Thirteenth Tango Stop - St. Paul, MN

Carmen:




The milonga was at a downtown St. Paul restaurant called Matty B's, a steakhouse with a nice bar, and an "L" shaped dance floor. It was a very social evening. A lot of the folks that came hung out, chatted, ate dinner, had their drinks and then danced a few tandas. It reminded me a lot of playing in our hometown Grand Rapids gigs at the Mezze Cafe, where we have our regular milongas.

It was great to meet up with members of Mandragora, Minnesota's premier tango orchestra. Bob Barnes, the accordionist and Scott Davies, the guitarist filled us in on the dynamics of their group, their new internet CD release that is coming out, and what arrangements they have been wor
king on. We shared common sentiments/challenges about playing in a tango band: managing band personalities, monitoring (paying for!) the alcohol consumption at restaurant gigs, holding back the tendency to turn everything into an up tempo Firpo style arrangement (aka. keeping the band from rushing!), finding the time to produce good arrangements.

Thanks to Andrea Ducane who made our performance possible. It was great to meet all of the Minnesota tango folks.