Piazzolla wrote the music, Horacio Ferrer wrote the lyrics but it wasn't a canción until Amelita Baltar sang it. The three were inseparable for a while during the creation and premiere of the operita Maria de Buenos Aires and they often dined together at a traditional porteño restaurant, Bachin. Inspired by the presence of a young boy selling roses at the Bachin, Piazzolla wrote one of his few waltzes and Ferrer found just the right poetry to capture the poignancy of the situation to create Chiquilín de Bachín. Amelita recorded it in 1969 on a 1969 Trova LP (TS 33-741). That version is difficult to find but a second version, recorded the same year, is available on the CD, Amelita Baltar Interpreta Piazzolla y Ferrer.
Amelita Baltar and Piazzolla were together for seven years, 1968-1975, and those years included the most productive period of collaboration with Ferrer (there was a second short period of collaboration in 1981, with Jairo turning their efforts into canción). Baltar has had a long and successful career as a singer and fortunately has continued to give the works of Piazzolla and Ferrer a prominent position in her repertoire. You will find many of her performances of their works on YouTube but today's featured video is new to YouTube and presents her singing Chiquilín de Bachín on an undated Argentine television production.
She sings the song as if she owns it and, in a sense, she does. She was certainly there at its birth.
If the video does not appear below, click here.
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Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Midsummer Night Swing
It must be one of the longest running dance parties in the world - the Midsummer Night Swing held at New York City's Lincoln Center every year since 1989. The event lasts three weeks with dancing in the plaza in front of Lincoln Center almost every night. Great bands can be expected and they cover the full dance spectrum from swing to salsa to big band to Irish to soul and, yes, to tango. This year's tango night fell on June 30th and the band was Héctor Del Curto's Eternal Tango Orchestra. You would hope that Piazzolla would be heard at the event and he was. Today's video shows the last dance of the evening and it was, the perhaps inevitable, Libertango.
I don't know if there was a night devoted to tango in that first year, 1989, but I do know that there has been one ever since 1991 - that is twenty years of tango at Midsummer Night Swing. In 1991, music was provided by Raúl Jaurena (recently featured in this blog) and Marga Mitchell - both still active in the tango world. I have not found a complete list of all the tango groups since 1991 but other featured tango artists have included the New York - Buenos Aires Connection in 1994 and 1995, Pablo Merinetti in 2001, Tanguardia in 2002, Avantango in 2004, Quintango in 2006, Orquesta Tipica Imperial in 2008, Otros Aires in 2009 and Narcotango in 2010. Héctor Del Curto, leader of this year's band, has also made appearances in 2003 with the Eternal Tango Quintet with Roxana Fontán and in 2005 and 2007 with the Eternal Tango Orchestra. That makes Del Curto and his musicians the closest thing there is to a house band for tango at Lincoln Center.
Héctor Del Curto is very definitely the go-to man for tango music in New York City. The bandoneón is in his genes - both his grandfather and his great grandfather were famous Argentine bandoneónists. At age 17, Héctor was already a world class bandoneónist who was invited to play with the legendary tango master, Osvaldo Pugliese. He has since played with many of the legends of tango including a twelve year stint as bandoneónist for the various ensembles put together by Pablo Ziegler, pianist from Piazzolla's last quintet. You have seen him in this blog in the past and you will see him again in the future.
Membership in the Eternal Tango Orchestra has changed over the years but according to their Facebook page, the current members are
Hector Del Curto, Gustavo Casenave, Pedro Giraudo, Jisoo Ok, Sami Merdinian, Nick Danielson, Sergio Reyes, David Hodges, Katie Kresek, Machiko Ozawa, and Marcelo Kazanietz. While today's video captures the spirit of the evening at Midsummer Night Swing, it does not capture the Eternal Tango Orchestra very well so I encourage you to watch their promotional video to enjoy their full effect.
If today's video does not appear below, click here.
