Episode 5

Tango music is 𝒂 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔—it can be 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄, 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒄, 𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄, or 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒇𝒖𝒍. Every orchestra and track carries its own unique character, making tango a never-ending discovery. As a DJ, understanding these styles helps craft the amusing musical journey for dancers.  

Today, let’s take a tour through different 𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒕𝒚𝒍𝒆𝒔, each represented by a carefully selected track

• 𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑳𝒀 𝑻𝑨𝑵𝑮𝑶 (𝑮𝑼𝑨𝑹𝑫𝑰𝑨 𝑽𝑰𝑬𝑱𝑨) Tango wasn’t always as structured and orchestrated as we hear it today. In its early days, known as 𝑮𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝑽𝒊𝒆𝒋𝒂, tango had a simpler rhythm, raw energy, and an almost improvised feel. 𝑱𝒖𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒂𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒐 "𝑷𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒐" was a key figure in shaping this raw, danceable style: 𝑱𝒖𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒂𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒐 - 𝑨𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒅𝒐 (1927)  

• 𝑷𝑶𝑾𝑬𝑹 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑩𝑬𝑨𝑻  When you want 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒕, 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒐 is a great choice. He has many tracks to choose from, e.g.  𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒐 - 𝒀𝒐 𝑸𝒖𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒐 𝑸𝒖𝒆 𝑺𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒔 (1933) 

• 𝑷𝑳𝑨𝒀𝑭𝑼𝑳 & 𝑭𝑼𝑵 𝑻𝑨𝑵𝑮𝑶  Not all tango is serious—𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒐𝒓, 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒇! 𝑬𝒅𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒐 𝑫𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒐 brings a lively, fun energy that 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈: 𝑬𝒅𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒐 𝑫𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒐 - 𝑬𝒍 𝑨𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒐 (1933) 

• 𝑹𝑶𝑴𝑨𝑵𝑻𝑰𝑪 𝑻𝑨𝑵𝑮𝑶  Tango can also be 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆, creating 𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎 𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑶𝒔𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒅𝒐 𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒅𝒐 is the master of soft, dreamy melodies: 𝑶𝒔𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒅𝒐 𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒅𝒐 - 𝑽𝒊𝒅𝒂 𝑴í𝒂 (1933) 

• 𝑹𝑯𝒀𝑻𝑯𝑴𝑰𝑪 & 𝑬𝑵𝑬𝑹𝑮𝑬𝑻𝑰𝑪 Some tracks 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚—no hesitation, just rhythm and energy! 𝑱𝒖𝒂𝒏 𝑫’𝑨𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒛𝒐, known as “El Rey del Compás” (King of Rhythm), made his music 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄, 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈.  𝑱𝒖𝒂𝒏 𝑫'𝑨𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒛𝒐 - 𝑬𝒍 𝑭𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆 (1936) 

• 𝑺𝒀𝑵𝑪𝑶𝑷𝑨𝑻𝑬𝑫 & 𝑼𝑵𝑷𝑹𝑬𝑫𝑰𝑪𝑻𝑨𝑩𝑳𝑬  Some tangos 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒓𝒉𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒎, making dancers stay on their toes. 𝑹𝒐𝒅𝒐𝒍𝒇𝒐 𝑩𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒊 was a genius at 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒕, 𝒔𝒚𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒉𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈.  𝑹𝒐𝒅𝒐𝒍𝒇𝒐 𝑩𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒊 - 𝑳𝒂 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒍 𝑭𝒖𝒆𝒈𝒐 (1940)  

• 𝑫𝑹𝑨𝑴𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑪, 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑮𝑬, 𝑷𝑬𝑹𝑭𝑶𝑹𝑴𝑨𝑵𝑪𝑬  Tango can be theatrical, filled with suspense and intensity. No one does it better than 𝑶𝒔𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒅𝒐 𝑷𝒖𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒆, whose arrangements are full of 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒔, 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒑𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔.  𝑶𝒔𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒅𝒐 𝑷𝒖𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒆 - 𝑳𝒂 𝒀𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒂 (1946) 

• 𝑴𝑬𝑳𝑨𝑵𝑪𝑯𝑶𝑳𝑰𝑪 𝑻𝑨𝑵𝑮𝑶  Sometimes, tango is 𝒂 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. 𝑨𝒏í𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒐 is the master of 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒐𝒏 and 𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔.  𝑨𝒏í𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒐 - 𝑺𝒖𝒓 (1948)

• 𝑺𝑨𝑳𝑶𝑵 𝑺𝑻𝒀𝑳𝑬  When people say “𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒐,” they often mean 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒐𝒔 𝑫𝒊 𝑺𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊. His music is 𝒔𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒉, 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅, making it perfect for tango salon dancing.  𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒐𝒔 𝑫𝒊 𝑺𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊 - 𝑩𝒂𝒉í𝒂 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒂 (1957) 

Tip: if you pay attention to the years, you’ll notice how tango evolved over time—from the raw, lively rhythms of early tango  to the polished elegance of the golden age.

𝑬𝑿𝑷𝑳𝑶𝑹𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑻𝑨𝑵𝑮𝑶 𝑻𝑯𝑹𝑶𝑼𝑮𝑯 𝑫𝑰𝑭𝑭𝑬𝑹𝑬𝑵𝑻 𝑫𝑰𝑴𝑬𝑵𝑺𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑺  

Not all tango is categorized by mood—sometimes, it’s about 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒗𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒚𝒍𝒆𝒔.  

• 𝑵𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔:  𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒐 - 𝑴𝒊𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒂

• 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒐𝒏 𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔:  𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒐 - 𝑫𝒊𝒆𝒛 𝑨ñ𝒐𝒔 

• 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝑰𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆:  𝑬𝒏𝒓𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒛 - 𝑬𝒏 𝑬𝒍 𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒈𝒂 𝒀𝒐 𝑻𝒆 𝑬𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒐

• 𝑴𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝑽𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔:  𝑬𝒏𝒓𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒅𝒓í𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒛 - 𝑴𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒂 

𝑭𝑰𝑵𝑨𝑳 𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑼𝑮𝑯𝑻𝑺  

Tango is 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏—every track carries 𝒂 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓, and 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚. As DJs, we are 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, choosing music that 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍.  

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