This week, I’m featuring one of my favorite orchestras — José García, with the warm and expressive voice of Alfredo Rojas. Their collaboration brought a refined and emotional style to the late 1940s tango scene.
Unfortunately, García left behind only 40 recordings on the Odeon label. Alfredo Rojas sang on 35 of them, Nilda Wilson on one, and two were recorded as duets. The rest were instrumentals.
To me, about sixteen of García’s tangos are suitable for the milonga floor — enough to create four distinct tandas. For this one, I selected pieces recorded between 1942 and 1943. García’s orchestra is not only musically elegant and rhythmically engaging, but also distinguished by the subtle, romantic touch of his pianists — first Juan Carlos Barbará and later Carlos Figari — whose phrasing gently pulls dancers onto the floor. And Rojas (born Asdrúbal Sterla Webster) was the perfect voice for this orchestra, with his refined, perfectly controlled delivery that blended seamlessly with the ensemble’s rhythm and mood.
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