Stephen Brown, Dallas, Texas:
My approach as a DJ is shaped by my much more extensive experience as a
tango dancer and my love for music that honestly conveys emotion. For me,
the best tangos for dancing a solid rhythmic footing for dancing and convey
an emotion that touches me in the heart. Fortunately, there are many
tangos, milongas and valses that meet these requirements.
I create tandas of four tangos--usually from the same orchestra. I find
that four songs is just about right for each tanda. My own experience
suggests each song in a tanda should have its own compelling personality,
while it contributes to the continuity of the tanda. There are so many
good tangos available that none need to be filler.
The first song of a tanda has to be so strong it pulls people out of their
chairs and onto the dance floor. It has to make people want to dance this
set regardless of how their feet hurt, or how tired they may be. The
energy of the music takes them. The middle songs do not have to be as
strong, but they should sustain the energy of the first song and have
enough personality of their own to provide a feeling of variety. In a
rhythmic tanda, the second or third song might be slightly more romantic,
more impressionistic. In a lyrical, romantic tanda, the second or third
song might be more rhythmic. The last song of the tanda should be strong and
compelling so that everyone who is dancing feels happy about having stayed
out on the floor for the entire tanda. If I have the audacity to start a
tanda with Pugliese's La Yumba, I will end with Gallo Ciego. Good
candidates for the second and third spots are La Rayuela and La
Tupungatina. For an annotated list of my tandas, see my webpage: An
Annotated List of Tandas.
Some recent experiences, remind me how important diversity and fidelity is
in playing music for a milonga. A diverse selection of music contributes
to the feeling of a more full evening of dancing. Use of the best fidelity
recordings reduces the fatigue that comes from the low-fidelity that
characterize the recordings typically used for milongas. A milonga where
the music is sufficiently diverse and the fidelity is as high as possible
keeps the dancers energetic and keeps them there all evening long.
With each tanda composed of similar sounding music, it is the programming
of tandas that helps provide the diversity of sound. As an aid to playing
music with sufficient diversity, I have developed some rough
classifications to help me think about the rhythmic and harmonic qualities
of various orchestras. These include:
Old Guard -- Orquesta Tipica Victor, Carabelli, Firpo, Lomuto, etc.
Early Golden Age -- De Caro, Donato, Fresedo, early Canaro
Golden Age Harder Rhythmic -- D'Arienzo, Biagi, Rodriguez
Golden Age Softer Rhythmic -- early Troilo, some Troilo/Fiorentino,
Tanturi/Castillo, Caló instrumentals, Caló/Podestá, Federico, Laúrenz,
D'Agostino/Vargas, early Di Sarli
Golden Age Smooth -- Di Sarli instrumentals, Canaro instrumentals, Fresedo
instrumentals, Troilo instrumentals
Golden Age Lyrical -- Caló/Beron, Di Sarli/Rufino, Di Sarli/Duran some
Troilo/Fiorentino, Canaro with various singers, Fresedo/Ray,
Tanturi/Campos, Demare, DeAngelis with singers
Golden Age Dramatic -- DeAngelis instrumentals, Pugliese
Transition Era -- Sassóne, Varela, Francini/Pontier, Garello
New Tango -- New York Tango Trio, Litto Nebia, Trio Pantango
Modern Dance Orquestas -- Color Tango, El Arranque
For a listing of recordings in each category, see my webpage: Classics of
Tango Dance Music
On a typical evening, I draw all or most of the music from what I call the
Golden Age recordings listed above. I usually start an evening by playing
music with simple rhythms and work through the more complex rhythms to
arrive at the subtle, dramatic and romantic music later at night. I want
also each tanda to be sufficiently strong in its own identity, and not too
similar to what immediately preceded it, so that it overpowers the
conscious memory of the previous few tandas and pulls everyone back onto
the dance floor. I will not use two tandas from the same category in a
row. (For example, I will not follow a D'Arienzo tanda with one by Biagi.)
I also try to build and release tension several times over the course of
the evening. An example of building rhythmic tension would be to move from
softer rhythmic to harder rhythmic to milongas. Building dramatic tension,
might involve moving from smooth to dramatic. Playing lyrical music often
releases the tension.
With an intuitive feel for the energy in the room, I keep these strategies
in mind while I select the next tanda to play. I find that pursuing these
strategies gives the dancers a stronger impression of having spent a full
emotional evening dancing, and they go home a happy tired. My more
extensive comments on DJing can be found on my webpage: Playing Music for
Milongas: the DJ's Role.
email Stephen Brown
Tango Argentino de Tejas Website
