Berlin: Music

Art on the Berlin wall from the Spree side gallery.

I had not realised before I went to Berlin that where the good music is, the young people follow. I had expected milongas with good music to attract people of all ages who like good trad music.  I found at Roter Salon and Villa Kreuzberg that many of the dancers over say 40, danced a broader spectrum of tango music.

I most enjoyed the music from Ismael (Alma in Tango Loft on Tuesday) Raimund (Café Dominguez), Francesco (Nou on Friday) and Leandro (Max and Moritz). I also liked a lot of Francesco & Gaia's music at Loca in Tango Loft on Thursday).  I learnt much and enjoyed novel experiences listening and dancing to Michael Rühl's music on two occasions. Several people told me Felix Hahme plays good trad for an older crowd and so despite my abortive experience at Villa Kreuzberg I would try it again. 

The trad music played for the younger crowd while it has many, mostly classic tracks, can be hard edged (in feel) with drive and high energy - d'Arienzo, Tanturi, Biagi, some Troilo, some Caló. This is great dance music but can feel relentless if not softened by other aspects of those same orchestras or by different orchestras. The music can also be quite dramatic and extravagant (Di Sarli, Pugliese, De Angelis,  Varela and perhaps others I did not know) especially when it is from the 50s. This is what seems to be reckoned good for dancing among the younger set in Berlin. That said, the choices were often excellent. I heard tanda after tanda of great classics in some of the younger milongas and enjoyed it, softened sometimes by mid-era Di Sarli, Rodriguez or D'Agostino and once by an excellent deep Laurenz tanda at Nou (DJ Francesco) as the penultimate one.

Fresedo, Lomuto, OTV, Canaro, the softer Caló, is not necessarily music you will hear often in Berlin.  I heard some softer music at Café Dominguez.  Elsewhere I asked one of the younger DJs if they played Fresedo as I did not remember hearing any, although I often arrived late.  The answer was yes, but that Fresedo was not such an interesting orchestra. These orchestras are rated "low energy", a term I heard more than once, and consequently not good, perhaps even embarrassing.   The same DJ said they did play those orchestras but only early on (when is pretty much before people arrive).  I think this is a mistake. Good tango music for good dancing need not always be high energy.  Many people enjoy a mix, a broad spectrum. But if the scene values very visually elegant, smooth, dancing suggesting a restrained power and a deliberate style, which among the younger crowd is understandably often the case, then it is not surprising when that is the kind of music that will be rated.