Friday, January 29, 2010

Buenos Aires Hora Cero - Pétrol-17

It's energy not finesse that makes today's video stand out from the crowd. The Québécois quartet, Pétrol-17, attacks and conquers Buenos Aires Hora Cero at the Lion d'Or in Montréal in the video.

Pétrol-17 members include Marie-Pierre d'Aigle (violin), Samuel Caron (harmonica), Benjamin Tremblay Carpentier (Guitar), and Mingan Sauriol (piano). They classify themselves as an acoustic/thrash/jam band on their mySpace page - seems to fit. Their interpretation is not that far from Piazzolla's original - someone is a careful listener. The concept of the piece was to depict what happens at "zero hour" - the midnight instant of discontinuity between yesterday and today. And what happens is, as the expression goes, all hell breaks loose. A fitting target for an acoustic/thrash/jam band. Some may quibble with the replacement of the bandoneón with a harmonica but if you open up a bandoneón it is nothing more than a set of harmonicas arranged to use a mechanical bellows and buttons rather than lungs and a tongue. I am not sure Pétrol-17 would deliver a good version of Milonga del angel, but for Hora Cero - they are a good choice.

Unanswered questions: Why would Pétrol-17 choose to play Hora Cero? There must be a Piazzolla fan in that band. Who is it? The guitarist is my suspect.

If the video does not appear below, click here.



To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.

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