This playlist covers the main arc of Di Sarli’s long career from his sextet recording in the late 1920s to his grand instrumentals from the mid 1950s. This is all high quality dance music. Di Sarli featured many great vocalists over the years, and continued to record lovely instrumentals until the end of his career.
The playlist opens with three tangos from the late 1920s. These are great to practice walking to, they have the regular walking rhythm characteristic of this period.
These recordings are followed by three instrumentals from the mid 1930s when Di Sarli was playing in the more rhythmic style of popular tango. These songs are full of playful rhythm and variations for dancers.
There are two songs featuring the first of Di Sarli’s famous vocalists, Roberto Rufino. These two songs give you a sense of Rufino’s ability as a singer. He started singing with Di Sarli at the age of 15, I find it amazing that such a young man can sing with such grown up emotion.
The next three songs feature the vocalist Alberto Podesta. Podesta was a natural talent, also starting with Di Sarli when he was 15, his voice is amazingly strong, his style is nearly operatic. These are beautiful songs, inspiring smooth elegant movement for dancers.
Next there are three songs sung by Jorge Duran, the third really famous vocalist of Di Sarli. Duran’s voice soars above the music in these songs, again inspiring smooth elegant movement for dancers.
The playlist finishes with two instrumentals from the mid 1950s. The tempo is slow and the rhythm deep. It reminds me of the steady walking rhythm of the sextet but with a thoroughly modern sound. These Instrumentals are classics of this style.