Master of the Tango

Argentine revoluntionary San Martin.

By Matt Hampton

In the history of Argentina, few singers are as revered as heartthrob Carlos Gardel. His baritone voice and impeccable ear, honed in the smoky dives and cafes of Montevideo, Uruguay, were admired by legions of fans in the halcyon days of the tango.

When Gardel died in a plane crash in June of 1935, it was at the height of a career that blended tango and film into an electric combination that captivated millions of fans from Paris to Buenos Aires.

Today, at the intersection of Corona Avenue and Junction Boulevard, the memory of Gardel lives on as vibrantly as the music of the tango itself.

The two are memorialized on opposite sides of the Virgin Mary.

“He’s like Elvis,” said Carlos Blanco of Corona. “The No. 1 king of tango.”

Tango, both as dance and musical style, began in the late-19th century in Argentina. A result of the collision between European, South American and African influences, tango blended a myriad of musical styles into a passionate pairing of rhythm and dance.

As Argentine musicians began to travel, the tango followed, starting a craze in Paris that eventually showed the world that a new dance was born.

Here in Queens, decades later, the tango represents unity and togetherness for a neighborhood.

“It’s an Argentinean corner here,” Blanco said, gesturing broadly at Argentine Bakers and restaurants that share space at Corona and Junction. “We are all right here.”

Carlos Gardel was a master tango writer. Tribune photo by Matt Hampton

Blanco had just stepped out of the Club RioPlatense, a social club named for the Argentinean Rio de la Plata.

The club erected and maintains a small monument to Gardel, who shares their wall with Argentine revolutionary Jose Francisco de San Martin and a portrait of the Virgin Mary.

“We clean it, we paint it, we take care of it,” Blanco said. The Club RioPlatense makes this effort in the interest of maintaining a strong connection to the past, and to Argentina.

“Every year we close the street and make a party for Mary, and Carlos Gardel,” Blanco added. The party, which falls on June 24, the anniversary of Gardel’s death, closes an entire block of Junction Boulevard.

“A lot of tango singers come,” Blanco said. “We put a stage here; people sing and dance in the street.”