Troilo Discography

Notes

We have tried our best to make these discographies correct and complete, but with any project of this scale there are guaranteed to be errors. If you find any, please let us know (can email us at NotasDeOro@gmail.com or by filling out the feedback form here).

Feel free to use these discographies however you see fit. We would love to hear if you find them useful. If, you do, make sure to let your friends know about this resource. Also please visit the sites provided in the references provided below. All of the people there did a lot of work to move the state of knowledge of tango history forward.   

Master Column

The Master column denotes the type of recording technology used for the original record. For many of the discographies, this is based on the work by Frank Jin and TangoSparks. Options are

• Acoustic: pre-electrical era recordings

• 78rpm: 78rpm Shellac records (coarse-groove metal)

• Micro: microgroove lacquer, or other pre-tape transitional methods

• Tape: reel-to-reel

• Tape-S: stereo tapes  

Grouping

The Grouping column is an attempt to separate the orchestra recording history into distinct periods. These separations are based on changes in orchestra composition (often a change in the Piano player causes the orchestra to sound different), change in label, change in recording technology, and large change in tone or approach. These breaks are subjective but hopefully helpful for understanding the orchestra recording arc. 

For Troilo, the groupings are as follows: 

• Goñi Pre-Malena (1938-1941): Initial rhytmic period of Troilo orchestra. During this period, the orchestra often played 'a parrilla' (which translates to of the grill, or how you would play at a BBQ, and denotes when the musicians play using improvised or minimal arrangements). Orlando Goñi was the piano player during this period. 

• Goñi Post-Malena (1942-1943): A turning point towards more explicit arrangements and a softer sound can be placed around the recording of Malena at the beginning of 1942. 

• Basso Piano (1943-1947):  Goñi's alcoholism and tardiness force Troilo to fire him in 1943 and bring on José Basso. The style of Troilo's orchestra varies markedly with each piano player. 

• Figari Piano (1947-1950): Carlos Figari replaces Basso behind the keys towards the middle of 1947. 

• T.K. (1950-54): Troilo signs with the new T.K. records at makes his first recording with them 1`1/24/1950. Unfortunately for the tango listener, the recording quality of the new company often falls far short of the exquisite musicians producing the music. Note: in 1952 T.K. switches to reel to reel tape, which improves the sound quality, though still falls shore to the more established record labels. 

• T.K. + Manzi (1954-57): Osvaldo Manzi replaces Figari at the piano in 1954.

• Odeón (1957-`1959): In 1957 Troilo returns to his very first record label, Odeón, to produce 24 records. 

• Return to Victor (1954-1956): Di Sarli returns to Victor, his original record label. 

• Victor + Berlingieri (1961-1968): After a two year hiatus, Troilo returns to Victor with Osvaldo Berlingieri behind the piano.

• Colángelo Piano (1968-1971): José Colángelo takes over at piano for the final years of Troilo's recordings

• Cuartets and Duos (various times): In addition to his típica, Troilo also participated in a quartet with guitarist Roberto Grela, his own Cuarteto Troilo, and has two recordings of duo bandoneons with Astor Piazzolla. 

References

The discographies presented here were built on top of the work of several people and groups who deserve mention and credit. Below is only a subset of the valuable resources available today

• The Discographies provided by TangoSparks served as an invaluable starting place. Tango Sparks delivers some of the highest quality tango sound available today.  

• Tango Time Travel Provides meticulously researched discographies of artists for select periods of their recording careers. The TTT transfers are of the highest quality and are available for purchase on their website.

• TangoTunes provides an incredible collection of high quality tango transfers and has done extensive work compiling discography information.

• TodoTango is the go-to site for anyone wanting to know about the history of tango artists and tango music. They provide Composer and Author information and provide orchestra histories which include orchestra members. 

• Gabriel Valiente's  Encyclopedia of Tango is a valuable reference for tango discographies and orchestra composition.

• Michael Lavocah's books on the tango orchestras are must reads for anyone interested in understanding tango music. The books also provide invaluable and highly researched discography information. 

• El Recodo provides artist discography information along with an extensive suite of tools useful to tango DJs and tango music lovers. Many of the discographies presented were cross referenced with information from El Recodo to check for completeness and accuracy

• Tango-DJ.at provides a vast database of tango information which has been essential for checking and validating.  Tango-DJ.at is especially useful for DJs who want to compare different versions of a given recording to select the highest quality release.