Cuesta Arriba
Tango Club
Cuesta Abajo, Cuesta Arriba
One of the themes of tango lyrics has been the idea of being dragged downwards by life:
cuesta abajo
(downwards) in Gardel's famous song,
or more forcefully, bajofondo
: down to the bottom,
a word instantly identified firstly with the famous lyric of Catulo Castillo, La última curda
(the final binge),
and now with the Bajofondo Tango Club
Now it's true that there's good stuff buried down in the mud, but this isn't an aspect brought out by tango lyrics!
So instead we've decided to call our club cuesta arriba
- upwards.
And there's a tango lyric with this title as well.
Welcome to our Tango Music Club!
Nothing improves your dancing so much as a good feeling for the special qualities of tango music. The idea of the club is to help you build a library of good tango music, tailored to your own tastes. For a fixed monthly subscription, the price of one of our cheaper tango CDs, you get:
- a tango cd every month delivered to your door - take our recommendation, or choose one of the alternatives
- Free postage on your club order
- Free postage on any other CDs you buy from us
- preference for low stock or deleted items
If you join but later decide that the club is not for you, there's no tie-in - you can cancel your membership at any time.
Select your month
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
This month's cds (July 2008):
This month: the first club cd from Osvaldo Fresedo. You may also have noticed that one of the cds is in fact a dvd - the shape of the cover is a bit of a giveaway!
Osvaldo Fresedo / Roberto Ray: Tangos de Salón
TARG 41287
Osvaldo Fresedo positioned himself musically as the darling of the barrio norte - the upper class in Buenos Aires. As the 20s became the 30s, this meant that his style became more romantic and more sweet. By the 1940s, that sweetness would become cloying, but in the 1930s, with singer Roberto Ray, the formula was - like Goldilocks's porridge - just right.
This is the kind of music that you would expect to hear in the Palm Court of the Waldorf Hotel as smartly dressed waiters glide amongst an elegant, sophisticated clientele serving champagne and cocktails. If that sounds like you, then you'll enjoy this music as well.
On this cd there are no milongas, and no valses either. Whilst Canaro was experimenting with new rhythms, Fresedo's idea of adventure is a combination of the tango with the fox-trot in Isla de Capri, which you may recognise as a fox-trot of the time arranged as a tango.
That's not to say that there's no rhythm here - in En la huella del dolor Fresedo shows that he hasn't forgotten the rhytmic sensibility that made his work in the late 1920s so outstanding - but it's the melody that is emphasised. Many of these tracks are real classics, and some (such as Vida mía) are identified exclusively with the orchestra. It's not tango of the street - it's tango of the salón. Posh tango!
Track list
- Vida mía
- Niebla del riachuelo
- Aromas
- Pampero
- Sollozos
- Siempre es carnaval
- Volver
- No quiero verte llorar
- Yo no se llorar
- Isla de Capri tango-fox
- Como aquella princesa
- Angustias
- Media vuelta
- En la huella del dolor
- Cordobesita
- Recuerdos de bohemia
- Te juro madre mía
- Canto de amor
- Dulce amargura
- El mareo
Carlos Gardel: Tango Bar [1935]
This DVD presents the last of the four films Carlos Gardel made with Paramount before his tragic death in 1935. Carlos Gardel's charm and warmth light up the screen and it's a delight to see him sing.
Gardel convincingly (no really) plays an amorous young cabaret vocalist named Ricardo, who falls in love with gorgeous dancer Laura (Rosita Moreno). To rescue the heroine from a gang of crooks, Ricardo puts his own life on the line. The villain, played by Enrique de Rosas, is a government official, reflecting the "outlaw" status of the tango in much of South America.
Of his great hits, the film includes the iconic Por una cabeza Lejana tierra mía.
As a bonus, the DVD includes colour footage of Gardel singing Por una cabeza, Golondrinas and Cuesta abajo.
We also have the 4 DVD box set of all 4 films available - contact us for details.
limited stock
Release details
Region 0
58 minutes
Spanish with optional subtitles in English, Spanish and Portuguese
2003 release
From Argentina To The World: Alfredo De Angelis
The orchestra of Alfredo De Angelis was lyrical and romantic, with arrangements that were simple but perfect for dancing. This great cd covers his entire career from the melodrama of the early recordings with Floreál Ruíz right through to the enduringly popular and hard-to-obtain instrumental Pavadita.
Track list
- El pial
- La brisa
- Jiron porteño (Oro muerto)
- Soñar y nada más vals
- Como se muere de amor
- La cumparsita
- Para que te quiero tanto
- Misa de once
- Marioneta
- Pastora
- Pavadita
- Ya estamos iguales
- Altar sin luz
- Pobre flor vals
- Mi novia de ayer vals
- Guardia vieja
- Carnaval
- Bajo Belgrano
- Bajo el cono azul
- Pregonera