Click to enlarge maybe, no promises.
Jacqueline Maidana
"Valley Tango"
Valley Free Radio 103.3 FM
Hola Jacqueline Maidana (& I hope I got your name right ...)
Mil gracias for your totally unexpected Wednesday Valley Tango! It was the most beautiful, soul-soothing drive home I've ever had!
I'm a long-time addict and worshipper of Ástor Piazzolla and Nuevo Tango. Sadly and ignorantly, my tango knowledge begins and ends there.
(But I know what a bandoneon is!)
Also, tragically, I was born with two left feet, and despite my wife's pleas for me to take tango lessons, I can't (maybe "won't" is more accurate) dance the tango. Since enforced childhood Dance Class 56 years ago, Terpsichore and I never got along very well.
(I think I still remember some crude cha-cha steps to "Tea for Two" by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé.)
Did you like the 1987 movie "Tango Bar" with Raúl Juliá? For me, it's the rarest tango gem, and fascinated me. But I imagine you've seen hundreds (thousands?) of tango films. I'd love to know your thoughts about it. Did they get most of tango right, or did they get it all embarrassingly wrong? (It's awfully hard to see such things clearly from 8621 km away.)
(I'm also a worshipper of Juliá, my all-time favorite is "Kiss of the Spider Woman.")
Also, as you can see, my español is terrible. In high school, I preferred speaking exclusively to Dead People, so I studied Latin. (I was bored.) The closest I've been to BA ... well, on a clear day if I stood on a chair, I could see Venezuela.
But it is tango's magic power that, despite all these cultural, language and geographic barriers (seasoned liberally with my personal ignorance), one bar of tango is enough to mesmerize my heart and thrillingly paralyze my soul.
While dodging frequent road hazards, I think I heard you mention that you're a long-time tango teacher and organizer of live tango events.
Do you have links to these local lessons and events? I'm terminally stuck (and terminally late) finding a birthday gift my wife would love. Tango Lessons With Bob would really please her! (And according to your fascinating bio-neurological narrative yesterday, it would also please 2-Left-Feet Bob!)
(I have 1 emergency suit for Weddings, Funerals and Dancing the Tango.)
Again, thanks so much for your wonderful Valley Tango show! What an unexpected magic pleasure!
If you play requests, I'd love anybody's cover of any song from "Hora Cero"! (I'll be tuned in every Wednesday.)
Bob Merkin (with 2 Left Feet)
Chesterfield MA USA
P.S. Here's [top of blog post] the famous Art Deco cover of Emmy-winning pianist Jonathan Edwards (and his Emmy-winning soprano wife Darlene). Amazingly, Jonathan won his Grammy despite his lifelong handicap of two left hands!
1 comment:
Hehe, Bob Writes Fan Mail. Hehe
Seriously mate, you must go to the Café Bar Mitte in Basel, Switzerland. A former bank this is the only café in town which is round, you can get free wi-fi, the coffee’s allright, there is live belcanto singing on Tuesdays and most important for you – a free tango lesson from a local dance school round the corner on Wednesdays. Mate, I seriously doubt you have two left feet. Not with Tango. And even if you don’t grok the Tango thingy (which I doubt) there is lots of very cool tango argentina music from the 30s and 40s most of the night. Which sounds very interesting for an idiot like me who grew up on American Rock Music.
And while we are at it, didn’t Piazolla and the incredibly great Kronos Quartett once collaborate on summet or other ?
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