During the presentation of The Pugliese Story at Steve & Debbie Morrall’s studio, I was asked a question I could not answer. The question arose when I was talking about Pugliese’s semi-retirement in 1957. Osvaldo Manzi was hired as a replacement pianist. I showed a photograph of a publicity card from October 1957, in which Manzi’s image has been overprinted.
Well, that was the image I had meant to show. I showed this image by mistake:
A keen eyed audience member pointed out that Manzi’s picture was not the one overprinted: he is second from the left, and is named. What’s going on?
Well, this second image comes from a publicity card from May 1958. Compare the two cards, and look whose picture was where Manzi’s is now: it’s that of Enrique Camerano, Pugliese’s first violin.
It’s known that Camerano retired in 1958 for personal reasons, but the exact date was not known. (Oscar del Priore says November). It’s thought that Camerano played on the recording session of 23rd July, but this card suggests that in May he was already not playing in the band’s public performances.
And the identity of the new man? It’s probably the cellist Adriano Fanelli. Camerano’s tone was so full and rich that the band managed without a cello as long as he was playing. (The viola players unfortunately were not famous enough to be included; perhaps they only played on the recordings).
So, please keep those awkward questions coming – they’re really helpful.

The table below presents a map of the various editions of “Tango Stories”:

Version 2 (i.e. the 2nd editions of the English and German text) has an index and, as a new appendix, an essay on listening to tango music. If you only have the first edition, you can read this essay on todotango (English only).

To encourage US customers to buy the new Troilo book at createspace, I’m offering a 15% discount on the retail price with this discount code: FG7T6VZB.
This code is not valid at amazon.com – only at createspace. What’s more, it’s valid for Tango Stories as well. Feel free to share this code with everyone.

Tango Masters, Aníbal Troilo is now available to order on createspace. If you live in the USA, and don’t qualify for free shipping on amazon (orders over $35), then this is the place to buy the book – I get a lower royalty from amazon than from createspace (which effectively pays for the free shipping).

The book will become available on amazon sites in the next few days.

The book is ready and is now available to order. Please note that the book is not yet in our hands – you’ll have to wait just a bit longer to get your copy.

Writing the book was an experience of being in flow and I never really thought about what the public reaction might be. As I approached publication time, I asked a few people to review the book. Everyone I approached agreed with enthusiasm. Imagine my dismay when, disagreeing with something on the book’s website – and this was before we had gone to print – one such reviewer chose not to contact me personally but to flame me on facebook instead. The point he made was a good one and I learnt something from it, but it seems he didn’t have any interest in improving the book as a resource for the community.

Tango Stories is a work of opinion. I was clear about that in myself and I took pains to be clear about it in the book. The little appendix on getting started as a tango DJ also caused a storm in the blogosphere. I was worried that I was being too prescriptive by outlining some rules, but the objections came from those who found me too lax.

In a recent blog post, Melina Sedo writes how people have accused her of insulting a world heritage simply for not liking certain orchestras, songs or styles, declaring that she is “surely a crappy DJ who hasn’t got a clue”. I have received similar criticisms, for instance for DJing at milongas with a no cortina policy. Clearly they are not “real” milongas and I’m not a “real” DJ. Oh please!

Don’t get me wrong: an Argentine style milonga with cortinas and cabeceo is a beautiful thing, the maximum expression of everything we love about tango. Personally, I find it very uncomfortable to be in a tango environment where the cabeceo is not functioning. But the idea that this is the only kind of milonga, and that any other kind of milonga is bad and wrong… ? I’m lost for words.

What is an authentic milonga, anyway? For instance, many “traditional” Argentine milongas have breaks of tropical (cumbia) and swing music, something that almost never happens over here, especially at the events that brand themselves as “milonguero”. Let’s not forget that the milonga itself is in a process of evolution. Even the tanda that we now take for granted as a sine qua non of the milonga probably didn’t exist in its present form in the Golden Decade of the 40s.

Tango is alive and resists our attempts to define it, to pin it down, just as a real person does. It is generative and creative, generous even. I don’t know what it is; I love it, and I think it will always be bigger than our idea of it. Maybe God will come down and define tango, but until then, let’s allow one other our opinions, okay?

Recently I visited Munich at the invitation of Theresa Faus of Bailongo. Theresa also gives music seminars so she had asked me for some more advanced topics. The lectures were over three days and we had great attendances, sometimes over thirty people.

During my visit Theresa interviewed me for the German tango magazine Tangodanza. The interview concluded with a couple of difficult questions which I was happy to answer. DJs in particular might find these topics of interest.

The tour is over, the photos are in, and we have some worthy winners for our competition!

The winning photo comes from Tom Pringle who took the book with him to India. Here he is floating in in the holy river Narmada with his well-travelled and slightly damp copy. A prize of a CD of his choice – and a replacement copy of the book – goes to him.

Second prize goes to Siân Fussell for this photograph of her grandson Daniel who is apparently a big Fresedo fan. Daniel writes:

Early Fresedo has a romantic sensibility but stripped of the later sugary adornments. That’s why it’s still my favourite.

Daniel wins the Fresedo CD of his choice.

Third prize goes to Royce Chau for this photo of the book in the DJ booth in Hong Kong. I like the idea of the book “in the field”, and the addition of the 78 RPM records is a lovely touch.