This week's tanda is a beautiful, dramatic instrumental set by Osvaldo Pugliese.

The first song of this set, "Recuerdo" is considered by many a turning point in the composition of Argentine Tango music. It was composed in 1924 and has a complexity that had not been seen before. There is some debate over who the composer was. It was originally registered by Adolfo Pugliese, Osvaldo Pugliese's father, but Osvaldo said that he gave it to his father to register because his father was having a hard time financially. Apparently, it was later re-registered under Osvaldo's name. Some also say that it belongs to Osvaldo's brother, who left the composition behind after moving away. I would go with Osvaldo's story, since the music sounds so similar to his other compositions. If it was Osvaldo's composition, then he wrote it at the age of 19.

The title means "memory" and the original title was "Recuerdo para mis amigos (Memory of my friends)." Pugliese said that he wrote it in honor of his friends who used to meet at a café called La Cueva del Chancho (The Pig's Cave).

And the other songs in this tanda are just as strong with Pugliese's characteristic flow of melodic tenderness marked with strong punctuations of rhythm.

Listen to this Tanda

This week's tanda is calm, rhythmic tanda by Francisco Canaro with Roberto Maida singing. It starts with the very popular "Invierno." It is such a sweet and smooth song. Click here for a great translation of the lyrics from the Poesía de Gotán blog.

You might notice that there are 5 songs here. No, this is not a 5 song tanda... but rather, I could not decide which song to end the tanda with. I think "Viejo Tiempo" is probably the best fit, but I also love "Paciencia." So, I put both on here so that you could listen and decide. "Viejo Tiempo / Old Time" makes sense because all of these songs have more in common with the "Guardia Viejo / Old Guard" period (1910 to 1925) than the Guardia Nueva or Golden Age period. To give a super brief and over-simplified explanation, the songs of the Guardia Viejo period would have focused more on the underlying rhythm while the music of the Guaria Nueva would have focused more on melody and harmony. Canaro is working with both here.

Listen to this Tanda

Here is one of my favorite all-time favorite performances by Pablo Rodriguez and Noelia Hurtado. It is such a sweet and tender performance. To me, nothing says tango quite like this performance. It also demonstrates the statement that "Tango is a sad thought that can be danced." You might notice how emotional they are after the performance. I do not know the details, but it is my understanding that this was their last performance together after many years of teaching and dancing with one another.

This week's tanda is low key tanda by Rodolfo Biagi with Alberto Amor singing. We usually think of Biagi as being more rhythmic and staccato, but with Alberto Amor his signature sound is more calm. The rhythm is still there, but more subdued. This is a great tanda for the end of the evening. "Seamos Amigos" is another great song that could go in this tanda.

Listen to this Tanda

This week's tanda is spirited set by Juan d'Arienzo with Alberto Echagüe singing. "El Rey del compás" (The Rhythm King), as D'Arienzo was known, worked with many great singers. But, to me, Alberto Echagúe's canyengue style of singing was a perfect match for the rhythmic nature of D'Arienzo's orchestra. They recorded 27 records in the 1930's and "Trago Amargo," was the last before Echagüe left D'Arienzo's orchestra. He did return to D'Arienzo twice more, from 1944 to 1957 and 1968 to 1975.

Listen to this Tanda

Translation of Mandria: http://poesiadegotan.com/2009/09/03/mandria-1926

This week's tanda is a classic set by Anibal Troilo with Francisco Fiorentino singing. You don't get much more tango than this. Troilo and Fiorentino created some of the greatest tango music of all time. In these songs, Troilo is at the top of his game with some of the best musicians around, including Orlando Goñi on piano and Astor Piazzolla, along with Troilo, on bandoneon.

Listen to this Tanda

Translation of Gricel: http://poesiadegotan.com/2012/12/17/gricel-1937/

Translation of Barrio de Tango: http://letrasdetango.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/barrio-de-tango/

This week's tanda is an elegant, lyrical set by Carlos di Sarli with Jorge Durán singing. I have been playing a lot of Di Sarli and Durán lately and Un Tango y Nada Más is one of my favorite tangos to dance to. These tangos have a solid rhythm and lots of drama. They are great for taking your time, dancing slowly and also for simple walking.

Listen to this Tanda

This week's tanda is an spirited, mixed orchestra milonga set. Mixing orchestras is more common in milonga and vals tandas than it is in tango tandas. For one thing, some orchestras recorded very few milongas and/or valses, so it might be difficult to find 3 or 4 songs that fit cohesively together.

This is a set for the serious milonga dancers. Some dancers might be legitimately challenged by the tempo of these three milongas. I would believe that most dancers should be able to dance well to these if they just do two things, keep it simple and take smaller steps. If you do thse two simple things and the leader and follower are in synch then you should be able to have a nice, unrushed dance.

Listen to this Tanda

This week's tanda is an elegant set by the Lucio Demare with Juan Carlos Miranda singing.

Listen to this Tanda

This week's tanda is a playful set by the Edgardo Donato with Horacio Lagos and Lita Morales singing.

Listen to this Tanda

This week's tanda is an elegant set by the Carlos di Sarli with Alberto Podestá singing.

Listen to this Tanda