Natural Tango Orchestra at the Mercury Cafe

Fifteen "Golden Era" Tango Orchestras

There are perhaps 200 Top Tangos for dancing, and perhaps another 200 that are acceptable. Beyond that and the DJ is digging deeply into more obscure or special-interest recordings of interest to serious tango fans. We dance over and over to the most popular ones because we know and love them.

Many of these orchestras ranged across decades and changed their style with time. As a result some of them get double-listings. 

About 15 Golden Era Tango Orchestras

Rough classification of Golden Era Orchestras:

1930s Rhythmic:

  • Orquesta Típica Victor / Carabelli - From the early thirties to early forties.
  • Francisco Canaro - Easy Listening, Melodic & Lyrical, many good milongas.
  • Juan D’Arienzo  - "King of the Beat". Very popular, strong Rhythms.
  • Rudolfo Biagi - Rhythmic with lots of syncopations.
  • Edgardo Donato - Good driving beat. Doorway to the 1940s
  • Enrique Rodriguez - Solid Rhythms. Large & fun non-tango repertoire.

1940s Rhythmic - Lyrical

  • Alfredo De Angeles - Especially popular for waltzes.
  • Tanturi with Campos or Castillo - Two singers. Same songs interpreted by two different singers.
  • Juan D’Arienzo with Hector Mauré - More lyrical, almost like D'Agostino
  • Angel D’Agostino with Vargas - Ethereal and spacious.

1940s Complex - Lyrical

  • Aníbal Troilo - Very complex syncopations. Probably the hardest orchestra to dance to.
  • Miguel Calo with Beron or Podesta - Great singers,

1940s Walking - Romantic

  • Osvaldo Fresedo with Roberto Ray - "Pink Champagne" Tango: Sweet, light and very romantic.
  • Carlos Di Sarli - Solid walking beat, re-recorded in the 1950s. See his 1930s for a more rhythmic style.

1950s Modern - Dramatic (but still danceable)

  • Osvaldo Pugliese - Passion, drama, intensity. Very long career.

There are other good dance orchestras (e.g. Pedro Laurenz and Lucio Demare), but the dancers would be extremely disappointed if the night was missing more than a couple of the "Top 15".

Finally and gratefully, there are some very good modern orchestras playing in the Golden Era dance style, for example:

  • Orquesta Romantica Milonguera
  • Orquesta Típica Tanturi

Short list of "Tom's essential Tango CDs"

The tango CDs listed below are selected from the Golden Era of tango dance orchestras. They include many popular tangos that you would hear in a typical tango dance in Buenos Aires. I suggest choosing a few albums (D'Arienzo, Canaro, Di Sarli) from this list, and putting them on rotation while commuting, walking, or doing chores. Start with the more straightforward styles I've labeled rhythmic, walking or romantic rather than complex ones with lots of syncopation.

(The links take you to Spotify albums, which I use because I can create playlists and pay to get rid of ads)

Rhythmic (1930s)

D'Arienzo and Biagi "King of the Beat" (Late 1930s)

Romantic

Melodic and Lyrical (1940s)

  • Miguel Calo with singers Podestá or Beron "Al compas Del Corazon"
  • Ricardo Tanturi/Campos "Ricardo Tanturi Canta Enrique Campos"

Syncopated and Complex (1940s)

  • Aníbal Troilo "Troilo en RCA Victor"
  • Aníbal Troilo "Instrumental 1941 - 1944"

Ethereal and Spacious (1940s)

  • Angel D'Agostino/Vargas "RCA Victor 100 Anos"

The Steady Walking Beat(1940s - 50s)

  • Carlos Di Sarli "RCA Victor 100 Anos"

Dramatic and Passionate (1950s - 1970s)

  • Osvaldo Pugliese "Ausencia"
  • Osvaldo Pugliese "A Los Amigos"

Related Resources

About Argentine Tango Styles - Social to Stage

Gaucho Watercolor
Argentine Tango has a variety of styles. In the old days almost every neighborhood had it's own, typical style. When the tango social life collapsed from 1955 through about 1985, tango was kept alive by show dancers on stage, television and world tours. The tango revival of the 1980s brought social style Argentine Tango back onto the dance floors, almost unchanged from the heyday of the 1940s.

Golden Era Tango Music for Dancing

Bandoneon
Argentine Tango is danced to the great orchestras of Buenos Aires from the 1930s, 40s and 50s. This was the "Golden Era" of tango. Modern tango music like Astor Piazzola is not used for tango dancing (except perhaps for performances).

The Milonga: A Tango Party for Social Dancing

Tango Colorado Milonga
A social Argentine Tango dance is called a milonga, which in Argentina means a "dance party". This is a place to see and be seen, and a place to meet other tango dancers, many of whom have spent months and years perfecting their steps. It is not a place for beginners to learn how to dance; on the other hand there is something mesmerizing about the way a crowded dance floor moves together with never a bump between the dancers.

What is Milonguero Style?

Tom and Analii
When I first went to Argentina in about 1997, I saw the dancing at the salon Almagro, and was amazed by the crowded dance floor and the skill with which the leaders navigated the floor. I also realized (1) I did not learn that style and (2) I didn't really know ANYTHING about tango. I spent the next few years paying attention to how tango was danced in Argentina and trying to learn how to succeed on the dance floors in Buenos Aires.

History of Tango Dance: Mingo Pugliese

Gauchito Gil
As you may know, the 8-Count Basic was invented more-or-less in the 1960s by Juan Carlos Copes (or perhaps Todaro?). The 8CB is useful because it provides a method for creating stage choreography. Before the 8CB, there were other basic methods for teaching tango, including Mingo's 8-Count Molinete.

A Short History Of Argentine Tango

Troilo Angel
Argentine Tango as a dance and musical form developed in Buenos Aires at the end of the 19th Century, and arrived in Europe and then the US in the first decades of the 1900s. This is the mode of dance that evolved into Ballroom tango. Meanwhile, Tango continued to evolve until the "Golden Era", the 1930s-1950s.