The "Big Squeeze" gave residents of Chicago an unusually broad overview of accordion and bandoneón music on April 6, 2012 in a concert in the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall of the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. Performances ranged from Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor to the kitschy polka, Roll Out the Barrel. And right in the middle were three performances of Piazzolla for bandoneón and string quartet. One of those, Milonga Loca, is featured in today's video.
Playing the bandoneón is Julien Labro, born in France and trained at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan where, I believe, he currently resides. With guitarist, Jason Vieaux, he has recently released a CD devoted entirely to the music of Piazzolla but he is much more than another tango musician - in fact, his natural genre seems to be jazz and his work with the Hot Club of Detroit is not to be missed if you are a Django fan. Labro joins the Spektral Quartet in the video. Members of Spectral are Aurelien Pederzoli and Austin Wulliman on violin, Doyle Armbrust on viola and Russell Rolen on cello. The group is relatively new, coming together in Chicago in 2010, but are already receiving recognition for their energetic foray's into the broadest possible range of string quartet music. They remind me very much of the Kronos Quartet of my youth. In fact, the performance of Labro and the Spektral quartet at the "Big Squeeze" included two numbers that Piazzolla composed for and performed with the Kronos Quartet. The original performances can be found on the CD, Five Tango Sensations and are among the last performances by Piazzolla before his death in 1992.
While it was tempting to pick one of the Five Tango Sensations covers to feature, I chose Milonga Loca precisely because it was not written for bandoneón and string quartet. It was written for Piazzolla's classic quintet: bandoneón, violin, piano, electric guitar and double bass and was originally part of the score for the Fernando Solanas movie, El exilio de Gardel: Tangos. In addition to an available soundtrack recording from the movie, Piazzolla also recorded the work on the Tango: Zero Hour CD. The arrangement in today's video, which I would guess was done by Labro, does an excellent job of combining the best out of Piazzolla's two recordings of the work. It has the pace of the Zero Hour version but emphasizes the arrival (and departure) of lyricism as does the original movie version. There is much controlled chaos in the work and I am astounded at the precision that the Spektral Quartet brought to the piece. This is a work that holds up well to repeated listening and has one of the best conclusions of any work composed by Piazzolla. It practically demands that the audience rise in applause at the end. I believe that Labro and the Spektral Quartet have done a better job with this work than Piazzolla himself. Bravo!
There are some other related videos to watch. There is a wonderful 80 minute video of excerpts from the "Big Squeeze" concert where you can see Labro - the jazzman (and see a spectacular performance by Alexander Sevastian of the Toccata and Fugue in D minor). You can also watch Labro and the Spektral Quartet play the other two Piazzolla pieces, Fear and Asleep on YouTube.
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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Thursday, April 26, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Libertango - the Handbell Version
We have reviewed the big bell version of Libertango in this blog and now it is time to add the little bell version to our growing collection of Libertango in unexpected arrangements. The musicians in the video are appearing at an international contest for young carilloneurs at the Royal Carillon School "Jef Denyn" in Mechelen, Belgium. The arrangement is by Elena Sadina who can be seen leading the handbell choir in the video.
It is a slight stretch to call this the "little bell" version because the young gentleman, named Tim, at the top of the video, who at first glance might be thought to be playing the piano, is playing the big bells - or at least a small version of the big bells. He is playing a "traveling carillon" which can be dissembled and moved to any concert venue - you can see the cabinet of bells behind the handbell players. I don't know how Tim finished in the contest but to my ears, his playing of the carillon was excellent as was the playing of the "little bells."
Ms. Sadina is to be congratulated for a wonderful arrangement and an excellent job in leading the group.
If the video does not appear below, click here.
Note added on 24 April, 2012: Thanks to the comment posted below, I was able to correct the identification of the carillon (I originally called it a practice carillon) and to provide the name of the young man playing the carillon. You can see Tim playing Libertango a week before the competition on a real practice carillon in Mafra, Portugal in this video.
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
It is a slight stretch to call this the "little bell" version because the young gentleman, named Tim, at the top of the video, who at first glance might be thought to be playing the piano, is playing the big bells - or at least a small version of the big bells. He is playing a "traveling carillon" which can be dissembled and moved to any concert venue - you can see the cabinet of bells behind the handbell players. I don't know how Tim finished in the contest but to my ears, his playing of the carillon was excellent as was the playing of the "little bells."
Ms. Sadina is to be congratulated for a wonderful arrangement and an excellent job in leading the group.
If the video does not appear below, click here.
Note added on 24 April, 2012: Thanks to the comment posted below, I was able to correct the identification of the carillon (I originally called it a practice carillon) and to provide the name of the young man playing the carillon. You can see Tim playing Libertango a week before the competition on a real practice carillon in Mafra, Portugal in this video.
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Escualo - Quintetto Anedda
Giuseppe Anedda is not a well known name in the musical world but he should be. He was a virtuoso mandolinist, probably the best the world has ever seen. This year, 2012, is the one hundredth anniversary of his birth and I urge you to take the time to view his performance of the Bach Chaconne in this video. There are a few other videos of the Anedda on YouTube but none which better display his musicality. Two of his grandson's have inherited that musicality and are members of the group featured in today's video. The full name of the group is Quintetto a Plettro "Giuseppe Anedda" and they are about to release a new DVD, Live in Rome, which contains today's featured performance of Escualo.
This is the eleventh time that Escualo has been featured in this blog. Escualo (the title translates to Shark) was composed in 1979. In a two year survey of the most frequently performed Piazzolla compositions, it was number 17. Piazzolla recorded the work four times. My favorite was captured live on October 13, 1983 in Lugano, Switzerland and can be heard on the readily available CD, Adios Nonino. A later but quite famous performance by the quintet can be seen in this video.
