"El Boliche" - A little milonga at the pub on Mondays

17/09/2026

Hi everyone,

Thank you for coming this Monday! A few people were sick or away, so it was slightly on the quiet side this week, but we had a first timer, so that was great. Thank you to those lovely regulars who warmly welcomed our new friend. It was very lovely to see.

This week, I featured Jorge Vidal. He was best known as a singer with Pugliese, but you may not hear him that often at milongas (I certainly don’t play him much), as his tenure with Pugliese was short, and many other excellent singers sang with Pugliese. Jorge Vidal’s singing is a bit darker and perhaps more theatrical. If you like drama, you might enjoy his singing.

I played only one tango tanda to feature Vidal (you can’t have multiple Pugliese in one night!), but I also threw in another experimental tango tanda this week. I was itching to try this one for a few months, but I couldn’t for one reason or another. It was the tanda between the tango tanda by D’Arienzo and the second milonga tanda of the night by Laurentz. I am not sure if anyone remembers this one, but it’s a tango tanda, which features the singer very heavily. The arrangement is a bit unusual and complex.

This tanda was by Francisco Fiorentino’s orquesta. Fiorentino was one of the most iconic singers of Troilo’s orquesta in the 40s. After he parted with Troilo, he formed his own orquesta, in which Astor Piazolla was the arranger and the conductor for a few years. Anyway, I gave it a go, I danced to it, and well, I must admit it wasn’t as good as imagined it to be. It felt a bit like an overworked and consequently less satisfiying version of Troilo. I may have to review them again. Oops. If anyone had any views on this tanda, I am very interested in hearing that. Who knows, some of you might have liked it.

This Saturday, I shall be at your service at the Club Milonga. So see you there, if not before at the practica. If you are away this weekend, then see you on next Monday!

Cheers,
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/1k1h97wwr875wv10o4yd4/20260914.pdf?rlkey=ifsih0a0dnchsdgbsyvgazhsp&dl=0

02/09/2026

Hi everyone,

What a great night! Thank you all for coming this week. Lots of us were physically pretty tired; we had the milongas on Friday and Saturday nights and many of us had the intensive learning with fabulous Giselle-Anne over the weekend. But, hey, she inspired us so much; we couldn’t help but come out and dance, could we?

We had a bunch of tango friends visiting from interstate to learn with Giselle-Anne who stayed for El Boliche, which injected so much energy in the room. On top of that, we could welcome Giselle-Anne at the Polo! How good was it? I am so grateful for the hard work Serkan and Christian put in to make this fabulous two weeks to happen, and for bringing her to El Boliche — I’m pretty sure they were so damn tired too.

The feature this week wasn’t a musician. I couldn’t find a suitable person this week; I could feature a very obscure figure (as I sometimes do), but I wanted to make sure that I can focus on the musical flow this week, as I knew we’d have quite a different energy this week. Then I remembered how fabulously gorgeous the moon had been over the weekend. So, that was the theme for this week: the moon—luna.

The first ‘luna’ was in the first tanda of the night. It was a lovely Orquesta Típica Víctor tango tanda. The fourth song was “Noche de luna”. This was followed by a jolly vals tanda by Rodriguez with the singer Armando Moreno, with the last piece “Caballero de la luna” being in the theme.

A couple of tandas later, I play a tango tanda by Canaro with Carlos Roldan. The second piece, “Esta noche de la luna”, is a very popular piece. The most commonly played one is probably the version by Di Sarli with Roberto Rufino. If you like a grand version, you might opt for the Pugliese one with Jorge Marciel. These are good examples of how arrangements and style create completely different music from the ‘same’ piece — if you are interested, do check on youtube or another platform.

The first milonga tanda was by Di Sarli with Rufino. The first piece doesn’t include “luna” in the title, but it often comes into my head when I see the full moon, as the chorus goes “Baila, mulata linda, bajo la luna llena” — “dance, cute mulata, under the full moon.”

The rather goofy second milonga tanda by Quinteto Pirincho had the moon theme too, with the last piece being “La cara de la luna”.

The last vals tanda of the night was by Caló. The third piece was “Luna de plata”, sung by Raúl Iriarte. Gorgeous piece.

