The morning of Wednesday September 25, 1929, New York Harbor was covered in fog so dense that the Captain of the Île de France had to call in the tugboats to reach the pier on West 15 Street. The ship sailed from Le Havre on September 18 carrying quite a few notables: the Crown Prince of Kapurthala was there, and came to meet his father in town; Gloria Swanson, the actress, was returning from London; and Ramón and Rosita, the famous Tango dancers, were coming back from their successful second tour of England and France with Osvaldo Fresedo and his musicians in tow.
1. Preliminary: on Brunswick Records
Since going electric in 1925 Brunswick Records expanded significantly into the folk music repertoire in the US and abroad. Brunswick built a big recording studio in New York on the top floor of 799 7th Avenue (at 52nd Street). The studio was close to Times Square, the Broadway theater district and many Jazz clubs; the new Hotel Victoria opened on the corner of 51st Street in 1928.
In New York and since at least 1925, Louis Katzman
2. Autumn in New York
Argentine Tango took Europe like a storm in the 1910s. But in the United States Tango was never as popular. Casimiro Aín, the famous Argentinian dancer, lived in New York from 1913 through 1918, and Celestino Ferrer dedicated a beautiful tango to him. Other dancers came and went from Argentina, but in general the Tango dancing couples that performed in the United States were locals, Americans.
In the 1920s New York was a very dynamic place. The Armistice of 1919 that ended World War I brought prosperity, and the transportation, recording and telecommunications industries boomed. As a result artistic life flourished, it was the Roarin’ 20s indeed.
In New York, Tango was not danced in what we know today as a “Milonga” (a Tango dancing Club). Instead social dancing took place at ballrooms like the Roseland in Midtown, and the Savoy in Harlem; and at private and cabaret functions, benefits and social gatherings. Professional ballroom dancers saw Tango dancing as a straightforward extension of their skills. Some dances were held at places like the Ritz-Carlton, and the Roof Garden of the magnificent Astor Hotel in Times Square
On occasion an itinerant Argentine orchestra was in town, but from the news clippings of the era one gets a sense that the dancers were the draw of the show, and not the orchestras which were merely seen as “accompaniment". Maurice Mouvet and his wife Eleanora Ambrose invited the Canaros to join their show at Club Mirador in October 1926. Ramón and Rosita danced with Cobian's orchestra in New York in 1926, and in 1929 their career was still on the rise. On September 2 the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that Ramón and Rosita were coming back with an Argentine Orchestra that "has been a sensation in Paris this Summer". And on September 29, the Waco Tribune Herald hilariously reported that Rosita brought "Freceda" to the US.
Date | Title | Label | Matrix | Disc | Singer | Genre | Music | Lyrics | Notes |
1929-09-30 | Brunswick NYC | E30821 | 40965 | Tango | Arturo. J. Bochatón | ||||
1929-09-30 | Brunswick NYC | E30822 | 41029 | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Arturo. J. Bochatón | Con Ay Blas, que te equivocas! de Pilar Arcos | ||
1929-09-30 | Tengo miedo | Brunswick NYC | E30823 | 40986 | Genaro Veiga | Tango | José María Aguilar | Celedonio Flores | |
1929-09-30 | Brunswick NYC | E30824 | 41053 | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Pedro Mario Maffia | Jorge Curi |
Fresedo, Ramón and Rosita moved to the Casanova Club (151 West 54th Street) on November 9, and this souvenir from no less than Edward Steichen (Vanity Fair, January 1930) is the evidence that Fresedo was there.
Another feature of music life in New York in the 1920s that you just could not miss was Jazz. Jazz was everywhere, on Broadway, on Radio, on the Movies, and on the dancing floors. Fresedo had visited New York in Summer 1920, and travelled to Camden, New Jersey, to record 50 tracks for Victor. He spent at least 10 days in one recording studio, while on another studio next door Paul Whiteman and his Ambassador Orchestra were recording a fox trot, the classic Whispering.
Fresedo must have witnessed on October 1st the demolition of the fabulous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on 5th Avenue at 34th Street, which paved the way for the engineering feat that gave the City the Empire State Building in 1930.
3. At the onset of the 1930s
1929-12-12 | Tango azul (Blue Tango) | Brunswick NYC | E31592 | 40889 | Tango | Cesare Augusto Ciociano | With The Castilians’ Ramoncito | ||
1929-12-12 | Brunswick NYC | E31593 | 40890 | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Cesare Augusto Ciociano | |||
1929-12-12 | Brunswick NYC | E31594 | 40892 | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Luis Teisseire - Germán Teisseire | |||
1929-12-12 | Brunswick NYC | E31595 | 40891 | Genaro Veiga - Pilar Arcos | Tango | Arturo Vicente de Bassi - Pablo Suero |
On December 16 the critic Mark Hellinger wrote on the Daily News about "The Top 10 Things I Liked Lately", and included "watching Rosita and Ramón at the Casanova Club", the show was successful.
On December 21 a Gala was conducted in Town Hall to honor Joaquín Ortega, a renowned Flamenco teacher in town. The listing of artists present includes a few of Fresedo's friends, including Medrano and Donna, Rosita and Ramón, and José Moriche (friends with Cobian), so we think Fresedo was there too.
