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Cobian 1923 and de Caro 1924 to 1926

In this series of recordings, whose speed has been carefully researched and adjusted to match the era, we present six albums by Juan Carlos Cobian and Julio de Caro from the time before the invention of the electric microphone.

Cobián himself did not record very much. The two albums from 1923 stand alone. Cobián founded this orchestra after leaving Osvaldo Fresedo. Among others, violinist Agesilao Ferrazzano and Luis Petrucelli on bandoneon are featured. Both had also previously played with Fresedo. Pedro Maffia (bandoneon) is also featured. And the second violin is played by none other than Julio De Caro! In this respect, the 1923 OT Cobían can be seen as the direct predecessor of the OT De Caro.

Fortunately, the Orquesta Típica Julio De Caro had already reached its full complement of members shortly before the revolution in recording technology triggered by the electric microphone in 1926. What’s more, the two key instrumentalists, Pedro Laurenz (bandoneon) and Francisco De Caro (piano), had already largely developed their personal styles, their interplay, and thus the sound of the orchestra.

The process leading up to this point in the years 1924-1926 can be traced very nicely in the recordings available. A special feature is the presence of violinist Manlio Francia, who was not officially named as a member of the band, but who is known to have played every violin passage of any significance in the recording studio as first violinist. What’s more, since Francia was also an outstanding talent and worked for OT De Caro until 1928, it was Francia, of all people, as a “foreign studio musician,” who contributed significantly to the legend of Julio De Caro’s sound. De Caro himself was a rather average violinist who only stood out because of his overly loud corneta. The cornett, also known as a straw violin, was a violin with a metal funnel screwed onto it. It was used in recordings from the end of 1925 onwards.

Clicking on the cover will take you to the respective album. There you will also find a link to the platform of your choice, where you can stream or download the entire album.

A note for collectors: You can get all our releases uncompressed as FLAC in the Qobuz stores.