I seem to have managed to squeeze in a fair number of moon related pieces — I hope you enjoyed the night. I certainly had a ball.

See you all next week, if not before at TengoTango Practilonga, La Mirada, and Giselle-Anne’s workshops on the weekend.

Cheers,

Shared with Dropbox

26/08/2026

Hi everyone,

Thank you for coming this Monday. I was a good turnout! We had a few people we hadn’t seen for a long time at El Boliche, which was very nice. We also had a new-ish friend of El Boliche returned for her second visit. We had an interstate visitor too. How about that?

This week, I had a bit of technical problem; my usual software somehow decided to die on me when we started the sound check. So, I had to resort to the alternative software, which I hadn’t DJed with for 10 years or so. That was a bit unnerving, as I had to be vigilant not to accidentally kill or skip the music by touching the wrong place at the wrong time. I was very pleased when I got to the end of the night without a major stuff up.

This meant I was a bit preoccupied with the technical challenges. So, I was glad I didn’t have a particularly complicated agenda for the feature.

The feature musician this week was Ricardo Malerba. He was an orquesta leader and bandoneonista. His orquesta’s recordings are well balanced, comfortably paced, and dancer friendly. Despite its danceability, I tend to overlook him; for whatever reason, he doesn’t jump out in my mind when I think what to play next. I suspect it is simply because I haven’t listened to enough of his recordings compared to all others.

Gary pointed out that I featured him in June as well when I chose him as the feature musician. The fact that I didn’t even remember that I featured him so recently seemed like a good reason to feature him again. So, I went for it.

Anyway, I played a Malerba tango tanda at around the half way point of the evening — just after the second vals. I hope you enjoyed it.

The intensive tango weeks with Giselle-Anne kicked off yesterday. We are expecting some interstate visitors for next two weeks. We might have some of them next Monday. So, let’s look forward to that.

See you all next week, if not before at the Tengo Tango milonga, Giselle-Anne’s workshops, or the Club milonga! Boy, we have a busy weekend. What fun!

Cheers,

Shared with Dropbox

19/08/2026

Hi everyone,

Thank you for coming this week! It was a very lively good night — good energy till the end. So, that was really good fun.

This week, I featured Jorge Maciel. He is a singer, who sang with the orquesta of Alfredo Gobbi, and later Pugliese. I don’t play him often. While there are some breathtaking recordings, I find his singing style kinda theatrical and a bit over dramatic for my liking. To play his voice, the room has to be ready for them. His songs are not something you can casually wheel out.

But then again, I am temparamentally more on the chill side than drama; I’m sure some of you are much more flamboyant than I am (which isn’t hard, frankly) and would do justice to the emotional drama of his voice. So, I decided to break out of my natural preference and see what I discover.

So, this Monday I played one tango tanda by Gobbi and Jorge Maciel, just before the second milonga tanda. I think many of you noticed the unusually intense singing tango tanda. I received mixed reviews on that tanda: some absolutely loved it, others found it a bit much. Pretty much as I expected. I am very interested in hearing what you made of it.

See you all next week!

Cheers,

11/08/2026

Hi everyone,

Thank you for coming last night! It was a seriously cold night, but we had a pretty good turnout. We had an international visitor even, so that was a bonus.

This week, I featured Luis Rubistein. He was a composer and a lyricist, who left many beautiful pieces which we still love today. His parents were Ukranian Jews, who migrated to Buenos Aires. Apparently their original name was Rubinstein, but as they migrated somehow they lost the “n” in their name. A common migrant’s story, I guess, when you transcribe a name from one language to another, this sort of inconsistency happens.

It sounds like he was a very important figure in tango, and popular art in general, back in those days — he even founded Primera Academia Argentina de Interpretación (First Argentine Academy of Interpretation), an important school of popular art. That’s quite a power move.

The first Rubistein moment on Monday was in the first vals tanda of the night, by Donato. Rubistein composed and wrote the lyrics for the second piece “Quien será?”. A few tandas later, I played a Donato tango tanda. The first piece “ Carnaval de mi barrio” was again Rubistein’s composition and lyrics. This was followed by a D’Arienzo milonga tanda. Rubistein composed and wrote the lyrics for the second piece “De Antaño”. It’s such a fun milonga to dance to.