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
I don't know if there was a night devoted to tango in that first year, 1989, but I do know that there has been one ever since 1991 - that is twenty years of tango at Midsummer Night Swing. In 1991, music was provided by Raúl Jaurena (recently featured in this blog) and Marga Mitchell - both still active in the tango world. I have not found a complete list of all the tango groups since 1991 but other featured tango artists have included the New York - Buenos Aires Connection in 1994 and 1995, Pablo Merinetti in 2001, Tanguardia in 2002, Avantango in 2004, Quintango in 2006, Orquesta Tipica Imperial in 2008, Otros Aires in 2009 and Narcotango in 2010. Héctor Del Curto, leader of this year's band, has also made appearances in 2003 with the Eternal Tango Quintet with Roxana Fontán and in 2005 and 2007 with the Eternal Tango Orchestra. That makes Del Curto and his musicians the closest thing there is to a house band for tango at Lincoln Center.
Héctor Del Curto is very definitely the go-to man for tango music in New York City. The bandoneón is in his genes - both his grandfather and his great grandfather were famous Argentine bandoneónists. At age 17, Héctor was already a world class bandoneónist who was invited to play with the legendary tango master, Osvaldo Pugliese. He has since played with many of the legends of tango including a twelve year stint as bandoneónist for the various ensembles put together by Pablo Ziegler, pianist from Piazzolla's last quintet. You have seen him in this blog in the past and you will see him again in the future.
Membership in the Eternal Tango Orchestra has changed over the years but according to their Facebook page, the current members are
Hector Del Curto, Gustavo Casenave, Pedro Giraudo, Jisoo Ok, Sami Merdinian, Nick Danielson, Sergio Reyes, David Hodges, Katie Kresek, Machiko Ozawa, and Marcelo Kazanietz. While today's video captures the spirit of the evening at Midsummer Night Swing, it does not capture the Eternal Tango Orchestra very well so I encourage you to watch their promotional video to enjoy their full effect.
If today's video does not appear below, click here.
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
Libertango - Carillon Version
Once you start, it's hard to stop. Regular readers of this blog have suffered through Libertango in many versions including: Stoner, House Music, Glass Harmonica, Single Charango, Double Charango, Theremin, Tzigane, Kannel, Gugak, Bass, Mechanical, 55Ewcia, Recorders, Tche-tchet-ka!, Ocarina, Erhu and believe it or not, there were others. One more couldn't hurt.
Today's video adds a performance of Libertango on a carillon to that long list. The particular set of bells in this carillon are to be found in the town hall of Leiden, formerly best known as the birthplace of Rembrandt and the capacitor but now destined to become known more for the performance of Libertango on it's carillon by noted composer and carillonist, Magdalena Cynk on June 25, 2011.
If the video does not appear below, click here.
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
Today's video adds a performance of Libertango on a carillon to that long list. The particular set of bells in this carillon are to be found in the town hall of Leiden, formerly best known as the birthplace of Rembrandt and the capacitor but now destined to become known more for the performance of Libertango on it's carillon by noted composer and carillonist, Magdalena Cynk on June 25, 2011.
If the video does not appear below, click here.
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Escualo - Escalandrum
A recent blog highlighted the group, Escalandrum. I encourage you to read that blog but the short message from it is that the jazz combo formed by Piazzolla's grandson, Daniel "Pipi" Piazzolla, is called Escalandrum and they have a new recording, Piazzolla Plays Piazzolla, featuring the music of Piazzolla (the grandfather, Astor) and that the CD has been named by Piazzolla on Video the best Piazzolla CD of the year (even though there are six months to go in the year, I am confident no one will top it). The video accompanying that blog was from the Bridgestone Music Festival in São Paulo, Brazil.
On June 15, Escalandrum took their show to one of the most important venues in Argentina, the Teatro Gran Rex in Buenos Aires. Given the fame of the Piazzolla name in that city it must have been a nervous time for Pipi and his band. They need not have worried, reports are uniformly positive about the show. I recommend this excellent review of the show from Martín Vergara of the Jade Jazz y otras músicas blog who was fortunate enough to be there.
The piece featured in today's video is titled Escualo (which translates as "shark") and is both a salute to Piazzolla's hobby of shark fishing and part of the source of the name for the group Escalandrum. It was composed in 1979, and is one of Piazzolla's most rhythmically interesting compositions. It is a favorite of jazz musicians and an absolutely perfect vehicle to demonstrate the improvisational skills of Escalandrum. This is one of the best jazz covers of the work you will find anywhere.
Hopefully, more video from the Gran Rex performance will be available soon. While you are waiting for more, I encourage you to go to iTunes or Amazon and download the music.
