344 Where to buy used tango CDs
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2001 09:59:27 -0500
From: Enrico AAANETSERV new <enrico@AAANETSERV.COM>
Subject: Where to buy used tango CDs
I found that at www.half.com you can buy good used argentine
tango CDs at reasonable prices.
You can also list your CDs for sale, if you like to do so.
The selection of titles handled is not complete, but is
large enough to be worth a look.
Regards,
Enrico
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 11:57:50 EDT
From: Charles Roques <Crrtango@AOL.COM>
Subject: Tango CDs
Linda inquired:
<<<I have a small collection of tango CDs (haven't been
dancing long) that I'm looking to expand. This past
week I went to look for tango music at Tower and
Borders, and left empty-handed. Why?>>>
I'm afraid that's the reality unless you happen to have someone with
knowledge of tango working in the stores. Tango is not that big outside of those of us
that dance it here so it will be "niche" music And no, I don't think either
of those you mentioned are very good. Heavy promotion should be more of a
warning than an enticement because few people who don't dance it are very versed
in it. Even in NYC there are only three or four stores that have anything
decent and they don't always keep the stock current. And current active tango
groups don't usually record for dancing either.
Zival's is good but even then listen to them first. I don't know how much
shipping would affect the price but it would probably still be less than buying
them here. You can always check out Bridge to the Tango as well but it would be
cheaper to start with Zival's. Stick to the sites that specialize in
Argentine Tango. Most of the other big music sites probably have little to choose
from, if any, except for the most obvious and successful stuff. But I always go
into stores and see, just in case.
Charles
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 11:22:26 -0500
From: Stephen Brown <Stephen.P.Brown@DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: Re: Tango CDs
There are several online guides to building collections of tango CDs:
http://www.tejastango.com/tango_music.html
http://www.milonga.co.uk/tango/tango.html
http://www.kidojo.it/tango/art009_en.html
For listening to selections online, Zival's Tango Store is the best
source.
http://www.tangostore.com/
Susan and I put together our article on building a collection of tango
music precisely because we found it difficult to assemble a good
collection of tango dance music.
http://www.tejastango.com/tango_music_collection.html
With the exception of the Pugliese CD, Ausencia and the DiSarli CD on Solo
Tango, one thing that one must accept in buying tango CDs is that not
every track will be a classic.
With best regards,
Steve
Stephen Brown
Tango Argentino de Tejas
http://www.tejastango.com/
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 09:33:00 -0700
From: Catrina Imports <catrinaimports@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Tango CDs
--- Charles Roques <Crrtango@AOL.COM> wrote:
> 8< snip 8<
> few people who don't dance it are
> very versed in it.
I beg to differ.
In my experience, there are many, many people who are
experts when it comes to tango music and lyrics --
they know all about who wrote what and when, who
recorded what and when, which pieces are on which CDs,
etc, or they are specialists in Lunfa -- and yet these
people don't dance tango. Their interest is musical,
cultural, and/or linguistic, and for whatever reason
does not include dancing tango.
Again, in my experience, tango dancers who really know
about the music, composers and performers, and who
really understand the lyrics, are few and far between.
(Dicho de onda y sin ofender...)
Just my dos centavos,
Kate
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 19:28:51 +0200
From: "Kohlhaas, Bernhard" <bernhard.kohlhaas@SAP.COM>
Subject: Re: Tango CDs
> From: Stephen Brown [mailto:Stephen.P.Brown@DAL.FRB.ORG]
[...]
> With the exception of the Pugliese CD, Ausencia and the
> DiSarli CD on Solo
> Tango, one thing that one must accept in buying tango CDs is that not
> every track will be a classic.
>
> With best regards,
> Steve
Steve,
while I can only highly recommend the references you list (including your own website),
I am wondering what you mean by ".. not every track will be a classic". If you mean,
not every track will be from the top 100 lists of all time favorite tangos, then I definitely
agree with you.
On the other hand, what would be so unusual about that? As with any other genre, once you
move away from buying "Greatest Hits" CDs for a particular Genre or band/orchestra, you'll
get CDs which not only contain interesting tracks, but also inevitably tracks that might
not be so great. I consider this a worthwile tradeoff.
