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Carlos Di Sarli

Carlos Di Sarli (seated) and his orchestra

Carlos Di Sarli was one of the greatest creators of the whole tango era. Neither a traditionalist nor a follower of the innovations of De Caro, Carlos Di Sarli followed his own musical path: elegant, emphasising the melody but without sacrificing the rhythm, with great subtlety and nuance, particularly in his own piano playing, something of a trademark for the orchestra, where the separation between the rhythmic bass of the left hand and the embellishment of the right exceeds anything that can be heard elsewhere in tango (except perhaps in the playing of Orlando Goñi).

The history of Di Sarli's outfit is no less interesting. After recording 49 sides with his sextet on the Victor label in the period 1928 - 1931, Di Sarli lost his contract with the advent of talking pictures. In the mid 30s he retired to Rosario where he joined a small outfit with the bandoneonist Juan Cambareri.

Di Sarli later returned to Buenos Aires, organising his own orchestra towards the end of 1938. Their first recording made in December 1939, again on the Victor label, has become something of a classic: the tango Corazón, Di Sarli's own composition, with a 17 year old Roberto Rufino on vocals. The next decade is a magnificent one for the orchestra, and the 155 sides he recorded with Victor up till 1948 display a uniformly high quality. The orchestra is especially popular with dancers.

Di Sarli's musicians walked out on him in 1949 (El Señor del tango, The Lord of Tango, was notoriously difficult to work for). Di Sarli returned to the studios of the TK label in 1951 with a more spacious sound. These recordings, like all those on this label, are hard to find. Di Sarli retired again in 1953 due to illness.

In 1954 he returned once more, this time to the studios of RCA Victor. The instrumentals from this late period are classics of the genre, amongst the greatest tango recordings of all time. He cut his final sides on Polygram in 1958 and died in 1959.

What sort of buyer are you?

In this review we are going to recommend a lot of CDs. I make no apology for this - Di Sarli is one of the best orchestras for dancing and, like a fine wine, he becomes better with time. As your taste matures you will probably come to like Di Sarli more and more, and spend more and more time listening and dancing to him.

Now we'll guide you through the various stages of his career and your buying choices.

I'm on a budget- I just want those late instrumentals

BMG 87490

Easy: just get this disc on RCA Victor 100 Años (pictured left) which is in print again. Possibly the best selling tango CD in the world. Buy one before BMG change their mind and delete it again.

This was deleted for a while, pushing towards the Di Sarli CD in the 2003 series Inolvidables RCA (oictured right). This has is more balanced, with 13 of the late instrumentals and an intelligent selection of Di Sarli's 40s output: read more here.

Our price: £10


I can afford more than one CD - I want some of the 40s sides as well

There is so much great Di Sarli from the 1940s. We begin with 5 wonderful CDs on Tango Argentino and then move on to two more from Euro Records.

Di Sarli on Tango Argentino


Let's start with their CD of Di Sarli with Rufino, stuffed to the gunnels with great hits (don't even think about buying the El Bandoneón CD, whose transfers are much poorer). Then add their second volume of instrumentals which has a mix of sides from the middle and late periods. Don't bother with Volume One on this label, though: the producers have added some nasty reverbaration. (Despite this clear recommendation we are sometimes asked to order this for people). Thirdly this CD presents 40s sides with both Rufino and Podestá, including some great milongas. You must also hear the sides with the wonderful baritone Jorge Durán Di Sarli's only singer between 1945 and 1947. Finally Di Sarli's other 40s singer was the great Alberto Podestá. Even if it lacks the greatness of Di Sarli with Rufino this is still wonderful for dancing.

Di Sarli on Euro Records

EU 17016 EU 17017 EU 17036

There are now three fabulous Di Sarli CDs from the 1940s on Euro Records Colección 78rpm. All feature rare tracks - valses, milongas and instrumentals - all in good fidelity. Essential for DJs and collectors everywhere!


I'd like some of the early 50s sides too

Wouldn't we all? These have long been prized by dancers because they maintain more drive than the late 50s recordings on RCA, making them very satisfying for dancing.

Seriously though, these are hard to get because Di Sarli was signed to TK (later Music Hall) during this period. Music Hall went bankrupt and there was a legal problem about publishing the music.

At one time, The Orfeon company in Mexico has some lp transfers of dubious legality, but these are gone as well.