If the video does not appear below, click here.
Note added 3 July, 2011: More videos from this concert have now been released on YouTube. To get a good overview of the evening, watch this one.
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
On June 15, Escalandrum took their show to one of the most important venues in Argentina, the Teatro Gran Rex in Buenos Aires. Given the fame of the Piazzolla name in that city it must have been a nervous time for Pipi and his band. They need not have worried, reports are uniformly positive about the show. I recommend this excellent review of the show from Martín Vergara of the Jade Jazz y otras músicas blog who was fortunate enough to be there.
The piece featured in today's video is titled Escualo (which translates as "shark") and is both a salute to Piazzolla's hobby of shark fishing and part of the source of the name for the group Escalandrum. It was composed in 1979, and is one of Piazzolla's most rhythmically interesting compositions. It is a favorite of jazz musicians and an absolutely perfect vehicle to demonstrate the improvisational skills of Escalandrum. This is one of the best jazz covers of the work you will find anywhere.
Hopefully, more video from the Gran Rex performance will be available soon. While you are waiting for more, I encourage you to go to iTunes or Amazon and download the music.
If the video does not appear below, click here.
Note added 3 July, 2011: More videos from this concert have now been released on YouTube. To get a good overview of the evening, watch this one.
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Lo Que Vendrá - Orquesta Típica "Central" del CSMA
It's not typical - the free reeds are accordions, not bandoneóns, but it would be a terrible mistake to dismiss the Orquesta Típica "Central", featured in today's video, for such a shortcoming. "Central" is an orquesta típica that deserves time on the world's better stages not just on the stage of the Auditorio Eduardo del Pueyo at Conservatorio superior de música de Aragón where the "Central" orquesta members are students. "Central" is new, their first performance was in March of last year but rarely have I heard a contemporary orquesta típica play with such precision and rhythmic certainty. The string section has discovered the secret that in tango, the dynamic envelop does not encompass a measure or two - it often encompasses only a single note or two. And they synchronize their management of those dynamics remarkably well as a unit. That a group of students in Spain who are supported but not led by faculty can have such an authentic sound, even with those accordions, is simply astonishing.
The orquesta típica, with its banks of bandoneóns and strings, represents the peak of the arc of classic tango. Piazzolla began his professional musical career as a bandoneónist and arranger for the orquesta típica of Anibal Troilo. Later he led his own orquesta típica before leaving the arc to create his tango nuevo. He composed a few classical tangos during and after that period. Lo Que Vendrá, the subject of today's video, is one of the best of those. It was composed in 1955 or 1956 and first appeared on the rare LP, Tango Progresivo.
Today's video comes from a concert which "Central" gave on December 15, 2010 in celebration of the 5th anniversary of Aragón Radio. The video is one of fourteen videos from the concert, all of which can be found on the CSMA Youtube Channel. The videos contain performances of three other Piazzolla classic tangos: Chau Paris, Triunfal and Prepárense as well as Piazzolla's arrangement of Tierra querida. There are a few of the fourteen pieces that could benefit from a little more rehearsal time but the choices of pieces to be played is wonderful and the overall level of performance is something that would be applauded even by the demanding audiences at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.
There are no weak musicians in "Central" but I feel compelled to single out the pianist, Ms. Pilar López, for special recognition. She seems to have a remarkable feel the music - a natural sense of canyengue. Her touch is precise and the subtleties of her timing are, in part, responsible for the authentic sound of the group. It is also worth recognizing the two solo violinist, David Merlin and Daniel Hertado - who are the founders and the source of musical inspiration of "Central." It is my understanding that "Central" is their creation and that they provide the tango insight to the group with technical support from CSMA staff member, Rolando Prusak. You can see their musical chemistry together (although one moves to piano) in the duet version of La Camparsita. Surely one or both of these young musicians grew up closer to Buenos Aires than to Aragón to bring such authenticity to the music.
I believe most of the students in the orquesta are training to be classical musicians but I hope and expect this experience with tango will change their lives. Perhaps some of the accordionists will even give the bandoneón a try.
If the video does not appear below, click here.