A few tandas later, I played a Di Sarli tango tanda. Again, this tanda contained a piece composed and given lyrics by Rubistein: “Charlemos”. Now, this is such a heart-breaking piece. There was some interesting (though speculative) interpretation on the lyrics in Todotango’s article. Check it out if you are interested.

I played a D’Arienzo vals tanda after this. The lyrics of the second piece, “Castigo”, were by Rubistein. This was followed by a Tanturi tango tanda. Rubistein composed and wrote lyrics to the last piece, “Ya sale el tren”. And, right at the end of the night, I played a gorgeous Caló tango tanda. The final piece, “Marión”, was Rubistein’s work - both composition and lyrics.

I hope you enjoyed the night!

And a bit of PSA:

As no doubt you’d be aware, TengoTango is bringing Giselle Anne to Canberra in 10 days or so. She is coming only to Canberra, not touring anywhere else in Australia or nearby countries. I’m not sure how on earth TengoTango managed to convince her to come just to Canberra, but I am very grateful for their effort. It’s a massive committment. I know a bunch of people from Perth and Darwin are travelling to Canberra for her workshops. We are absolutely spoilt!

So, good people in Canberra, have you booked? I did — all 12 workshops! (Yep, I’m keen.)

It is a very special opportunity, so let’s not miss it. If you are relatively new, Serkan and Christian reckon the three workshops on 6 September are partcularly suitable for you — especially the embrace one. Also, if you are planning to do the workshop but haven’t booked, book now. Organising something as big as this is super stressful. Your booking will help Serkan and Chirstian sleep at night a bit better. https://www.tengotango.com.au/giselleanne2026.html

Cheers,
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/lx9s49whk5tyq0ceheud2/20260810.pdf?rlkey=euqwoaeduy9kky7j4do9kjqcd&dl=0

We are thrilled to announce that Maestra Giselle Anne is coming to Canberra this August and September for an exclusive two-week residency, hosted by Tengo Tango. With over 40 years of professional Argentine tango experience, Giselle Anne is one of the most respected and beloved teachers in the tango...

05/08/2026

Hi everyone,

Thank you for coming this Monday. We had a pretty good turn out including a returning Canberran and a couple of visitors. That was great!

This week, I featured an obscure figure: Celedonio Flores. Perhaps he is not obscure at all for poetry loving Argentineans; he was apparently a very popular poet. For tango dancers, however, he is a lesser known individual, although he wrote lyrics to so many beloved tangos. I also like having these obscure themes every now and then, as it nudges me to do things differently.

The first Flores moment was in the first tanda of the night. I played a Carabelli tango tanda, with various singers. The lyrics of the last piece, “Mía”, was written by Flores — sung by Carlos Lafuente. After the vals tanda, I played a tango tanda by Canaro with the singer Roberto Maida. The first piece, “Mano a mano”, is one of the best loved works by Flores. This was followed by a tango tanda of D’Agostino with Varges. The lyrics of the third song, “Gorriones”, are by Flores.

Then came a milonga tanda. This Troilo milonga tanda also had a piece by Flores: “Mano Brava”. The singer was Francisco Fiorentino.

I played a bit of an unusal tanda next — Eduardo Del Piano’s orquesta with the singer Ángel Vargas. I chose to play this one, because I really wanted to play the last piece of the tanda, “La Mariposa”. Most tango dancers have probably heard this piece played completely differently - Pugliese’s version. That is most certainly the most popular verison among dancers, but it is a complete departure from the version by Carlos Gardel — the version loved by Flores. I thought Del PIano and Vargas came a bit closer to that.

A few tandas later, I played a tango tanda by Troilo with Francisco Fiorentino. The third piece, “El Bulín De La Calle Ayacucho”, is another one by Flores. Then I played Di Sarli with Durán, and the third piece, “Vieja Luna”, was Flores’s work as well.

The Pugliese tango tanda also icluded Flores’s lyrics, in the last piece: “Corrientes y Esmeralda”.

I closed the night with some old tango by Di Sarli — from the 1930s. The second piece, “Malta”, had lyrics by Flores, sung by Ernesto Famá.

