As we approach the end of the year, this week I’m back with another vals tanda. Just like in Week 43, I’ve put together a mixed tanda again.
During a live set at a milonga, I normally prefer to build tandas from the works of a single orchestra within a close time period. But sometimes—like this week—there aren’t enough suitable valses from one orchestra to fill an entire tanda.
For this tanda, I focused on choosing early-period valses whenever possible—specifically from the years 1928 to 1932, a time when sextets were shaping the sound of tango. I also wanted to highlight names that are rarely heard at milongas. Once you narrow it down to early-period recordings, performed by a sextet or típica, and featuring a female vocalist, the number of options becomes quite limited. Looking through my relatively extensive archive, these are the artists and recordings that fit the criteria:
- Ada Falcón with Francisco Canaro’s orchestra
- Dorita Davis with Orquesta Típica Víctor
- Joaquina Carreras with Juan Bautista Guido’s orchestra
- Libertad Lamarque with her orchestra
- Mercedes Carné with Carlos Di Sarli’s sextet
- Mercedes Simone with her orchestra
- Raquel Notar with Juan D’Arienzo’s orchestra
- Tania — who passed away at the age of 106 — with Alberto Castellano’s orchestra
Of course, there were other remarkable voices active during this era, though unfortunately without any surviving vals recordings. Names like Tita Merello, Amanda Ledesma, Rosita Quiroga, Sofía Bozán, and Chola Luna come to mind. Rosita Quiroga’s 1928 vals Las doce de la noche does exist, but sadly it isn’t suitable for playing in a milonga setting.
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