Bernhard
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 14:01:18 EDT
From: Charles Roques <Crrtango@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: Tango CDs
Kate wrote:
<<<I beg to differ. In my experience, there are many, many people who are
experts when it comes to tango music and lyrics --
they know all about who wrote what and when, who
recorded what and when, which pieces are on which CDs,
etc, or they are specialists in Lunfa -- and yet these
people don't dance tango. Their interest is musical,
cultural, and/or linguistic, and for whatever reason
does not include dancing tango.>>>
I was only referring to a basic knowledge of the music - which song, which
orquestra, which classic version. Most people don't know lyrics or lunfardo or
speak Spanish, nor the members of the orchestras, dates, etc. nor do they need
to but they often know the difference between D'Arienzo, Di Sarli, Pugliese,
etc. My point was that in the music stores in the US very few non-dancers know
about Argentine tango. There are plenty of historians of the music but they
don't work in the music stores in the US and they don't order or stock music
for the stores here. I wasn't including Europeans, Argentines, members of the
Academia del Tango, etc. Many people here in NYC basically know the music and
can distinguish it from "ballroom" or bastardized versions of tango, they just
can't find it anywhere. And they seem to know less in the stores.
Charles
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 09:57:43 -0700
From: Barbara Garvey <barbara@TANGOBAR-PRODUCTIONS.COM>
Subject: Re: Tango CDs
Kate is right, and so is Charles-- in Argentina there are vastly more people
deeply knowledgeable about tango music than all the dancers put together.
Also there are a fairly large number of tango music aficionados in other
Latin American countries, almost none of whom dance. But I strongly doubt
that this holds true for the US and Canada, judging by the lack of tango in
record stores -- I've seldom seen anything but dreck at Borders, Barnes and
Noble or other places. In San Francisco there is sometimes a not-bad
selection at Tower on Bay St. but nothing at Tower in Marin. I have no idea
what the situation is in Europe, Japan, etc.
Zival's is by far the best source: we've found it reliable and very cheap,
even with shipping.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2003 9:33 AM
Subject: Re: [TANGO-L] Tango CDs
> --- Charles Roques <Crrtango@AOL.COM> wrote:
> > 8< snip 8<
> > few people who don't dance it are
> > very versed in it.
>
> I beg to differ.
>
> In my experience, there are many, many people who are
> experts when it comes to tango music and lyrics --
> they know all about who wrote what and when, who
> recorded what and when, which pieces are on which CDs,
> etc, or they are specialists in Lunfa -- and yet these
> people don't dance tango. Their interest is musical,
> cultural, and/or linguistic, and for whatever reason
> does not include dancing tango.
>
> Again, in my experience, tango dancers who really know
> about the music, composers and performers, and who
> really understand the lyrics, are few and far between.
> (Dicho de onda y sin ofender...)
>
> Just my dos centavos,
> Kate
>
>
>
>
>
>
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 13:38:35 -0500
From: Stephen Brown <Stephen.P.Brown@DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: Re: Tango CDs
Bernhard Kohlhass wrote:
>I am wondering what you mean by ".. not every track will be
>a classic". If you mean, not every track will be from the
>top 100 lists of all time favorite tangos, then I definitely
>agree with you.
Yes. I mean, not every track will be from the top 100 or top 500 lists of
all time favorite tangos. As Alberto Gesauldi wrote: "Is is true that not all tracks of a CD are of the same quality. It is very
difficult to find a Tango CD GOT (Generally Oustanding Tracks)."
>[W]hat would be so unusual about that? As with any other genre,
>once you move away from buying "Greatest Hits" CDs for a
>particular Genre or band/orchestra, you'll get CDs which not
>only contain interesting tracks, but also inevitably tracks
>that might not be so great. I consider this a worthwile tradeoff.
As someone who currently owns many tango CDs, I certainly agree, but then
I am happy to buy a single CD just to get one track that I find
interesting. In fact, I will buy a CD just to get a better fidelity
recording of material I already have. Some people who are relatively new
in building a collection of tango music may not be as happy to buy CDs
without many generally outstanding tracks because every purchase they make
represents a sizable portion of their tango music collection.
Some online sources for purchasing tango CDs include
Classic Tango (Los Angeles) http://www.classictango.com/
Zival's (Buenos Aires) http://www.tangostore.com/
milonga.co.uk (London) http://www.milonga.co.uk/
Danza y Movimiento (Hamburg) http://www.danzaymovimiento.com/
The Tango Catalogue (Boston) http://www.thetangocatalogue.com/
I have not found any brick and mortar stores in the United States that
match what you can find with these online sources. Personally, I purchase
most of my tango CDs from Mark Celaya at Classic Tango. He has a big
selection, reasonable prices, is knowledgable about the music, and offers
very prompt service.