So, altogether, I managed to squeeze in 10 pieces by Flores, by the look of it. Not a bad effort in a 3 hour milonga.

Since I featured a lyricist, I played a hell of a lot of singers this week. I hope it wasn’t too much for you. (I really like singers, so to be honest I didn’t really realise until I looked back what I played…) I will make sure that we have a bit more instrumentals next week.

See you all next week!

Cheers,
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/tkidhff2efq93y3dgwjcn/20260803.pdf?rlkey=s6x3ayiq1u345qha3asmntcxa&dl=0

30/07/2026

Hi everyone,

Thank you for coming this Monday! We had quite a few people who we hadn’t seen for a while returning to El Boliche, as well as a couple of new-ish people (the second time at El Boliche!). All in all, it was a good turnout and lively night.

Now, the music this week. I featured Juan Carlos Lamas, who sang with D’Arienzo’s orchesta in the 1940s. His tenure with D’Arienzo was short, so he did not make many recordings. He didn’t have achieve the iconic status like Alberto Echagüe or Héctor Mauré did, but he left some nice recordings. So, I thougt that it might be good to feature him consciously.

I played two tandas by D’Arienzo / Juan Carlos Lamas. The first one was the tango tanda just after the first milonga tanda. It’s punchy, but not too fast: nice ones. The other one was the second milonga tanda of the night. It was a tanda that I haven’t played before. It is a bit more complex (there are breaks in the consistent milonga rhythm) but quite a fun one. The first song had Alberto Echagüe as the singer, but the second and third pieces were by Juan Carlos Lamas.

I also had one experimental tanda this week. It was just before this D’Arienzo milonga. The one with a bit of drama and lots of rhythmic contrasts. Probably it was reasonably difficult to dance to. The first piece was probably unfamiliar, but you might have recognised the rest of tanda — familiar pieces, done very differently from the versions that you are accustomed to. They were recordings from Astor Piazzolla’s own tango orchesta. Piazzolla played with Troilo’s orquesta from 1939-1944 or thereabouts, then he became the conductor and arranger for Francisco Fiorentino’s orquesta (who was one of Troilo’s singers). Piazzolla then moved onto forming his own orquesta típica. I was sick and not terribly useful for anything last week, so I bought an album of his orchesta from 1946-1948. I was quite excited by his sound, although I totally recognise that it might have been too much for some.

If you are interested in comparing Piazzolla’s renditions to other more familiar orquestas:
The 2nd piece “Tierra querieda” — I normally play the version by Pugliese (or very occasionally the version by Caló or De Caro).
The 3rd piece “El recodo” — Di Sarli or Biagi,
The 4th piece “Inspiración” — Caló and Troilo are the classic, but I also love Carabelli’s version. There is a Canaro version too, which is quite nice.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the night. See you all next week!

Cheers,

Shared with Dropbox

21/07/2026

Hi everyone,

Thank you for braving a cold Canberra night! It was a bit on the small side, but still a good night. We had a fab weekend of dancing, starting with the TengoTango term party, followed by gorgeously sparkly club milonga. I sooo enjoyed DJing at the stunningly classy club milonga (big thanks to Sandra & Robert for hosting, and Roxanne and Tim for cordinating), so I arrived at the Polo very uplifted. Also it was so lovely that Robert extended his stay in Canberra to join us at El Boliche.

Now, music. This week I featured Ernesto Famá. He is a singer with a beautiful delicate voice, probably best known for his recordings with Canaro. Before he recorded with Canaro he sang with Fresedo, Di Sarli, and Orquesta Típica Víctor too. But, he didn’t sing for long — he retired from show business at the age 35, apparently. The recordings I have ranged from 1926-1941, i.e. more from the pre-Golden Age period. How to weave them into the flow was the challenge of the night for me.

I started the night with Fresedo with Ernesto Famá. The whole tanda was from 1928. It’s slow and sparse compared to the Golden Age recordings, but these have quite a bit of emotional oomph. The particular sound of the early tangos may take a bit of getting used to, but there are lots of gems there.

The vals tanda that followed this was by Orquesta Típica Víctor from 1931. The singer for the last piece, “Anguista”, is Famá. I love this vals. It has a beautiful lyrical melody.

