Tanda of the Week: Varela - Ledesma - Lesica. Tango lyrics translated. Plus a short tutorial!

Tanda of the Week: Varela. Tutorial and lyrics translated, illustrated with historical pictures!  ++Timeslots++ Start 00:00 Tutorial 00:29 Fumando Espero 07:21 Y todavía te quiero 09:53 Fueron Tres Años 12:40 Historia de un amor 15:35 This week’s tanda features Héctor Varela. Varela had been a well-known bandoneon player and music arranger in the orchestra of Juan d’Arienzo as of 1940, when he decided to start his own orchestra in 1950. Héctor Varela was not a modernist or a innovator like Troilo, Pugliese or Salgán, instead he played traditional tango for dancers, just like he had done in his years with d’Arienzo. But his orchestra had its very own rhythm and sound. Varela clearly put his own distinctive mark on his orchestra. When it comes to popularity, Varela is one of those love-or-hate orchestras. And it’s interesting that in his glory days in the 1950’s he was loved especially by the traditional tango dancers – and he was so successful commercially, that Varela was in fact one of the best selling orchestras in Argentina. But nowadays Varela is kind of frowned upon by some traditionalists. Perhaps for political reasons, or because the recordings he made in the 1960’s really weren’t that great. Over time it all became too smooth, too slick, too much reverb – basically all that’s wrong with tango for export. However, this tanda highlights Varela’s most successful years, with singers Argentino Ledesma and Rodolfo Lesica. Lesica was born as Rodolfo Alberto Aiello. His father, Don Carmelo Aiello, was a composer and bandoneon player. Rodolfo (“El Rolo”) was a bit of a bad boy, but whenever he ran into trouble his voice and tango interpretations usually saved him. Rodolfo Aiello met Varela in 1950, while working as a taxi driver. When he sang for the maestro, Varela immediately recognized his talent and had him join his orchestra. Varela insisted Rodolfo needed an artistic name, which became Lesica, after the Plaza Lezica. Lesica stayed with Varela until 1961 but due to his temper he split with Varela and came back a number of times (in 1952 and ‘57). Lesica recorded 27 tracks with Varela as a solo singer and 12 duets, at first together with Armando Laborde and then with Argentino Ledesma. Especially Lesica and Ledesma formed a golden duo. Argentino Ledesma joined the orchestra of Héctor Varela in 1952, replacing Armando Laborde. He had his debut in the famous cabaret Chantecler. In ‘55 Varela wanted to record ‘Fumando Espero’ with Rodolfo Lesica, but Lesica didn’t like the lyrics (he thought they were too ‘feminine’) so he left it to Ledesma. It would eventually become one of the greatest successes. In 1956 Ledesma was asked to join the orchestra of Carlos Di Sarli, and they recorded Fumando Espero together as well. By then Ledesma had become a big star and record company Columbia did everything they could in their power to convince him to come back to Varela. Eventually he did, after just 3 months with Di Sarli. The years 1956 and 57 were probably the most successful for the Varela / Ledesma / Lesica team. But in 1957 record company Odeón convinced Ledesma to start a solo carreer. The tanda of this week starts with : 1. Fumando Espero - Sung by Argentino Ledesma, after Lesica rejected it, in 1955.A tango from Barcelona, Spain, music written by Juan Viladomat Masanas in 1922 - and lyrics by Felix Garzo. It’s one of the first tangos that came to Argentina from Europe in the 1920s. It’s an ode to the pleasures of love and the pleasure of smoking… Now smoking is bad for your health of course, but it could be worse: the other tango that Juan Viladomat is known for is ‘La cocaina’ (also from the 1920s) 2. Y todavía te quiero - with Rodolfo Lesica, from 1956. Music by Luciano Leocata, lyrics by Abel Aznar – as a duo they wrote about 10 tangos together. Leocata himself played the bandoneon, and he worked together with Florindo Sassone. 3. Fueron Tres Años. One of my favourites with Ledesma – and one of his best selling records as well. Music and lyrics were written by Juan Pablo Marín at the age of 28, and this song made him a fortune. 4. Historia de un amor, with Rodolfo Lesica. This song - originally a bolero - was written by Carlos Eleta Almarán, from Panama. Almarán was also a business man, founder of the first radio and tv network in Panama, RPC, and boxing promoter. Libertad Lamarque recorded ‘Historia de un amor’ in Mexico as part of the soundtrack of a Mexican film with the same name in ‘56. Via her husband, musician Alfredo Malerba, ‘Historia de un amor’ came to Varela and Lesica, who hurried to record this masterpiece. Enjoy! Please note: We do not own the music in this video. Songs are included for educational purposes only. All songs have been edited/cut to prevent downloading of the complete songs. You can buy them from various providers (like iTunes) or stream them on Spotify.