On December 26, Ben Bernie played at the Gala Opening of The Moon Ballroom on the Upper East Side, and the invite shows an “Argentina Típica Band” was also present. We posit that these were the Fresedo musicians sans Osvaldo, as the label “Argentine Típica” was not used by any other band in town at the time. Also, Ben Bernie was recording for Brunswick, and he was a hot ticket on WJZ Radio.
On January 15, 1930, Fresedo once again went into the recording studio, but this time, uncharacteristically, he recorded only four instrumentals. Notably he recorded Fascination (Fascinación), a Tango by Louis Katzman (who used the pseudonym L. Medrano); and he premiered “Tango lindo” composed by Fresedo himself. Tango lindo starts with a dramatic, soaring introduction in D minor, and after a transition Fresedo introduces the main theme with his bandoneon in D major. This is followed by a variation on the main theme, and then by a novel modulation en mediant in G major. It’s evident that Fresedo loves this melody as he has the violins sing it in unison, it’s his Ode to the New Decade. Fresedo concludes with yet another variation of the main theme in D major where a violin whimsically improvises in a way that reminisces Jazz solos. As a composition Tango lindo is a landmark in Fresedo’s output, and presages his new style that is more melody driven, and which is best exemplified by his most popular composition Vida mía. Camilo Gatica points out that "it demonstrates a more inspired lyricism, first evident in his Sollozos and Aromas of 1922-23, but here it's more mature". After returning to Buenos Aires Fresedo renamed this piece “Tango mío”, and recorded it with Agustín Magaldi singing the lyrics by Emilio Fresedo.
Two days later, on January 17, Fresedo recorded two more tangos with Pilar Arcos.
1930-01-15 | Brunswick NYC | E31806 | 40947 | Tango | José María Rizzuti | ||||
1930-01-15 | Brunswick NYC | E31807 | 41075 | Tango | Osvaldo Fresedo | Changed name in 1931 to Tango mío | |||
1930-01-15 | Corazón, callate un poco | Brunswick NYC | E31808 | 41075 | Tango | Armando Baliotti - César Ginzo | Eduardo Calvo | ||
1930-01-15 | Brunswick NYC | E31809 | 40947 | Tango | Louis Katzman aka Luis Medrano | ||||
1930-01-17 | Brunswick NYC | E31810 | 40941 | Pilar Arcos | Tango | Enrique Delfino | Alberto Vacarezza | ||
1930-01-17 | Brunswick NYC | E31811 | 40941 | Pilar Arcos | Tango | Ramón Collazo | Roberto Fontaina |
4. Spring in New York
On March 25 Fresedo was reunited with his old friends Medrano and Donna (from the Ambassadeurs in Paris) on a show at the Main Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel. Since they returned from France, Medrano and Donna had been quite busy with previous engagements at the clubs Montmartre and Richman.
On March 30, and April 1st, Fresedo recorded four more tangos with Genaro Veiga:
1930-03-30 | Has cambiado por completo | Brunswick NYC | E32155 | [Melotone MS16069] | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Juan Carlos Cobian | Enrique Dizeo | |
1930-03-30 | Brunswick NYC | E32156 | 40986 | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Julio Fava Pollero | Enrique Dizeo | ||
1930-04-01 | Brunswick NYC | E32477 | 41053 | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Guillermo Desiderio Barbieri | Enrique Cadícamo | ||
1930-04-01 | Barrio viejo | Brunswick NYC | E32478 | [Melotone MS16069] | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Guillermo Desiderio Barbieri |
One week later Fresedo played on WJZ Radio, but this time as accompaniment for Adolfo Utrera, a Cuban baritone and poet forever known for his composition “Aquellos ojos verdes”. This is the last time we hear from “Los Argentinos” or Fresedo in the New York Press in 1930.
Brunswick was sold to Warner in April 1930, Fresedo must have learned about this while in New York.
1930-05-15 | Serpentina doble | Brunswick NYC | E32491 | 40999 | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Juan Bautista Rezzano | With Pilar Arcos’ Mama yo quiero de eso | |
1930-05-15 | Flor de un día | Brunswick NYC | E32492 | 41157 | Fortunio Bonanova | Tango | Pedro Datta | Francisco N. Bianco | |
1930-05-15 | Brunswick NYC | E32493 | 41342 | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Osvaldo Fresedo | |||
1930-05-15 | Brunswick NYC | E32494 | 41157 | Fortunio Bonanova | Tango | Anselmo A. Aieta | Francisco García Jiménez | ||
1930-05-23 | Brunswick NYC | E32507 | 41042 | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Julio Fava Pollero | Enrique Dizeo | ||
1930-05-23 | Brunswick NYC | E32508 | 41236 | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Antonio Ruiz | Humberto Fernández | ||
1930-05-23 | Brunswick NYC | E32509 | 41042 | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Juan Bautista Deambroggio “Bachicha” | Pascual Contursi | ||
1930-05-23 | Brunswick NYC | E32510 | 41236 | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Andrés Domenech | Jesús Fernández Blanco | ||
1930-05-27 | Brunswick NYC | E32511 | 41045 | Pilar Arcos | Tango | David Granadino | |||
1930-05-27 | Soy tuya | Brunswick NYC | E32512 | 41070 | Pilar Arcos | Tango | Edgardo Donato | With Pilar Arcos’ Idilio eterno | |
1930-05-27 | Brunswick NYC | E32513 | 41135 | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Francisco Canaro | Juan A. Caruso | ||
1930-05-27 | Brunswick NYC | E32514 | 41135 | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Enrique Santos Discépolo |
Curiously he recorded two tracks with Fortunio Bonanova, a Catalonian baritone and actor in town since at least 1925. Bonanova was good friends with Pilar Arcos.
