7) Horacio Salgán and his Orquesta Típica

Horacio Salgán is often paired with Astor Piazzolla as the two most famous figures who reshaped traditional tango, giving rise to the era of tango nuevo. However, the drastically different trajectories they pursued are also worth further scrutiny. Piazzolla’s aspiration is avant-garde and intellectual, drawing inspiration from classical music giants such as Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, and J.S. Bach, shedding light on his revolutionary journey that eventually veered too far. Salgán’s interest appears to be more closely tied to popular demands, aiming to entertain rather than to preach. In either case, the focus is not on dancers.

Armed with classical and jazz influences, the quintessence of Piazzolla’s music, deeply rooted in tango, can be plausibly explained by his Argentine nationality, upbringing in New York, and fiery Italian heritage. On the other hand, while carrying a mulatto heritage, Salgán and his style could be better described as a potpourri of various genres that overflow the tango borders. The "porteñismo" in his music is scarce and ambiguous. Thus, an emphasis on the rare pan-Americanism exhibited in his musical craft would be more reasonable and intriguing.

With spices from Brazilian, Argentine folklore, Caribbean, and Jazz music, Salgán has served something sufficiently yummy and also one-of-a-kind. Shortly after he cut his first Jazz/Samba record, "Choro en Fa Sostenido," which sounds like a pioneering Bossa Nova in 1943, he established his own Orquesta Típica the next year for a convincing reason: “…empecé a componer porque quería hacer un tango de una manera determinada. No con la idea de ser compositor, sino con la de tocar tangos como a mí me gustaba…” (I started to compose because I wanted to make a tango in a certain way. Not with the idea of being a composer, but rather with the idea of playing tangos as I liked…)”

The recording of "Mis Calles Porteñas" (1946) was the earliest performance recorded by Salgán’s Orquesta Típica. As one of the most long-lived tango legends, Salgán switched between numerous recording labels, including Víctor, TK, Antar Telefunken, Philips, EMI, etc., from 1950 onwards. Unfortunately, not all of Salgán’s recordings have been digitized and commercially released, which means you have to trace them from the vinyls.

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Salgán’s tango, setting aside the innocent Guardia Vieja era, is the only tango that does not obligatorily impose stereotyped melancholy on its listeners/dancers, and the beauty and complexity in his music are never compromised. Osvaldo Pugliese once commented after hearing Salgán’s rendition of "Recuerdo": “De una flor hizo un jardín… descubrió cosas que ni yo había visto (From a flower, he made a garden… he discovered things that I had never seen),” and ever since then, Pugliese refused to perform the instrumental version of "Recuerdo." In contrast to Pugliese’s passionate and crucifying approach, Salgán handled this piece with such elegance and lightheartedness that it feels as if the "recuerdo" is a message from heaven.

If the tango itself is a gigantic monster-shaped dark cloud sprawling in the sky, Horacio Salgán would be the lovely silver lining. Collecting Salgán’s records is a great pleasure, and listening to his music always brings joy and hope to life.

Must-haves (9 discs)