The Boston Globe Boston Globe A PASSION FANCY WAITER SERVES UP TANGO ON WEEKLY RADIO SHOW Author: Alisa Valdes, Globe Staff Edition: Third Index Terms: NAME-ARREDONDO Estimated printed pages: 3 Article Text: No doubt about it. Quincy's L. Fernando Arredondo, 39, is the Tango Man of Massachusetts. Possibly of the nation. A waiter at the Ritz-Carlton hotel by day, Arredondo has 4,000 tango records that he refuses to sell, even though they are valued at $25,000. He actually owns a bandoneon -- a weepier cousin of the accordion -- that is tango's defining instrument. He recites tango trivia with the ease of a talk-show host. And in fact, for three years, he has hosted the only tango radio show in Boston, on WRCA-AM (1330) Monday nights from 6 to 7. He does all of this unpaid. Like the tango, his efforts have always been about love. At one time, the Colombian-born waiter's single-minded passion was appreciated only by the Boston tango community, a small gang of ballroom fanatics who enjoy the lascivious 121-year-old dance born in the brothels of Buenos Aires and outlawed by the pope. But now, thanks to Madonna, who is tang! oing across the big screen in "Evita" as Eva Peron -- the beloved wife of Argentinian dictator Juan Peron, who came to power in 1946 -- the secret passions of Arredondo are suddenly hip. No one is happier about this than L. Fernando Arredondo. "There is a resurgence of interest in tango because of this movie Evita," Arredondo said on the air last week. "I have not seen it," he added in a skeptical tone. "But no matter. All of you, my listeners, have known the passion of tango for a much longer time." Arredondo heard his first tango when it came gliding out of the bar next door to his childhood apartment in Vigado, Colombia. Even as a child, Arredondo said, he was a melancholy dreamer. Tango, with its passionate, drifting melodies and unpredictable dance steps, was a perfect fit for his personality. It is no coincidence, Arredondo will tell you, that he was born in Vigado, eight miles south of Medellin. That is where tango's biggest star,! the French-born Argentinian crooner Carlos Gardel, died in a ! plane cr ash in 1935. "Because Carlos Gardel died in Colombia, we Colombians love tango just as much as the Argentinians," Arredondo said. Boston's Hispanics are overwhelmingly from the Caribbean, and that region is not exactly a stronghold of the tango, even though tango's grandmother, the habanero, was imported to Argentina from Cuba. (Tango's predecessor, a dance called the milonga, was a marriage between the habanero and a step called the candombe that was done by African slaves in Argentina.) Truth be told, there has not been much of a stronghold for the tango anywhere but parts of South America since it peaked in popularity in the mid 1940s. It has been five decades since the tango has been spun in local popular Latin nightclubs, where salsa and merengue are currently king. Until now, Arredondo's radio audience has consisted mostly of Argentinian and Colombian emigres, though he said he was surprised by the positive response from Puerto Rican! s, Dominicans and Cubans in the area. One fan is Brookline's Vicente Preta, 65, who grew up 100 miles from Buenos Aires, where the tango originated amid the brothels and bars of the city. "All of us Argentinians in Boston are so thankful to Fernando," said Preta. "I love his program. It made me so happy to know that a Colombian was concerned about our music. " But now, because of Madonna's selling power, Arredondo is finding new listeners. He said he now makes sure the fifth song of the night is an instrumental, out of concern for those listeners who do not understand Spanish. The growing popularity of Arredondo's show underscores a broader trend: Tango is suddenly the most popular ballroom dance class in town; Macy's and Bloomingdale's are unveiling Evitawear; both Julio Iglesias and Luis Miguel have released tango records. An international Spanish network news show, "Fuera de Serie," is interested in interviewing Arredondo. A ba! r in Chelsea now wants him to DJ a tango night there and talk ! of the u nique history of the dance between songs. It has been five decades since Hispanic nightclubs spun tangos. This is all fine, Arredondo will tell you, "but it won't last." No fad ever does. And after tango once again becomes passe, Arredondo said, he will continue to read books of tango history. He will continue to host his one-hour, crackly AM radio show for those who sit in the night, listening. The only thing that lasts forever, Arredondo said, is true love. For example: Arredondo is married to a woman named Blanca Luz -- White Light. She was his high school sweetheart in Colombia. He brought her to the states in 1975. That is tango. SIDEBAR Ten to tango There are thousands of tango recordings out. But according to Cambridge Dance Complex tango instructor Jacqueline Corrado, you can't miss in buying recordings of any of the following: 1. Carlos Gardel: the best-known tango singer of all time, sings classi! c tango 2. Anibal Troilo: well-known bandoneon player 3. Astor Piazzolla: modern tango singer 4. Osvaldo Pugliese y su Orquesta: excellent tango orchestra 5. Juan Carlos Garello: more traditional singer 6. Tita Merello: one of tango's first popular women singers 7. Juan D'Anienzo y su Orquesta: traditional orchestra 8. Orquesta del Tango de Buenos Aires: ditto 9. Carlos Dante: traditional singer 10. Osvaldo Fresedo: traditional signe Caption: 2. Globe staff chartPHOTO CHART Copyright 1997 Globe Newspaper Company
|
