The title of this television-advertised compilation may be arrogant, but then the
tango
is not a dance for the shy and retiring. Whether or not it is, as it claims,
The Best Tango Album in the World, Ever!
, the two-disc set, containing 30 tracks and running a little less than an hour and a half, does feature some major performers of the music, notably
Carlos Gardel
, renowned as the father of the
, heard performing
"Volver"
and the concluding vocal version of
"Mi Buenos Aires Querido,"
and
Astor Piazzolla
, who used the
as a vehicle for composing
modern classical
music, heard performing
"La Rayuela."
Other notable performers include
Carlos Garcia & His Orchestra
, heard on four tracks,
Sexteto Mayor
,
Florindo Sassone & His Traditional Orchestra
, and
Alfredo de Angelis & His Traditional Orchestra
. (If the casual listener to whom this collection is intended recognizes the third track,
"Por una Cabeza,"
that's because it has turned up in the film
Scent of a Woman
, as the music to which
Al Pacino
's blind character dances, as well as in the opening scene of the
Arnold Schwarzenegger
film
True Lies
.) This is not a scholarly collection, being devoid of annotations beyond the requisite song titles, artists, and songwriting credits. But it plays well, and beginning students of the
can put it on for their practice sessions. ~ William Ruhlmann