Category Archives: Juan Carlos Cobián

My favorite tandas: Fresedo – ‘Rendez Vous’

The tangos that Osvaldo Fresedo recorded with vocalist Héctor Pacheco are almost never played in milongas. And on the sites featuring tanda collections that I sometimes consult, I could find only one Fresedo/Pacheco tanda, by DJ Goran. As Goran notes, these tangos are “Very dreamy and romantic, […] ideal for a dimly lit milonga, near the end of the evening.” The four tangos I chose for this set are especially laconic and contemplative. As I listen to this music, I feel transported to Rendez Vous, the elegant boite in downtown Buenos Aires where Fresedo played regularly throughout the 1950s.

My favorite tandas: Fresedo – ‘Niebla del Riachuelo’

I still remember the first time I heard a Fresedo/Ray tanda: I had never encountered tangos of such exquisite beauty. This set includes two songs composed by Fresedo himself, one by Enrique Delfino, and one by Juan Carlos Cobián (whom Fresedo greatly admired). I like to play this tanda either early in the evening, or after the milonga has reached its climax and the night is about to come to an end.

My favorite tandas: D’Agostino – ‘Adiós, arrabal’

A “gently melancholic” tanda about things past (“la milonga porteña, que nunca más volverá“).  I am not at all bothered by the fact that the first song was recorded more than a decade after the other three and does not feature Ángel Vargas–especially since ‘Café Domínguez’ is one of the most beautiful tangos of all time–, but purists might want to replace it with ‘Mi viejo barrio’ or ‘Quien tuviera dieciocho años’ (both from 1944 and sung by Vargas).