Tango Stories - Musical Secrets Paperback – August 31, 2012

I've always felt the thing with tango musicality is that many people either teach it purely from the standpoint of sound structure (musician's bias) or the standpoint of a dancer (dancer's bias). The first one is a problem is because you learn to only hear sounds and don't exactly get ideas on how to interpret them in an evolved manner. Your listening will refine but most likely in a way where you become one of those dancers that try to hit every single note (a bit too trickster in my taste). The latter is a problem because while you learn how to interpret what you're hearing, you tend to pick up the bias of the person teaching it to you. For example...the moment someone tells you to only do embellishments every time you hear the piano, you can't like NOT-hear the piano and not bias your dancing to do embellishments on those notes.Anyways...I have to share why Michael did such a great job.1) He's not Argentinean, so he can explain from step to step. Without trying to, he's helping define what the Argentinean tango sound actually is and where the flavor is...and he's defining IN ENGLISH. If you learn musicality from the Argentineans, I feel like even they don't know what the tango sound is, and they gloss over explaining that because that's how ingrained it is in their minds.2) Michael breaks down the story of the music and lets you know why it's important. What orquestra, what instruments were most key during which years, and WHY. He explains how to listen for the KEY instruments. It's not just about hearing sounds but hearing the IMPORTANT sounds and the DIFFERENTIATING sounds. And he explains the history and context and comparison from one orquestra to the other copycats. It's a really insightful look into why some songs were amazing and never caught on. It also explains why some songs were not all that artistically brilliant but captured the public.3) As a dancer, you get exactly what you needed from this book. What orquestras, what years, what instruments, which sounds, which songs...and WHY. Knowing the heart and the soul and story behind the music, you can express your dance more accurately through these songs. Michael teaches you how to listen to the songs and appreciate them without biasing your ear to favor one type of sound over another or biasing your dance to favor one type of movement over another. For that reason, this book is the most ideal book on tango musicality for me. I recommend over many others.

TANGO STORIES: MUSICAL SECRETS is the first and only book that tells the stories of all the major tango orchestras of the Golden Age (1935-55). Author Michael Lavocah is not only a historian of tango, but also a brilliant storyteller, and he weaves a fascinating tale around each orchestra, making these old songs and long dead musicians come alive once again. If you are a tango dancer who cares about the music you dance to, and would like to understand it better, then this is the book for you. It will hold an important place in your library and in your personal body of knowledge. If you're a tango DJ, or want to be one, there's no question--you have to have this book. For myself, I've read through it so many times, I probably have it memorized! Go ahead, ask me anything....

Very comprehensive, detailed and in-depth classification of the Tango songs for dancing. If you are a Tango dancer, or you just like Tango music, than you would love the stories about the main orchestras of the Golder Era of tango. And, then everything will make sense. This book makes order in the chaotic universe of Tango music. Simple Excellent.

I already am reasonably well versed in the history of tango and the various orchestras but this book provided a turbocharged boost of knowledge. It is filled with stories and facts (how did he learn all this?) as well as an appreciation of the music. You especially get a sense for how intertwined it all was as singers and musicians move from orchestra to orchestra.Another plus is the sense you get of an orchestra over some surprisingly long careers. I think of DiSarli as DiSarli but after reading this you will have a sense of the changes he went through and that certain years of his work are better or worse than others. In fact a certain song recorded in one year is much better than the same song done at another time - or maybe just a different way of seeing.The only big negative - and it is huge - is that the links to hear the music do not work in the US. I read the book straight through to get an overall picture and then planned to go chapter by chapter with the music. Big Disappointment. The songs are listed but it may be work to track them down especially making sure you get the right year etc.

This book was recommended to me by a DJ friend, and he was absolutely correct. It is a wonderful and very interesting source for information about the greats of the Golden Age of Tango.

In this book all people interested in Tango studies can find a complete argumentation really well expressed, probably non in easy words (specialistic) but in fully manner

Many students have been asking me questions about the music and the orchestras. I wish I had this book earlier, I cannot wait for all of them to have it and share it. There are not many good book about tango that a social dancer would find useful, this is one.Tomas Howlintomashowlin.com

Michael Lavocah's book "Tango Stories - Musical Secrets" is a must have!!! - not only for the tango dj, but for the tango dancer, as well! If you are serious about Argentine Tango then this book is for you! Michael answers many of the questions, one may have about the details of the Golden Age orchestas.I highly recommend this book, no matter where you are in your tango "life"Thank you Michael!Donna

The best book on this subject very informative an impressive work

I read many books about tango, this one is one of my favourites. a must have

I found this book really helpful and made time to listen to the music suggested. Very well written good book

Great book, it really helps to develop a musical culture of Tango.

Very interesting, useful and esoteric information for the Tango addict, especially for DJs like me.