A Milonga Tanda with Rodolfo Biagi: With lyrics translated and a short tutorial!

A milonga tanda for dancing, with Rodolfo Biagi and two different singers.

++Timestamps++
Start 00:00
Tutorial 00:25
Picante 03:07
Flor de Monserrat 05:16
Por la güella 07:29

The tanda of this week is by pianist, composer, and orchestra director Rodolfo Biagi, aka ‘Manos Brujas’. Biagi was born in San Telmo, Buenos Aires in 1906. He was already an acclaimed pianist in the 1930s, but when he joined Juan d’Arienzo in 1935 he really rose to fame. In 1938 they split and Biagi started his own orchestra.

We have already done some Biagi tandas with tangos and waltzes. This time we have milongas. Now I do like the kind of milongas with a clear habanera rhythm, like milongas by Canaro and Donato ffor instance. That ‘padampampam’ is not so obvious with Biagi – although it’s in there. That makes Biagi’s milongas just a bit more challenging to dance to but when you know them – it’s great stuff.

The first track of the tanda is ‘Picante’, recorded in 1941. An instrumental. Music written by José Luis Padula. Padula may not be a name you recognize right away, but he also wrote the famous tango ‘Nueve de julio’. ‘Picante’ is a spicy mid-tempo milonga, a nice one to start the tanda with.

The second track is ‘Flor de Monserrat’, recorded in 1945. Music written by Juan Santini, lyrics by Vicente Planells del Campo. And sung by Alberto Amor, who recorded with Biagi from 1943 till 1947. ‘Flor de Monserrat’ is perhaps Biagi’s best known milonga. As to the lyrics: The flower of Monserrat was a beautiful girl. Everybody loved this virgencita. But she had dreams of her own.

The third and final track of the tanda is ‘Por la güella’, recorded in 1948. Music written by Rodolfo Biagi, lyrics by Homero Manzi. ‘Por la güella’ is sung by Carlos Saavedra, who recorded 6 tangos with Biagi in 1946 and ’47, plus this milonga in 1948. Although the tanda spans a period of 7 years, with an instrumental track and two different singers, the style of these milongas remains rather consistent. Always a good thing for a tanda.

So that’s the Biagi Milonga tanda of the week:
1. Picante 1941
2. Flor de Monserrat 1945
3. Por la güella 1948

Enjoy!

Thanks:
www.tangoarchive.com
www.todotango.com
www.tangosalbardo.blogspot.com
www.tangodecoder.wordpress.com
www.agadu.org
Michael Lavocah, Jens Ingo tango DJ
FB pages about tango music like: Archivo Documental Del Tango, Tango Time Machine, Tango y Cultura, Con el tango en las venas, José Maria Otero, Pablo Dario Taboada, TDJ Laura Petroni, TDJ Alessandro Grillo, TDJ La Morocha, Gloria and Eduardo Arquimbau, Xavier Mulet, Carlos Gorrindo, Mercedes Garcia Blesa, Carlos Gardel, el tango y nuestro Buenos Aires querido and many others.
Tangolyrics translations: Derrick del Pillar, www.tangopoetryproject.com, tangotranslations.org and others.

#tangomusictutorials #tandaoftheweek #tanda #Biagi #losamigostango

Please note: We do not own the music in this video. Songs are included for educational purposes only. You can buy them from various providers (like TangoTunes, iTunes etc.) or stream them on Spotify.