colombia

There are plenty Argentinian steakhouses in Miami and therefore plenty of Argentinian Music in their thrift stores. I only visited one during my weekend in the big city but it yielded five Argentinian records. And when you mention Argentinian records you're talking tango. As a coincidence I had found another five in my hometown of Fort Myers just a week earlier. 5+5=10. Three by Carlos Gardel, two by Astor Piazolla, two of Juan D'Arienzo, two compilation records, and a record with music by Anibal Troilo. There's not a female to be spotted on none of those records but they're all good, without exception, they all carry that strong emotional heaviness that make you feel that Argentinians are higher in the spiritual hierarchy than you and me. More machismo for sure. Next week I will pay special attention to the music of Carlos Gardel, whose music I adore, but this week's song is from Juan D'Arienzo from an album collaborating with Alberto Echagüe. I had never heard of either of them but that doesn't mean anything. In fact they're both kings: "El rey del Lunfardo y el rey del compas". D'Arienzo (1900-1972) is the compas (beat) and Echagüe the Lunfardo (a dialect of Buenos Aires). D'Arienzo is the band leader and Echagüe the singer. The music must have been recorded in the 1940s but the record I have in front of me El Raje is much newer. The song Barajando is a tango, they all are, save for two milangos. Listen to Barajando.