5. Summer 1930
On September 16 Osvaldo Fresedo arrived in Buenos Aires on the Western Prince. Strangely, there is no record of entry for the musicians in his Orchestra.
6. Epilogue: until we meet again!
On October 1st, Fresedo was acclaimed at the Metropol, in Buenos Aires, with
Bandoneon: Osvaldo Fresedo - Juan Salvatore
Violin: Manlio Francia - Juan Cruz Mateo - José Lorito
Double bass: Alfredo Corletto
Piano: Sebastián Lombardo
Singer: Roberto Díaz
New York changed Fresedo profoundly, his sense of the orchestra, his sense of the sound, his sense of the Tango was not the same after 1930. This would become evident in the 50 tracks he recorded for Brunswick in the next two years, but even more so on the new orchestra he created as he signed up with Victor again in 1933.
Notes
4. Out of the 30 tracks that Fresedo recorded in New York, as many as 8 are truly hard or impossible to find. Any information regarding these tracks will bring joy to our ears:
Date | Title | Label | Matrix | Disc | Singer | Genre | Music | Lyrics | Notes |
1929-09-07 | Tengo miedo | Brunswick NYC | E30823 | 40986 | Genaro Veiga | Tango | José María Aguilar | Celedonio Flores | |
1929-12-12 | Tango azul (Blue Tango) | Brunswick NYC | E31592 | 40889 | Tango | Cesare Augusto Ciociano | Con Ramoncito de Los Castilians (instrumental) | ||
1930-01-15 | Corazón, callate un poco | Brunswick NYC | E31808 | 41075 | Tango | Armando Baliotti - César Ginzo | Eduardo Calvo | ||
1930-03-30 | Has cambiado por completo | Brunswick NYC | E32155 | [Melotone MS16069] | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Juan Carlos Cobian | Enrique Dizeo | |
1930-04-01 | Barrio viejo | Brunswick NYC | E32478 | [Melotone MS16069] | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Guillermo Desiderio Barbieri | ||
1930-05-15 | Serpentina doble | Brunswick NYC | E32491 | 40999 | Genaro Veiga | Tango | Juan Bautista Rezzano | Con Mama yo quiero de eso de Pilar Arcos | |
1930-05-15 | Flor de un día | Brunswick NYC | E32492 | 41157 | Fortunio Bonanova | Tango | Pedro Datta | Francisco N. Bianco | |
1930-05-27 | Soy tuya | Brunswick NYC | E32512 | 41070 | Pilar Arcos | Tango | Edgardo Donato | Con Idilio eterno de Pilar Arcos |
Acknowledgements
1. Total thanks to Camilo Gatica for listening, advising, and his encyclopedic knowledge.
2. Pablo Darío Taboada contributed to this story.
3. Fabio Daniel Cernuda for the Veiga version of En la mala.
4. Maestro Emmanuel Arias Luna in Mexico, Luiz Pareja in Arequipa, Richard Markowitz in NYC, Iván Araque, and many others who helped in tidying up the loose ends.
5. Mark John
6. Lola ❤️
Dedicatory
To my beloved Camila, always on my mind.
Bibliography
1. Ross Laird's "Brunswick Records: A discography of recordings, 1916-1931” (Greenwood Press, 2001) is a monumental and invaluable resource.
https://books.google.com/books/about/Brunswick_Records.html?id=GAerQSlFjPgC
2. The University of California in Santa Barbara (UCSB) has created the “Discography of American Historical Recordings” as a searchable website that includes Laird’s work, and other material
https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/resources/detail/191
3. The Strachwitz Frontera Collection has recently digitized and published a huge stash of Brunswick recordings from the Louis Katzman days.
http://frontera.library.ucla.edu
https://www.youtube.com/c/fronteracollection
4. Michael Katzman wrote an awesome paper on Louis Katzman for the 2013 Conference of the Association of Recorded Sound Collections
http://www.arsc-audio.org/conference/audio/ARSC_conf_2013_Katzman_slides.pptx
5. Abel Green and Joe Laurie Jr.’s “Show Biz: from Vaude to Video” is an incredible book published in 1951 on the history of (what else?) Showbiz in the United States in the first half of the 20th Century.
https://www.amazon.com/Show-Biz-Variety-Vaude-Video/dp/B01N2P3NMT
7. Ted Gioia wrote about the boom of Jazz in New York for The Observer
https://observer.com/2016/09/how-new-york-city-became-the-epicenter-of-jazz