Oh, my!
My friend, Prague tango DJ Vladimír Dudr, has recently pointed me to a new release by the Tango Time Travel, which is "Todos de Pedro Laurenz" and is, simply, everything he's ever recorded.
I don't think I've done a review of Golden Age transfers here, and I don't plan to. What I want to do instead is to re-broadcast this epochal event such that more people hear about it.
Why should you care about Pedro Laurenz?
He might have been the man who started the Golden Age with his Arrabal in 1937, as Michal Lavocah has written in his Tango stories. This song is a couple of years ahead of its time when you compare it with other recordings from the same year. A true progressive he was.
If he had only recorded his collaboration with Alberto Podestá and nothing else, he'd still have earned his place in the tango heaven. But did a lot more, albeit not nearly as much as his contemporaries like Di Sarli or Caló. Quantity, however, is hardly a reasonable measure of impact. Canaro recorded thousands of songs but will ever be remembered for five of them (kidding, maybe six).
Previously, you could get Laurenz on some CDs like "Creaciones Inolvidables Con Podesta Y Bermudez" or the "Roots of Tango" series. Nothing to write home about, too cleaned, all edges have been made blunt. Then TangoTunes released a few vinyl and later also shellac transfers. Finally, we have everything, and the transfers are incredibly good.
Quoting the booklet, there are songs that may not have been previously available at all: Quedate tranquilo, Poca suerte, Flores del alma, Todavía estás a tiempo and La gayola.
If you are a tango DJ who (also, or exclusively) plays the standard repertoire, or a collector, or a serious lover of classic tangos, go ahead and visit the TTT store. You owe it to yourself to spend your hard-earned euros or dollars on this.
BTW I am not getting a commission or anything for saying this. I buy a lot of music all the time and all of the music that I review here. Yes, it gets expensive, but at least I don't blow ALL of my money on liquor and women... 🤣
2022-07-28T22:28:44+00:00 by Michael