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
The orquesta típica, with its banks of bandoneóns and strings, represents the peak of the arc of classic tango. Piazzolla began his professional musical career as a bandoneónist and arranger for the orquesta típica of Anibal Troilo. Later he led his own orquesta típica before leaving the arc to create his tango nuevo. He composed a few classical tangos during and after that period. Lo Que Vendrá, the subject of today's video, is one of the best of those. It was composed in 1955 or 1956 and first appeared on the rare LP, Tango Progresivo.
Today's video comes from a concert which "Central" gave on December 15, 2010 in celebration of the 5th anniversary of Aragón Radio. The video is one of fourteen videos from the concert, all of which can be found on the CSMA Youtube Channel. The videos contain performances of three other Piazzolla classic tangos: Chau Paris, Triunfal and Prepárense as well as Piazzolla's arrangement of Tierra querida. There are a few of the fourteen pieces that could benefit from a little more rehearsal time but the choices of pieces to be played is wonderful and the overall level of performance is something that would be applauded even by the demanding audiences at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.
There are no weak musicians in "Central" but I feel compelled to single out the pianist, Ms. Pilar López, for special recognition. She seems to have a remarkable feel the music - a natural sense of canyengue. Her touch is precise and the subtleties of her timing are, in part, responsible for the authentic sound of the group. It is also worth recognizing the two solo violinist, David Merlin and Daniel Hertado - who are the founders and the source of musical inspiration of "Central." It is my understanding that "Central" is their creation and that they provide the tango insight to the group with technical support from CSMA staff member, Rolando Prusak. You can see their musical chemistry together (although one moves to piano) in the duet version of La Camparsita. Surely one or both of these young musicians grew up closer to Buenos Aires than to Aragón to bring such authenticity to the music.
I believe most of the students in the orquesta are training to be classical musicians but I hope and expect this experience with tango will change their lives. Perhaps some of the accordionists will even give the bandoneón a try.
If the video does not appear below, click here.
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Adios Nonino - Raúl Jaurena
A lifetime of immersion in the sound of Adios Nonino is captured in the bandoneón solo by Raúl Jaurena in today's video. For those new to Adios Nonino, this is not a performance of that work. It is a fantasia on a theme from Adios Nonino created by a master of the bandoneón, a composer, a student of the tango and a dedicated admirer of Piazzolla. There are other such fantasias but this captures the elegiac portions of Adios Nonino better than any I have heard. It is very original in concept (yes, I know the Bach is there and I think Piazzolla would appreciate the salute) but faithful to the emotion of the original and the execution has a spontaneity about it which is surprising - one feels this is the first time he has played it this way, yet, surely it the work of much practice. It is a wonderful work that holds up well to repeated listening.
Juarena has recorded extensively and has performed with many of the best tango musicians in the world. His biography indicates he has been playing the bandoneón since he was a child and was playing in a tango orchestra when he was eight. The biography also refers to his playing with Piazzolla at the Montreal Jazz Festival - something which I cannot confirm. In fact, some references refer to a teenage Juarena performing with Piazzolla at the Montreal Jazz Festival. That is highly unlikely since Juarena, born in 1941, was 39 years old when the Montreal Jazz Festival began in 1980 and 43 years old when Piazzolla played there in 1984. Surely their paths crossed - Piazzolla had a home in Juarena's native Uruguay and the world of bandoneónists is pretty small - but perhaps some stories have been conflated to create the Montreal Jazz Festival connection.
While he has recorded extensively, Juarena tends to record his own compositions or classic tangos rather than the works of Piazzolla - a recording of solo bandoneón interpretations of Piazzolla would certainly be welcome based on the evidence of today's video.
If the video does not appear below, click here.
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
Juarena has recorded extensively and has performed with many of the best tango musicians in the world. His biography indicates he has been playing the bandoneón since he was a child and was playing in a tango orchestra when he was eight. The biography also refers to his playing with Piazzolla at the Montreal Jazz Festival - something which I cannot confirm. In fact, some references refer to a teenage Juarena performing with Piazzolla at the Montreal Jazz Festival. That is highly unlikely since Juarena, born in 1941, was 39 years old when the Montreal Jazz Festival began in 1980 and 43 years old when Piazzolla played there in 1984. Surely their paths crossed - Piazzolla had a home in Juarena's native Uruguay and the world of bandoneónists is pretty small - but perhaps some stories have been conflated to create the Montreal Jazz Festival connection.
