Tracing Tangueros

Tracing Tangueros offers an inside view of Argentine tango music in the context of the growth and development of the art form's instrumental and stylistic innovations. Rather than perpetuating the glamorous worldwide conceptions that often only reflect the tango that left Argentina nearly 100 years ago, authors Kacey Link and Kristin Wendland trace tango's historical and stylistic musical trajectory in Argentina, beginning with the guardia nueva's crystallization of the genre in the 1920s, moving through tango's Golden Age (1925-1955), and culminating with the "Music of Buenos Aires" today. Through the transmission, discussion, examination, and analysis of primary sources currently unavailable outside of Argentina, including scores, manuals of style, archival audio/video recordings, and live video footage of performances and demonstrations, Link and Wendland frame and define Argentine tango music as a distinct expression possessing its own musical legacy and characteristic musical elements.
Beginning by establishing a broad framework of the tango art form, the book proceeds to move through twelve in-depth profiles of representative tangueros (tango musicians) within the genre's historical and stylistic trajectory. Through this focused examination of tangueros and their music, Link and Wendland show how the dynamic Argentine tango grows from one tanguero linked to another, and how the composition techniques and performance practices of each generation are informed by that of the past.

Kacey Link, D.M.A., is a pianist and scholar residing in Southern California. Kristin Wendland, Ph.D., is a Senior Lecturer at Emory University Department of Music. Together they have given lectures and presentations on Argentine tango throughout the United States as invited university guests and for professional societies.

- Acknowledgments
- About the Companion Website
- Introduction. Argentine Tango: A Multidimensional Art Form
- Part One: Argentine Tango Instrumental Music
- I. What Makes It an Argentine Tango?
- II. Trajectory of Argentine Tango Instrumental Music
- III. Arranging and Performance Techniques
- Part Two: Representative Argentine Tangueros and Their Orchestras from the Guardia Nueva to Today
- IV. The Guardia Nueva and the Golden Age (1925-55)
- Julio De Caro
- Aníbal Troilo
- Osvaldo Pugliese
- Cafecito Interlude: Juan D'Arienzo and Carlos Di Sarli
- V. Post-Golden Age (1955-1990)
- Horacio Salgán
- Astor Piazzolla
- Julián Plaza
- Leopoldo Federico
- Cafecito Interlude: Rodolfo Mederos and Néstor Marconi
- VI. The "Music of Buenos Aires" (1990-present)
- Damián Bolotin
- Sonia Possetti
- Juan Pablo Navarro
- Postre: Part Two Conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index of Titles and Translations
- General Index