Do you feel like you want to punish the floor real bad, perhaps out of frustration from the prolonged tango desert? If so, I've got some beats for you.
Armando Pontier was a prolific author, infamous for his collaboration with Enrique Francini that, in my opinion, was a clash of the titans - both extremely talented and opinionated, their recordings are too tense and complicated to be welcome on the dance floor.
Separately, however, they did some pretty fine work.
This tanda comes from the CD Armando Pontier Vol.1 (1957/1958) that arrived in the mail a few weeks ago. I have yet to get to the vocal pieces. The instrumentals have charmed me too much!
Structure
- A la gran muñeca (A mi/ma)
- El entrerriano (G ma)
- Derecho viejo (F mi)
- Zorro gris (A mi)
First three songs run at approx 64 BPM, the last one slows down a bit. If these were four straight walkers, I wouldn't want this dip in speed. Zorro gris, however, is a surprise lyrical twist in this story, and I feel like the tempo change emphasises that and brings it to a satisfying close.
The music has a fantastic kick, the accents are sharp and the forward drive is relentless. Only occasionally does Pontier indulge in a rubato. These are reliable walkers with not that many tricks for the naive leader.
Usage
I would not hesitate to play these instrumentals anytime I needed swift, accented tanda to boost the energy levels. Perhaps when I've run out of D'Arienzos and needed something more profound.
image credit goes to Nsey Benajah