However there are now a couple of CDs available from the small Argentine label DyD

Carlos Di Sarli: Tangueando Te Quiero (1951 - 1953)

EURO EU 14031

Fantastic stuff from EURO with sme great tracks and some great performances. At 25 tracks this is a generous album.

Don't think that the sound is as good as the lush late 50s instrumentals on RCA. It isn't, because the masters are still locked in a vault somewhere, but as ever from EURO the quality is the best available. These have been flying off the shelves like hot cakes.

Our price: £12 temporarily out-of-print

Track list

  1. Como los nardos en flor
  2. El ciruja
  3. Un momento vals
  4. Domani
  5. Cuatro vidas
  6. El Cachafaz
  7. Quien te iguala
  8. Tengo un amigo
  9. Viento verde
  10. Quejas de bandoneón
  11. Del barrio de las latas
  12. Buenos Aires yo te canto
  13. Dejame hablar
  14. Poema triste
  15. Pimienta
  16. Porteña y nada mas
  17. Siempre mas
  18. Se muere de amor
  19. Re-Fa-Si
  20. Chimentos
  21. Caminito
  22. Tu pálida voz
  23. Fulgor
  24. Tangueando te quiero
  25. La misma tarde

Cantan:


Carlos Di Sarli - Unicos

Carlos Di Sarli - Unicos

DK 14145

What's this? A new album of Di Sarli's 1950's tracks on TK from Grafisound?

Not quite. This is a new album, but these tracks have all appeared on other albums from Grafisound - so check whether you have them. The material is of course excellent.

Our price: £9

Track list

  1. La morocha
  2. Patotero sentimental
  3. Poema triste vals
  4. Quejas de bandoneón
  5. Un lamento
  6. Sueño de juventud vals
  7. De vuelta vals
  8. A la gran muñeca
  9. Al compás del corazón
  10. Como los nardos en flor
  11. El ciruja
  12. Duelo criollo

Cantan:

A La Gran Muñeca

DyD 15208

Great stuff, full of drive that makes it great for dancing. Vocalists Oscar Serpa and Mario Pomar are in good form, but it's the instrumentals which are the real cream of the crop. Don't expect the crystal clarity of the late 50s recordings, which are reproduced from original masters, but this is still more than good enough for the milonga - many of these tracks are 5 star tracks on my playlist. La cachila and Don Juan are outstanding; Don Juan is better for dancing than the late 50s version. Great dance music.

Our price: £9

Track list

  1. La cachila
  2. Verdemar
  3. Don Juan
  4. Patotero sentmental
  5. Comme il faut
  6. El pollito
  7. Organito de la tarde
  8. Sueño de juventud vals
  9. Quejas de bandoneón
  10. Duelo criollo
  11. El cachafaz
  12. Tinta verde

Cantan:


Porteño y bailarín

Porteño y bailarín

DyD 15242

Not the cleanest sound, but stunning stunning music. Pimienta is one of Di Sarli's best ever recordings. Essential for those who really feel the music.

Our price: £9 out-of-print

Track list

  1. Porteño y bailarín
  2. Buenos Aires yo te canto
  3. El amanecer
  4. Domani
  5. Pimienta
  6. De vuelta vals
  7. Bar Exposición
  8. Cuatro vidas
  9. Quien te iguala
  10. Un lamento
  11. El pollo Ricardo
  12. Como los nardos en flor

Cantan:


I want some more of the late 1950s material

EU16019

Di Sarli recorded 78 tracks during his final stay with RCA Victor (1954-1957) of which just 23 were instrumentals. Twenty of them are on the RCA Victor 100 Años cd; this CD gives us two more: Los 33 Orientales and Cuidado Con Los Cincuenta.

But the vocal numbers are also worthy of our attention, and Euro Records have reissued them all across 3 cds on Euro Records.


EU16010 EU16023 EU16028

Finally, from time to time we are asked about the 1958 album on Polygram, in particular for the instrumentals Indio Manso and Una Fija. Polygram did reprint this on CD, but it was deleted some years ago. We have been able to get some from time-to-time. Do ask us what the current situation is, but be prepared for disappointment!

I want some of Di Sarli's very early recordings

RGS-1653 Tango Collection - Carlos Di Sarli EU-17022

Di Sarli's early sextet is charming - not quite as charming as early Fresedo or Canaro, but every bit as good for dancing. The Bluemoon CD is long deleted and the Colección 78rpm out-of-print, but you can hear him on Tango Collection.

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