Carlos Di Sarli

El Señor del Tango

Pianist, Leader and Composer

(1903 January 7 - 1960 January 12)

Place of Birth: Bahía Blanca (Buenos Aires) Argentina

Notes: Carlos Di Sarli

Era

1. 1928-31. Sexteto. Roberto Guisado joined on Oct.20, 1929.

2. 1939-48. Guisado on violin. Félix Verdi (40-47), Federico Scorticati (43-48) on bando. Consistent personnel with occasional changes. 4/5 violin + 4/5 bando

   2a: The 1939 recordings (Corazón, El Retirao) featured only 3 violin + 3 bando.

3. 1951-55. Old members with some new faces (Simón Bajor, etc.) 6 violin + 5 bando

4. 1956-58. Brand-new orquesta. Simón Bajor, Elvino Vardaro on violin. José Libertella, Julián Plaza, Alfredo Marcucci, etc. on bando. 5 violin + 4 bando

5. 1958. Guisado, Verdi, and some old members rejoined the orquesta. A gigantic size of 8 violin + 5 bando

Date

• The recording dates of Music Hall (51-53) can only be traced down to months.

  • Nido Gaucho (1951) has a confirmed recording date of Nov.15 according to Abel Palermo’s article on Mario Pomar on Todotango.

  • Edmundo Rivero’s vocal was dubbed (probably 1960, dates unknown), after the maestro’s demise, to the four instrumental tracks recorded in 1958, and released in 1961 in a 45rpm EP. They are the same instrumental tracks used in Durán’s takes.

Genre

• There are two types of Vals in Di Sarli’s repertoire. One is the typical 6/8 upbeat, fast-paced vals criollo (usually 190rpm+) which was popularized by Juan D’Arienzo in the 1930s; another is the 3/4 slower traditional, Viennese-style “waltz” (usually 120-180rpm). The latter was rarely played in nowadays milongas.

Singer

• Mercedes Carné recordings (1932, accompaniment) not included.

• Di Sarli only used lyric singers in his Orquesta Típica era: Lyric Tenor (Rufino, Serpa, Pomar, Florio) + Lyric Baritone (Podestá, Durán, Ledesma)

Masters

• Music Hall was the first record company that introduced reel-to-reel tape masters to Argentina, thus Di Sarli unintentionally skipped the microgroove master era.

• Di Sarli died before the advent of stereo recordings in Argentina.

Pitch

• The two transitions (435hz-440hz, 440hz-442hz) went smoothly in Di Sarli’s recordings except for a regression to 440hz in Philips.

Speed

• While 1940-41 was an abnormally fast period, most of Di Sarli’s (tango) performance tempi fall at 121-25bpm (1930s, 40s) and 110-20bpm (1920s, 50s) categories, which belongs to the slowest tier.