Here is an overview of a few orchestras to get you started and more familiar with Argentine tango music suitable for dancing. Listen to a variety of recordings by different tango orchestras recorded in different eras.

Here are a selection of orchestras to get you started, but there are many others you might find.

• Juan Maglio, 1880 – 1934. Played with others then formed his own orchestra in 1912. Listen to this recording : ‘Juan Maglio – Independencia’ on Youtube. It doesn’t give a recording date, but I imagine it must be 1910s. You can hear the ‘choppy’ or ‘habanera’ early tango style. How would you dance to this ? The ‘cross’ did not come into tango at this time, but could you now do it to this music?
• Roberto Firpo, 1884 – 1969. He played a variety of dance music including jazz, forming his own orchestra in 1913.
• Angel D’Agostino, 1900 – 1991. Played piano with Juan D’Arienzo before forming his own orchestra. Here’s a link:

‘Angel D’Agostino – “No aflojés” – 1953’ on Youtube.

• Osvaldo Pugliese, 1905 – 1995. Played piano with the orchestras of R. Firpo and Miguel Calo amongst others, before forming his own in 1939. Listen to:

‘Osvaldo Pugliese – Recuerdo (1944)’ on Youtube.

• Rodolfo Biagi, !906 – 1969. Played with various orchestras including Juan Maglio and Juan D’Arienzo before forming his own.
• Horacio Salgan, 1916 – 2016. Played piano with the orchestra of Roberto Firpo before forming his own orchestra in 1944.

‘Horacio Salgan’- ‘Recuerdo’ on Youtube.

We gave you two versions of ‘Recuerdo’ above. Do you like both? Osvaldo Pugliese wrote it in1924 at the age of 19. Later, Eduardo Moreno wrote words for it. ‘Recuerdo’ was first recorded by Julio De Caro in 1926. There is a useful summary about Osvaldo Pugliese on Wikipedia, or more information on ‘TodoTango.com‘. TodoTango also has links to various versions of ‘Recuerdo’, so we invite you to also think about the importance of the singer and the song in a Tango.