With best regards,
Steve
Stephen Brown
Tango Argentino de Tejas
http://www.tejastango.com/
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 15:13:45 -0700
From: Catrina Imports <catrinaimports@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Tango CDs
I think the lack of tango in record stores in the US
is due to 3 things: 1) tango is not, and has not been,
all that popular here with the Anglo-American culture
(though it's more popular now than in the past); 2)
there isn't a large tango-loving immigrant community
in the US (compared to the market for salsa or mzsica
norteqa, for example); 3) poor marketing &
distribution.
That's my take on it.
Of course, it gives you just one more good excuse to
go to BsAs. :-)
Kate
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 15:13:59 -0700
From: Catrina Imports <catrinaimports@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Tango CDs
> My point was that in the music stores
> in the US very few non-dancers know
> about Argentine tango. There are plenty
> of historians of the music but they
> don't work in the music stores in the
> US and they don't order or stock music
> for the stores here.
With that, I agree. I think that in the US in general,
the workers in music stores or in the music section of
book, electronics & discount stores, know next to
nothing about music, period. I'm so used to getting
bad service that it wouldn't even occur to me to ask
them to recommend any type of music. In most cases,
they can't even find a CD they have in stock, unless
the computer system tells them where it's located.
Such a change from what I remember of music-buying
experiences in the 1970's... I'm sure there are some
exceptions to this rule, but in my experience, they
would be just that: exceptions to the rule.
Just as I wouldn't expect the average store employee
to be of much help, nor would I expect the majority of
tango dancers in the US to be of much help. They may
know a little more about the music than store
employees, but that's not saying much, and I think
most don't know that much more. Again, there are some
exceptions (including some of the people in this
list), but (again), they are the exceptions to the
rule. IMHO, of course.
There are many incredibly knowledgeable ex-pat
Argentineans and Uruguayans in the US and Canada (and
Europe), though they don't dance tango. (I guess you
could say that with them, it's more of a nostalgia
thing than a dance thing.) Just because they don't
dance tango (for whatever reason), doesn't mean they
don't know a great deal about the music.
So my advice is: If you want someone to help you pick
out a tango CD, ask a tango aficionado (not
necessarily a tango dancer). Don't know any tango
experts? Then do some research on the Internet, read
reviews, etc. Then, once you have a list of what you
want, use the Internet to look for the CD, find the
best price, the best deal on shipping, etc.
In the end, it's about what you like, what sounds good
to you, what brings to mind good memories for you,
etc. But until you have been exposed to enough tango
music to develop your own taste, your CD shopping may
be sort of trial & error. I think it's hard to get
around it.
Sounds like the site Stephen posted and the e-stores
Charles posted are a good place to start.
Happy hunting,
Kate
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 20:20:08 -0700
From: luda_r1 <luda_r1@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Tango CDs
Charles wrote, and Kate replied:
"--- Charles Roques <Crrtango@AOL.COM> wrote:
> 8< snip 8<
> few people who don't dance it are
> very versed in it.
I beg to differ.
In my experience, there are many, many people who are
experts when it comes to tango music and lyrics --
they know all about who wrote what and when, who
recorded what and when, which pieces are on which CDs,
etc, or they are specialists in Lunfa -- and yet these
people don't dance tango. Their interest is musical,
cultural, and/or linguistic, and for whatever reason
does not include dancing tango.
Again, in my experience, tango dancers who really know
about the music, composers and performers, and who
really understand the lyrics, are few and far between.
(Dicho de onda y sin ofender...)
Just my dos centavos,
Kate"
I agree with Kate. I know three terrific tangueros,
none of whom dance. But they are walking encylopedias
of tango music, history, traditions. They know the
lyrics, the artists, and the anecdotes. But they
don't dance, even though they are completely and
unmistakeably passionate about tango. Why? I don't
know, and I don't ask. One of them once said something
about not being interested in "export tango" with all
its fancy steps. Another one said he simply could not
afford to go to milongas while growing up in BsAs. The
third one is a perfectionist. I don't know for sure,
of course, but I have I sense that if he couldn't be
perfect the first time out on the dance floor, he
couldn't be bothered.
They have all been very generous in sharing some of
their wisdom with me. Very patiently. For which I'm
extremely grateful. Although sometimes I did wish they
could dance, too.
And Charles is right, also. There are not many of
these types around. I mean the ones who're into tango
big time. Even if they don't dance.
On the other hand, I run into an awful lot of people
who dance and who can't name a single tango or
orchestra. And some of them have been dancing for a
while.
And that's my dos centavos.
Luda
=====
