Tango Profiles

For the first time we're looking at a lyricist (who was also a composer). E.S. Discépolo shaped the tango songbook in a significant way, injecting a healthy dose of porteño philosophy. Theatrical and literary, he was also sarcastic, quick-witted, and able to capture porteño pessimism using slang, highbrow references, and a dose of humor.

Osvaldo Fresedo was an orchestra leader, bandoneonist, and composer of tango classics like Vida mía. His career spanned the early, middle, and golden ages of tango, and he was a protagonist in a couple of unusual tango stories.

We have a great season ahead! It´s going to be a year of pairs.

Carlos Gardel is literally the face of tango, the most famous figure in the history of the music. More than a movie star, he was the composer of many of tango's greatest hits, and he was a folk singer who recorded hundreds of songs with this guitarists.

Year-end update...full episode coming soon...

Update on 2017...full episode coming soon...

Eduardo Arolas is one of the most important composers from the very earliest days of tango. His music, however, sounds years ahead of its time even though he wrote most of it before 1917. In this episode we do some listening and compare old and new recordings from his amazing catalog.

Lucio Demare is one of the great composers and proponents of tango, lush and expressive in style. In addition to penning the classic 'Malena' he got his professional start at a very young age, doing a particular job that was common in the early 20th century.

Tango is Troilo and Troilo is tango. In this episode we give you five dimensions of the great Anibal "Pichuco" Troilo, five ways to think about the iconic artist, the person who embodies tango itself.

Horacio Salgán was one of the tango composers most beloved by musicians. He was an innovator who created a personal style that drew from genres like chamber music and jazz, all the while sounding unmistakably like tango. He lived until just past his 100 birthday, in 2016.