I followed this with a Canaro tango tanda from 1940-1941, with Famá singing. This tanda has the typical sound of Canaro of this time. More dry than the 30s recording, and the walking beat is very front and centre. Famá’s voice adds melodic emotionality to those otherwise (I dare say) somewhat dorky sounds, and create lovely contrasts.

The first milonga tanda of the night was also by Canaro and Famá. They are classic milongas. Good tempo, fun rhythm, absolutely solid.

From there, I did a bit of an experiment. I played some consecutive reasonably rhythmic and driving sort of tandas, and then brought it right back to an Orquesta Típica Víctor tango tanda from 1930, again with Famá. I am a massive fan of OTV from the late 1920s to 30s. Early OTV has quite a different feel to other orquestas from that time. Well-balanced and sophisticated, but it has some freeer airy feel than the bigger orquestras from the Golden age. Dancing to it feels like floating in the music. I wasn’t sure if playing early recordings like these in the middle of the night work, but well, to my surprise, every single person was dancing by the end of the tanda. OTV from 1930 getting everyone up wasn’t on my bingo card, I must say, but I was very pleased.

Finally, at the end of the night, I played Di Sarli with Famá from 1930-31. Another gorgeous, but not often played bunch of recordings.

I hope you had a good night. See you all next week.

Cheers,

Shared with Dropbox

14/07/2026

Hi everyone,

Thank you for coming last night. The cold weather seems to have gotten to some people— it’s July in Canberra after all — so it was on the quiet side last night. But! we had one of our beloved regulars returning to El Boliche after a long absence, and we had two interstate visitors. Then, extra bonus! Chirstian and Serkan came too (yay for the school holiday). All of this made me very happy. Even though we had a smaller number of people than usual, those who came kept going and it ended up being a lovely night.

And, the music. I featured Manuel Buzón. I played his tango tanda around the middle of the night. I also included one of his recordings in the second milonga tanda. The milonga tanda was a mixed one: Firpo, Ángel Sica, and Buzón. This is a bit of an obscure combo, but I thought it was a fun one. I am interested in hearing what you made of it.

His orquesta is quite good to dance to. It has good punchy rhythm, as well as emotional feel and dramatic flair. Still, it doesn’t make the top 15 orquestas for me, so it tends to be overlooked, especially since we have a very short milonga. When I went back and spent some time listening to them, I found I quite liked them. The recordings I have sound a bit thin — I am not sure if it’s his sound or the quality of the copies I have. I should look for more of his recordings, and maybe I should play him more often!

Anyway, see you all at the club milonga this Saturday. I will be on the deck for your dancing pleasure.

Cheers,

P.S. I didn’t get to send out the playlist last week, so I will attach two here.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/s2zee80l1y0jozhea0baz/20260713.pdf?rlkey=wxb3w0bk3x0z14kru3atccsqb&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ekkwhsy72ucdfusoinsg7/20260706.pdf?rlkey=lq1ps2cqr9buu3mw0h20mlixr&dl=0

Shared with Dropbox

02/07/2026

Hi everyone,

Thank you for coming this Monday. It was a bit smaller than last week, but we had a returning new tango dancer, a returning ex-Canberran from Hobart, and a returning TSCC (possibly foundation?) member from many moons ago. So that made me very happy. People can come back to our community after 10 or more years of absence, and they are warmly welcomed back and have an enjoyable night. This is something special we got in our lives, don’t you think?

Anyway, the music. I featured Ricardo Malerba. I don’t get to play his orquesta much, as our milonga is short and he isn’t making my top 10 orquestas, but his recordings are perfectly good and danceable. I played a tango tanda with the singer Orland Medina. They are good pieces. Good pace, clear rhythm, and good voice. People seemed to be enjoying them. Maybe I should make more of a conscious effort to play this orquesta.

I also played his milonga tandas for the second milonga tanda of the night. They are a bit quirky—some might have found them a bit tricky— but quite fun ones, I thought.

A side note: I played “Fuimos” by Pugliese with Roberto Chanel this week. I’m not sure how many people remember this, but I played the Troilo with Alberto Mario version of this particular piece last week — if you noticed such detail, you are joining my music nerd club.

I hope you enjoyed the night. See you all next week!

Cheers,

Shared with Dropbox