Miguel Caló and the Orchestra of the Stars
Miguel Caló's orchestra more than any other epitomised good taste in the first half of the 1940s.
Caló selected the best young musicians for his orchestra: Domingo Federico and Armando Pontier (bandoneón), Osmar Maderna (piano), and Enrique Francini (violin) all went on to have orchestras of their own. In short time his orchestra became known as the Orquestra de las estrellas (Orchestra of the stars).
Eventually, inevitably, it went supernova and in 1945 the stars went out to form orchestras of their own. None of them were as good as this.
Caló reformed his orchestra but little of their output matched the quality of what had gone before - although there are exceptions. In general, when collecting Caló, the first thing to be aware of is to which period it belongs - Orchestra of the Stars (pre 1945), or not?
Caló on disc
After recording one 78 with the Splendid label in 1932, Caló signed to Odeón as early as 1934 and the orchestra began to record regularly in 1941 without having to leave for Victor (as had Tanturi and Troilo).
I only want one or maybe two albums of Caló
El Bandoneón were again "first to market" with a release of Caló,
(EBCD-34 Yo soy el tango),
and we recommended their cd for a long time.
Now however we recommend the catchily titled Sus éxitos con Podestá, Ortíz y Berón on Reliquias (EMI 499969).
After this it's time to get the cd Al compás del corazón, which presents the exquisite, romantic reocrdings with young vocalist Raúl Berón.
I'm a DJ or collector - I want more
This is easy: collect the albums on Reliquias (just the pre-1945 ones)
- EMI 837413 Al compás del corazón - 20 sides with Raúl Berón. exquisite
- EMI 495362 Sus éxitos con Raúl Iriarte - split equally between pre- and post- 1945
- EMI 499969 Sus éxitos con Podestá, Ortíz y Berón - excellent album from the Orchestra of the stars
- EMI 499970 Sus éxitos con Raúl Iriarte vol.2 - like the first volume, equally split equally between pre- and post- 1945
- EMI 499971 Sus éxitos con Roberto Arrieta
- EMI 473885 Recordando Viejas Temas - not a bad cd, check it out
- EMI 379177 Después de Las Estrellas "after the Stars" - the title says it all
You should also get the Caló cd in the series From Argentina to the World.
Where next...
- Back to building a library
- Milonga home page