While he has recorded extensively, Juarena tends to record his own compositions or classic tangos rather than the works of Piazzolla - a recording of solo bandoneón interpretations of Piazzolla would certainly be welcome based on the evidence of today's video.
If the video does not appear below, click here.
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Tango Suite - Assad Brothers
Is it addition or subtraction? Either a minute of music was added to the original Tango Suite to create the standard work with which we are familiar or a minute was subtracted to create the performance in today's video of the Andante and Allegro sections of Tango Suite as performed by brothers, Odair and Sérgio Assad. Available data strongly suggest the latter.
Piazzolla first met and was impressed with the Assad brothers in Paris in 1983. This was early in the Assad's career but they had already received enough recognition to leave their native Brazil and tour Europe. In 1984, Piazzolla composed Tango Suite specifically for the Assad's. According to the Azzi/Collier book, Le Grand Tango, Piazzolla's guitarist, Oscar López Ruiz, reviewed the score before it was sent to the Assads and pronounced it "difficult and complicated but perfectly playable by virtuosos like the Assads." There are three parts to the suite: Deciso, Andante and Allegro, with the latter two normally played as a single unit. The Assads first recorded it in 1985, on the LP, Latin American Music for Two Guitars. They also recorded it with Yo-Yo Ma in 1997, on Soul of the Tango but their definitive performance appears on the wonderful CD, Sérgio & Odair Assad Play Piazzolla. That performance was recorded in Brussels, now home to Odair Assad, in 1999.
Today's video appears to be from a 1989 Brazilian television production. I believe it is the earliest video record of a performance of Tango Suite and for that reason, it is important. Curiously, in today's video the Assads have omitted a minute of music from the original version of the Andante section. The original consists of an A and B section, which are repeated and then followed by an extended bridge section before recapitulating A and B to end the piece. Today's video eliminates the extended bridge which in most performances fills the work from roughly the two minute to the three minute mark. Perhaps this was an experiment or perhaps it was done to meet some scheduling demand in the television programming - we may never know. There is another YouTube performance of the work by the Assads here. It is a 1997 performance from Japanese television and it is contains the missing minute although I much prefer the 1989 performance of today's video because it conveys more emotion and has a freedom of motion that is missing in later performances.
Unfortunately, I find no video record of the Assad's playing the first movement of the suite, Deciso. Let's hope it exists and will appear at a later date.
If the video does not appear below, click here.
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
Piazzolla first met and was impressed with the Assad brothers in Paris in 1983. This was early in the Assad's career but they had already received enough recognition to leave their native Brazil and tour Europe. In 1984, Piazzolla composed Tango Suite specifically for the Assad's. According to the Azzi/Collier book, Le Grand Tango, Piazzolla's guitarist, Oscar López Ruiz, reviewed the score before it was sent to the Assads and pronounced it "difficult and complicated but perfectly playable by virtuosos like the Assads." There are three parts to the suite: Deciso, Andante and Allegro, with the latter two normally played as a single unit. The Assads first recorded it in 1985, on the LP, Latin American Music for Two Guitars. They also recorded it with Yo-Yo Ma in 1997, on Soul of the Tango but their definitive performance appears on the wonderful CD, Sérgio & Odair Assad Play Piazzolla. That performance was recorded in Brussels, now home to Odair Assad, in 1999.
Today's video appears to be from a 1989 Brazilian television production. I believe it is the earliest video record of a performance of Tango Suite and for that reason, it is important. Curiously, in today's video the Assads have omitted a minute of music from the original version of the Andante section. The original consists of an A and B section, which are repeated and then followed by an extended bridge section before recapitulating A and B to end the piece. Today's video eliminates the extended bridge which in most performances fills the work from roughly the two minute to the three minute mark. Perhaps this was an experiment or perhaps it was done to meet some scheduling demand in the television programming - we may never know. There is another YouTube performance of the work by the Assads here. It is a 1997 performance from Japanese television and it is contains the missing minute although I much prefer the 1989 performance of today's video because it conveys more emotion and has a freedom of motion that is missing in later performances.
Unfortunately, I find no video record of the Assad's playing the first movement of the suite, Deciso. Let's hope it exists and will appear at a later date.
If the video does not appear below, click here.
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
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