My natural preferences with Tango are to listen slightly later than the purists would have it. I just don’t like the poor fidelity on the early work, and can easily listen to later fuller sounds even if some of the tightness – from a dancing perspective – has gone.

But these early Francisco Canaro and Roberto Maida tracks are just amazing – they sound clear, relevant and totally engage me. This is a Tanda from 1937 – 1938 – for me it’s hard to imagine the technical resources available then…

Invierno – 1937
Condena – 1937
La Cuarenta – 1937
Paciencia – 1938

And the lyrics .. is this old fashioned? ( If you are in a rush Paciencia is 9:05 into the tanda above)

Why pretend?
Patience…
Life is so.

It’s been 78 years since Maida floated out those words in such a challenging way.

And yet here I am.. impatiently believing that life might perhaps not be so.