Carlos Di Sarli
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
- I can afford more than one CD - I want some of the 40s sides as well
- I'd like some of the early 50s sides too
- I want more of the late 50s material
- I want some of Di Sarli's very early recordings
I'm on a budget- I just want those late instrumentals
This is so easy: get this disc on RCA Victor 100 Años,
which has clearly surpassed the high standard set by the FM Tango disc.
This is our best selling CD.
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
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?
Seriously though, these are hard to get because Di Sarli was signed to the defunct Music Hall label during this period. The Orfeon company in Mexico has some lp transfers of dubious legality which you can order through Amazon.com.
However there are now a couple of CDs available.
The first is this cd on Serie De Oro
14 tracks, mostly instrumental - many you may never have heard before. Half of these tracks Di Sarli would record again on RCA later in the decade at an even slower pace. The jewels here are instrumentals such as La cachila (normally associated with Pugliese) and Pimienta, and the wonderful slow waltz Tu pálida voz with Mario Pomar. Strongly recommended.
Our price: £7.50
14 tracks, 2003 release
Track list
Clavel del aire; Champagne tango; La capilla blanca; A la luz del candíl; El amanecer; Organito de la tarde; Pimienta; El choclo; Don Juan; La cachila; El once; La cumparsita; A la gran muñeca; Tu pálida voz vals
Cantan:
Oscar Serpa (1); Mario Pomar (3,4,14);
Also available is this CD from Diaposon in Argentina. There are 12 tracks, including great vocal performances from Oscar Serpa (particularly on their stunning version of Al compás del corazón) and Mario Pomar. As for the instrumentals, they don't need my recommendation. In the case of El caburé and El ciruja these are the only versions Di Sarli left.
This cd isn't anywhere else on the site yet, ask me about it.
I want some more of the late 1950s material
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.
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 and we can't get it for you.
I want some of Di Sarli's very early recordings
Di Sarli's early sextet is charming - not quite as charming as early Fresedo or Canaro, but still good for dancing. You can hear him on Bluemoon or Colección 78rpm.
Where next...
- Back to our building a library
- Milonga home page