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Carlos Di Sarli ( January 7th, 1903, Bahía Blanca, Argentina - January 12th, 1960, Buenos Aires, Argentina) was a famous pianist, composer and orchestra leader. In a time of great change in tango, he managed to create and maintain a style of his own, characterized for having a clear, strong beat, which turned him to a favourite among dancers, as well as a delicate taste and elegance, which earned him the nickname of El Señor del Tango ("The Lord/Gentleman of Tango"). He is considered to be one of the great, most representative figures of tango music. Template:Infobox Musician
Contents
H2 Biography
Born on January 7, 1903, in Bahía Blanca, Argentina, Cayetano Di Sarli was one of the children sprung from Miguel Di Sarli’s second marriage with Serafina Russomano. His father was the owner of a gunsmith store, but the liaison with music must have come from his mother’s side (she was the daughter of a tenor singer). Several of his siblings also took the musical path through life. Di Sarli began the study of classical piano at an early age, but soon abandoned the academic repertoire for a more popular stream. He went on tour through several provinces of Argentina as part of a troop of traveling musicians, and then lived in La Pampa (where he played the accompaniment for silent films), as well as in his beloved Bahía Blanca (where he played at the Café Paulista, the Café Moka, and with a band of his own between 1919 and 1921 at the Café Express). After tours through La Pampa, Córdoba, Mendoza, San Juan and Salta, in 1923 Di Sarli returns to Buenos Aires. Times are difficult, and as he plays in dodgy locales, often with bad musicians, he meets the tough face of the big city. He once described his impression as follows:
H3 Life
In this mood I came to Buenos Aires. I was very young, the romantic idea, apart from having come to triumph, encouraged me. And so I stood before life, with a music book under the arm, willing to win a tough hand… Too tough! I got to know pain from up close. Newsboys, in the early morning, with their eyes full of sleep. The agony of young men with broken boots, reading old newspapers on the squares. Women, young girls with messy hair at dawn. I performed as pianist of some bands that were too poor… Too close to the river…[…] The sailors sang their drunkenness, about ports and distances; many times I didn't want to turn to watch the "joy" of the salons. (Sierra et. al., La historia del tango: Di Sarli -Vardaro-Gobbi, Corregidor, Buenos Aires, 1980, ref. 2701-02)
The path started to change when, with the help of a relative, he made his way into Anselmo Aieta's orchestra. He then performs with the Juan Pedro Castillo Orchestra, Alejandro Scarpino's "Canaro en Paris Trio", with the brothers Fortunato and Carmelo Mattino, among others. Another crucial encounter would be that with Osvaldo Fresedo. With his orchestra Di Sarli would play at the opening of the Fénix Theatre, and apart from the friendship that would arise between the both of them, Fresedo's musical influence in the still young Di Sarli would be a permanent characteristic of the latter's work. Out of thankfulness and appreciation, Di Sarli would, later on, compose in his honour the famous tango Milonguero viejo ("Old milonguero").
In 1925, having formed his first sextet, Di Sarli performed at the "Charleston" in La Boca, and at the "Guarany", starting to walk their way with confidence into the mythical Centro, the downtown of Buenos Aires. Simultaneously, Di Sarli played in various cafés of the city, as well as on the radio, and participated in films. He began recording for the label Victor in 1928, and throughout the following year performed at the "Folies Bergère", the "Fénix" he had once inaugurated with Fresedo's orchestra, and the "El indio" resort in Vicente López.
H3 In his 1930ies
In 1930 he achieved great success with his performance of works by Discépolo at the Astral Theatre. He also played at the Coliseo Podestá in the city of La Plata, and the Café Germinal, though only for fifteen days; the story says Di Sarli felt seriously offended by one of the managers who insisted on him taking of his dark-tinted glasses to play; he ended up leaving the premises, and his musicians followed him. At that point, Di Sarli had already made a name for himself and his popularity was huge, apart from the fact that he was a favourite among dancers. Di Sarli's orchestra was one of the most popular at the carnival parties.
H4 Buenos Aires
After leaving Buenos Aires and spending some time in Bahía Blanca, Di Sarli returned to Buenos Aires and took his brother Roque's place in his orchestra. The members of Di Sarli's sextet had continued to play with great success, and eventually got the name of Novel Sextet, around the year 1934. In 1935 he suddenly left everything once more and made his way to Rosario. He made a swift apparition with them again in 1936, during the absence of the pianist Canataro due to illness, and in 1937 Di Sarli replaced Juan Carlos Cobián's place at the piano in "El Trío N° 1"in 1937, alongside Ciriaco Ortiz and Cayetano Puglisi.
H5 End of life
Finally, in 1938 Di Sarli built a new sextet and thus inaugurated a time of intense work and enormous success. They performed in Buenos Aires at the "Moulin Rouge", the Carnivals of the Lanús Club, Radio El Mundo, Cabaret Imperio, among others.; they also participated in the film "Loco lindo", and opened a second season as artists of the label Victor. In 1940 Di Sarli enlarged the band and started playing regularly at the Marabú, which would become the orchestra's favourite stage. During that time, the orchestra saw many changes in its conformation, and singers would also rotate quite often; however, success was strong and constant. Di Sarli's last ten years of work were busy and, above all, very successful.
Carlos Di Sarli passed away or, as it is commonly said, "went on tour" on the night of January 12th, 1960, at his home in Olivos. Both as director as well as member of the orchestra, he was always characterized by his artistic and professional integrity. He is said to have possessed a fine sensitivity and a great sense of humanity. His efforts throughout his life turned him into a prosperous musician and a beloved and admired person. The number of songs composed in his memory is a clear proof of that.
Di Sarli as composer
Part of Di Sarli's legacy is a series of fine compositions. He often worked in collaboration with great writers, such as Héctor Marcó and Roberto Guisado. Among his works are the following titles: Loco lindo, Otra vez carnaval, No me preguntes por qué, Verdemar, Así era mi novia, Nido gaucho, Bien frappé, Corazón, Porteño y bailarín, En un beso la vida, La capilla blanca; and the instrumentals Bahía Blanca and Milonguero viejo.
Anecdotes and interesting facts
Di Sarli's sunglasses became a trademark. He started wearing them at a very young age, as a result of an accidental gunshot he received at his father's store at age 13.
Episode with the "Milonga del centenario" (corregidor, p.2739-40)
Benefactor. He would donate to the Patronato de la Infancia his earnings for authorial rights. (p. 2750)
Di Sarli's famous tango "Milonguero viejo", dedicated to Osvaldo Fresedo, changed its name for a while to "Bailarín porteño". However, it eventually returned to the original version.
Some detractors of his work used to state it was an easy job to play in Di Sarli’s orchestras, as the arrangements had none of those fast. intricate variations for bandoneon at the end. With that in mind, Di Sarli easily quieted those voices by making an arrangement of El choclo, which has near the ending one of the most difficult variations to perform on the ‘’fueye’’.
Weblinks
http://www.todotango.com/english/creadores/atroilo.asp
Sources
Ferrer, Horacio, El libro del tango (buscar detalles)
Sierra, Luis Adolfo et. al., La historia del tango, Corregidor, Buenos Aires, 1980.
Los grandes del tango, Editorial Tango, Buenos Aires, Year 1, N°5, Nov. 1990.
