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Ethan Crenson @ 78RPM : X-ray TANGO Zebra






78rpm enthusiast Ethan Crenson presents Tangos and alternate flipsides, revealing both Argentinian dance themes and 
trans-national variations. 

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Los Ochos stepped across the frontier with the push/pull of the bandoneon.  From Rio del Plata to the backstreets of Buenas Aires across cafes to Paris.  Echoing on radios beyond the ballrooms of Europe to entwine the globe.  Dancing through landmines as economies collapsed. 

A selection of songs from the the "Golden Age" reflecting the hope and desperation of star-crossed lives as the world marched into the oblivion of the second World War.
Shellac discs representing the fraught state of trans-Atlantic relations amid the horror of mid 20th-century global political culture.
Bravado, but also many sudden turns and hearts bursting with blood.

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El Gaucho Con Guittaras
   Hacedlo Por La Vieja {tango}
   Que Pena Me Da {tango}
   [verne V-0305-A]
  (El Gaucho = Eduardo Duran)


Orchestra Argentin Bachicha
  Viejo Poncho {tango}
  Romantica Mujer {tango}
  [odeon 279-708] {1941}


Eduardo Biancho et son Fameux Orchestre Argentin
  Malevaje (avec chant por Carlo Americo) {tango}
  Leyenda (solo de guitare por M. Sorrosal)
  [odeon 185-752]
 (Violinist, composer and conducor acclaimed for synthesizing
  new styles during the Parisian wave of the 1920's)


Luciano Tajoli
  Lucia (orch. dir. M.O. Maraviglia) {tango}
  Souvenir (vibraphone) {no tango}
  [odeon H 18420]
 (Self-taught Italian singer and actor.)


Kessler + Martha Mumenthaler (mit Orchesterbegleitung)
  Kehr Zurück {tango}
  Ein Blümlein Sah Ich Blühn {waltz}
  [elite 2028]





Barnabus von Géczy mit seinem Orchestar
  Bei Zärtlicher Musik {tango}
  Puszta {foxtrot}
  [rca-victor 25-4049]
 (Hungarian violinist and Romani folkorist
  who later conducted in Berlin.)


Malando and his Tango Orchestra
  Porque Te Vas {tango}
  Vida {tango}
  [philips P17041]


Tetos Demetriades
  Ela Na Niosis (let us enjoy) {tango}
  Zoi Trelli (crazy life) {foxtrot}
  [victor V58051]
 (Greek Rebetika singer who also penned "Misirlou",
  later to be adapted by surf guitarist Dick Dale)


Sestetto Cannata
  Notte D'Amore {tango}
  Notte Stellata {waltz}
  [columbia 14824 F]


Ramón Armengod con Nano Rodrigo y su Orquestra
  Amapola {tango/foxtrot}
  Adiós Mariquita Linda {foxtrot}
  [decca 18160] {1941}
 (Mexican singer/actor backed by popular orchestra of the period)


Watanabe Hamako
  Hill of Pure Heart {tango}
  China Night {no tango}
  [columbia A-93] {1938}
 (This tango is controversial in political nature.  An earlier translation
  renders it as "Dream of China."  The song was hit among Japanese
  troops that advanced across Manchuria during WWII.
  After its early success the song  "China Night" was the springboard
  for a love story/propaganda film that played in Asia during the war.
  The singer Waranabe Hamako was later captured in Machuria
  and served a year in a P.O.W. camp  before returning to music.
  After the war the song had yet another wave of popularity
  among American G.I.s stationed in Japan)






TANGO

De las piernas
Intangible

Rio de la Plata
Uraguay y el Argentino

Habanera
Milonga
 Candomble
Los Ochos

 CARA 
abrazo
CARA

Paris y al resto 
En syncopación 
Bailando,
Girando como un globo.

*

 "...the tendency to end on an unresolved note..." ~E. C.