Dear Keith,
The music is amazing. I've been randomly dipping into it for this past week
now, and I keep finding gems over and over again! Yesterday I DJed for the
first time using some of your music, and it turned out very well - I even
had 2 dancers, oblivious to my getting your restorations, come to me at the
end of the milonga asking me whether I had changed something with the music
setup because "it sounded it so much clearer tonight". Now it's time to go
through the whole lot systematically... Looks like a busy winter ahead! :-)
Thanks for making this possible.
Best regards,
Gordon Pace, Malta
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Hi Keith - When I returned to LA last week I
was happy to find the hard drive safe and sound in the mail. I haven't had much time
to explore the music, but I'm already thrilled to have such a large and fabulous
collection. It's especially nice for someone like me who is a music lover who had so
far collected little tango music to suddenly have this treasure trove. And also
great to break out of the 20 or 30 songs which seem to be the bedrock staples of the
dance classes I attend. Hearing some new music has already pulled me a few notches
back toward sanity. ;-)
Thanks so much again for expanding my horizons. I'm also enjoying keeping up with
your posts on your website pointing to songs and orchestras I should dip into and
discover.
yours
Paul in LA
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Keith
I just want to go on record as saying that you do the best restoration
work I've ever heard.
Pablo Aslan, New York
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Personally, I put quality of music and sound way above quantity. It
is why we draw 100 to our milonga when our neighbours get 20. If I'm
willing to spend big $$$ for a Cerwin-Vega full range CVA 28/118 sound
system, I want to play the best quality music available. That is why
I only use www.ToTango.net restorations (excluding modern CD's) for
other than academic / historical interest, as Steve notes.
(Disclaimer - I'm not related by blood or business, just a client,
friend and admirer of great work).
John Lowry
Brisbane, Australia
And to Keith:
Ran a nice milonga last night. What did they like
the most? They LOVE the music. Hence my comment on the DJ list. Nice
guys, but they can bang on about song / singer / date, always play
this with that - but they don't always see the wood for the trees.
Quality music is everything.
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I've hardly listened to other music than what you burned for me last week; let's
say frankly that I'm hooked on it! I discovered many beautiful things, and went
through old feelings. Old pals I don't see enough. Thanks for bringing all this
together.
Keep on with the good work.
A supporter.
Ben aka Dj Salvavidas
Sherbrooke, Quebec
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Keith's music restoration is exquisite. I have bought much of his work albeit in
bits and pieces. He cannot create what is not there, but clearly he is able to
improve the quality tremendously more so in some tracks than others. He does it and
ends up with great sound and depth i.e. you don't get that metallic sound like when
you do it yourself. I have replaced many of my tracks with his with clear and
obvious improvement in sound quality. I actually mark his tracks so I can spot them
during a milonga. It has been well worth the investment for me.
Sabah
California
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I got the discs Saturday evening and I'm really, really stoked! Beautiful!!
Beautiful!! Beautiful!! They are as advertised!! 2581 songs, all in
incredibly well re-mastered condition. This will moved the bar up on the
quality of tango music everywhere. Sixty year old recordings that sound
like they were minted yesterday is a Huge achievement! Thanks for all your
hard work! The tango world salutes you!!
You Rock!!
David Graybill
Sacremento, California
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From Denmark:
Hi Keith,
The 3 Tango DVD-ROMs arrived today without any problems.
I'm happily listening to some of my favourite Tangos in these new and
vastly improved versions, as I type this.
Excellent work! You have really managed to let the magic of these
musicians shine once more, untarnished by the flaws and imperfections
imposed on them by time and inferior sound equipment.
And also a huge 'Thank You' for the additions, it's good to know you
are still adding to the catalogue.
Yours,
Johnny Oreskov
(One very satisfied customer!)
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John Needham in Toronto wrote to the Tango We group:
Keith has been cleaning up and adjusting old recordings for many years, the likes of
the Francisco Canaro Orchestra still sound like old music but is much more pleasant
to listen to. Last week I received eight CD's from Keith and am delighted with
them. They are now on my computer and some tracks will be incorporated into WE
Tango playlists commencing this week. Also, I had mentioned to Keith that Milonga
was one of my favorite dances but my selection of Milonga tracks was less than I
wanted, one, of the eight CD's contains twenty three, (23) Milonga's some of which
I have never heard before. There are also twenty one, (21) cleaned up Orchestra
Tipica Victor tracks. I am excited about them and I hope that you will be too. I
am starting to look at what to order from Keith in the not too distant future.
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From Marcos Christodoulou in California:
I'm sorry for not writing sooner. The drive arrived promptly, I think a
week to the day since you shipped it, but I've been busy, both with work and
other chores, and with enjoying its contents, and so meant to write sooner
but didn't get to it.
I love it! The quality, the selection, the size of the collection,
everything. I'm not into genres other than solid, traditional Argentine
period gems, and there's plenty of that to keep me very happy for a very
long time! Thank you.
Let me know if you make updates to the selection.
Marcos
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From Johan Steyn:
Sure - no problem - go ahead. And I don't mind if you identify me by name -
word is already spreading here in Ireland about your fine music that I use
to DJ with :)
A big thank you from me too. I managed to compile a few tandas from your
music in time for the Cork Tango Festival - and it went down very well with
the dancers. I was quite nervous initially, as I was lined up to DJ in front
of some very good, experienced Argentinian dancers and teachers, some of
whom are Tango DJ's themselves. I got some good feedback from them - which
will result in a few changes - and some comment on aspects that they really
liked. Most importantly: they danced to the music almost the entire evening.
BTW, I noticed that all comments I received from dancers are about choices:
the compilation of tandas, the ratio of T/M/V tandas, the choice of
cortina(s), etc. No-one ever comments about the sound quality. I guess
people probably assume that if it sounds good, then it is due to good
equipment or the acoustics of the room, or that they simply perceive it as
better due to their good moods (tired ears don't listen well). Whatever the
reason - I guess that both the choice of music, and the quality of the sound
affect the number of dancers on the floor, and in that regard the milonga
was a success: your music is very danceable, it sounds good, and the
dancefloor was never empty.
It is an absolute joy working my way through your music - compiling tandas
while savouring the delights. I have worked my way halfway through the
Canaro tracks, and through all the D'Arienzo and Fresedo tracks - there are
some real gems among them. I think I'll tackle Di Sarli next (never been a
huge fan - but I've never listened to his older recordings - so I hope to
have my mind changed), and then move on to some lesser-known leaders like
Donato, Malerba, Lomuto, etc.
And, as I predicted: I'm not getting much sleep in ;)
Cheers,
Johan
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From closer to my home, Vernon Willis. Vernon and his partner Sandra are tango students of mine and have punished themselves even further by freqently inviting me to their home for dinner - providing me with a wonderful chance to hear what I've done through someone else's system and perception. Being educators themselves, they took an approach to getting to know my catalogue that really endears them to me: they put themselves on a project to listen to absolutely EVERY one of the nearly 1,700 songs in my Restoration catalogue before making their owns choices for what they wanted to hear. They kept notes over the several months it took in available time. Part of their credibility comes from their tendency toward understatement. They decided they wanted to send notes seperately. Double my pleasure!
Hi Keith
We finished the project (listening to every single song) by playing Tanturi's
Recuerdo (vals).
It was an incredible experience. I can't remember getting up to adjust the volume
but I may have once or twice.
The songs were chosen at random and not once were we unsatisfied with what we had
chosen.
Take care.
Vern
