We received a nice letter announcing the web site of a private museum
in Buenos Aires which features the 'organitos', the hand-cranked barrel
organs and street organs heard in Argentina and Uruguay.  The writer
is Sr. Osvaldo M. La Salvia, grandson of organ builder and noteur
Vicente La Salvia.  The web site of Museo del Organito Argentino is
http://www.organito.com.ar/

At http://www.lanacion.com.ar/suples/revista/9822/rev-04.htm is a
newspaper article describing the museum; I translated this short
biograph about Vicente La Salvia:

"The Argentinean son of the Italian harpist Hizo built everything in
the field of mechanical music: he built organs until the end of his
life, and between 1920 and 1930 had his own "International Music Group",
as it was called then, [devoted to] the repertoire where eclectic
tangos, Creole waltzes, Viennese waltzes, fox-trots, rancheras, boleros
and paso dobles [all] coexisted together."

I have written to Sr. La Salvia asking for more information about the
earlier history of the barrel organ and the tango in Argentina.  See
Philippe Rouille's article, "The Tango and the Barrel Organ", at
http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/Digests/199902/1999.02.05.02.html

A fine CD of antique tangos and milongas, performed by Argentine vocalist
Haydee Alba with crank-organ accompaniment, is available at Le Ludion,
http://www.mechanical-Music.com/pag_musee/disc_e.htm

Robbie Rhodes