14/2025 Alfredo Gobbi & Jorge Maciel - El violín romántico del tango
Here's a late night tanda perfect for a marathon set or an after-party. While these songs are perhaps more unknown, I believe they are still very danceable and beautiful.
Welcome to this week's Tanda of the Week!
If I remember right, the first time I played a Gobbi & Maciel tanda was at the special Tango Digital Archive milonga in Salón Canning (Buenos Aires) in 2011 — inspired by Ignacio Varchausky’s infectious passion for Gobbi.
Alfredo J. Gobbi (1912-1965) was a highly acclaimed composer, violinist, arranger and orchestra leader, most often celebrated for his instrumental Argentine tango recordings. Nicknamed El violín romántico del tango, he played violin since the age of 6 and made his professional debut at 13 in modest trios playing in dancing rooms.
Gobbi joined the legendary sextet led by Elvino Vardaro and Osvaldo Pugliese in 1930 and was the first violin of the Pedro Laurenz orchestra in 1935. He founded his own orchestra in 1942 and recorded for RCA-Victor in 1947-1957.
While Alfredo Gobbi has been less known to the general public than he deserved, his revered status among musicians has always been beyond dispute.
Astor Piazzolla defined Gobbi as "the father of all of us: of Pugliese, of Troilo, of Salgán, of Astor Piazzolla himself".
Besides the great instrumentals Gobbi's discography includes recordings with singers Jorge Maciel, Tito Landó and Alfredo del Río, to name a few. Jorge Maciel recorded a total of 18 songs with Gobbi, before joining the Osvaldo Pugliese orchestra in 1954.