David Thomas - The Tango Pioneers Vol. 1 

David Thomas

Get to Know - The Tango Pioneers Vol. 1
Myths and the Melting Pot: Origins to 1909

 
183 Seiten, Softcover, 2024

For over ten years, retired British intelligence officer David Thomas has been intensively researching the history and music of tango argentino. With the three volumes of his series The Tango Pioneers, each just under 200 pages long and published in 2023, he now ventures into the origins, genesis and early years of Tango Argentino before 1935 - in other words, the time before the beginning of the Golden Age.

The first volume covers the years from the origins to 1909.
In the first major chapter, 'Myths, Misunderstandings & Muddles', the author skilfully avoids the long-awaited answer as to when, where and how tango originated by building on intensive study of the sources in a knowledgeable, precise, nicely chatty and sometimes provocative way, working out all the myths and misunderstandings that tango historians regularly fall for in their accounts.

One of the volumes' strengths is particularly helpful in these chapters dedicated to the musicians: Davis has compiled audio samples on his YouTube channel, which can be accessed via QR codes, so that you can very quickly form your own opinion about the pioneering days of tango.
(Review by Olli Eyding in Tangodanza 100 - 4.2024)