It was an unforgetable experience for Ignacio to be in the presence of all the big maestros when they first met to discuss Project Escuela De Tango. I can imagine how overwhelming that could be.

 

Of the dozen maestros featured in Caroline Neal's documentary 'Si Sus Brujo", 2 have already passed away in the last  few years (Julian Plaza and Jose "Pepe" Libertella"). There might have been more that I'm not aware of. Emilio Balcarce, the orchestra leader, is losing his hearing. The rest are aging quickly. For Orquesta Escuela De Tango and Ignacio Varchausky, it's a worrying thought. For us casual dancers and tango music lovers, it's a sad one.

 

How do you catch up on the preservation project before the maestros are gone forever? One of Ignacio's missions is to codify the styles in written form so the information can live on. Yet it's a formidable task. When the maestros came in to share the tricks of the orchestra styles, it was difficult for them to explain things in a technical way. It's just natural for them to play they way they did, there was never the need to break things down. Then what do you do? Nothing but to watch attentively how the maestros play until you get the idea.

 

Did you know that Pugliese's "La Yumba", so unique in its own way, was played with only a little upward rub on the strings of the contrabajo (not to mention the interesting ways the other instruments were played). That's all it takes, a little rub upwards. I almost bursted into a cry! How long would it have taken one to figure that out by just listening to the records?

 

I have utmost respect for the work Ignacio and Orquesta Escuela De Tango do...