The performance by Quintetto Anedda is more precise and controlled than those of Piazzolla but captures perfectly the rhythmic drive of the work which makes it so interesting. The arrangement is respectful of the original but takes full advantage of the staccato, percussive effect of their plectrum created music. These are classically trained musicians and their music has a conservatory feel to it but the jazz roots of Escualo can still be heard. The performance is a good example of the way Piazzolla's music flows easily between the jazz and classical idioms.
The musicians in the quintet are the two grandsons of Anedda: Emanuele Buzi on mandolin and Valdimiro Buzi on mandola, along with Norberto Gonçalves da Cruz on mandolin, Andrea Pace on guitar and Emiliano Piccolini on double bass. Bios of each musician are available on their excellent website. The music from the Live in Rome DVD is available for download now and also contains performances of Piazzolla's Nightclub 1960 and Oblivion. You can also see them perform Piazzolla's Zita in this YouTube video. They are clearly fans of Piazzolla. Giuseppe Anneda was a contemporary of Piazzolla, I wonder if he knew Piazzolla's music and if he ever imagined his grandson's playing it?
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.
This is the eleventh time that Escualo has been featured in this blog. Escualo (the title translates to Shark) was composed in 1979. In a two year survey of the most frequently performed Piazzolla compositions, it was number 17. Piazzolla recorded the work four times. My favorite was captured live on October 13, 1983 in Lugano, Switzerland and can be heard on the readily available CD, Adios Nonino. A later but quite famous performance by the quintet can be seen in this video.
The performance by Quintetto Anedda is more precise and controlled than those of Piazzolla but captures perfectly the rhythmic drive of the work which makes it so interesting. The arrangement is respectful of the original but takes full advantage of the staccato, percussive effect of their plectrum created music. These are classically trained musicians and their music has a conservatory feel to it but the jazz roots of Escualo can still be heard. The performance is a good example of the way Piazzolla's music flows easily between the jazz and classical idioms.
The musicians in the quintet are the two grandsons of Anedda: Emanuele Buzi on mandolin and Valdimiro Buzi on mandola, along with Norberto Gonçalves da Cruz on mandolin, Andrea Pace on guitar and Emiliano Piccolini on double bass. Bios of each musician are available on their excellent website. The music from the Live in Rome DVD is available for download now and also contains performances of Piazzolla's Nightclub 1960 and Oblivion. You can also see them perform Piazzolla's Zita in this YouTube video. They are clearly fans of Piazzolla. Giuseppe Anneda was a contemporary of Piazzolla, I wonder if he knew Piazzolla's music and if he ever imagined his grandson's playing it?
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, April 18, 2012
Stop and Take a Mate
In October, 2011, I wrote that the only commercial Piazzolla ever made was for Royal Command Whiskey. An alert reader, Mauro, has pointed out that I am wrong. Our featured video today shows Piazzolla in a 1967 television commercial sitting at his piano enjoying a mate. We hear him say something like, "El mate es como la vida misma: me sensaciones vitales" which Google translates as "Mate is like life itself: life gives me feelings." Then an announcer comes on to say something like, "Drink life, stop and take a mate."
It appears to be a general advertisement for the mate industry, but was perhaps sponsored by Establecimiento Las Marías, the largest producer of mate in Argentina. Mate has been called the national drink of Argentina but may be unfamiliar to readers living north of the equator. It is an infusion, similar to tea, and can be found today in many North American health food stores and specialty restaurants.
Thanks to Mauro for bringing this video to my attention. 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.
It appears to be a general advertisement for the mate industry, but was perhaps sponsored by Establecimiento Las Marías, the largest producer of mate in Argentina. Mate has been called the national drink of Argentina but may be unfamiliar to readers living north of the equator. It is an infusion, similar to tea, and can be found today in many North American health food stores and specialty restaurants.
Thanks to Mauro for bringing this video to my attention. 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.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Fumo e odore di caffè
Among the more obscure Piazzolla recordings is a promotional album, Café Chantant, issued by the Lavazza Coffee company in 1994, which contains a recording of Milva singing Fumo e odore di caffè accompanied by Piazzolla on the bandoneón. It is so obscure that it is not listed in the incredibly thorough Saito discography of Piazzolla recordings. I knew about the recording only because of an audio/video posted on YouTube in March, 2011. A comment on the video noted the presence of Astor Piazzolla and that the song had come from a 1980 broadcast of the television program, Palcoscenico. Until today's featured video appeared this week, I had no idea that a video of the performance existed. It is now, in fact, quite apparent that the Café Chantant recording is taken directly from the soundtrack of today's video.
Milva was more than just a vocalist for Piazzolla - she was a fan and a promoter. Milva had been famous in Italy since the 1960's when Piazzolla first met her in 1979. Five years later, at Milva's invitation, he toured with her and that tour, according to the Azzi/Collier book, Le Grand Tango, "gave a definite and perhaps the decisive boost to Piazzolla's European fortunes." One of his most popular recordings, Live at the Bouffes du Nord, captured the results of that 1984 tour. It is remarkable that today's video captures the two nearly five years before that tour.
The song is not a Piazzolla composition. I believe it was composed by conductor and composer, Gianni Ferrio, with lyrics by Michele Guardi. Guardi along with Antonello Falqui produced the television show from which today's video was captured. The performance was the last of the show and the credits for the show are running through the entire song. Piazzolla is probably improvising over the accompaniment that Milva normally used for the song and his work is confident and flawless.
Milva's management is fairly aggressive about removing unauthorized video from YouTube. I suggest you watch this video as soon as you can just in case it is removed.
The Milva/Piazzolla performance begins at 1'54" into the video. You may wish to advance the video to that point.
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
Milva was more than just a vocalist for Piazzolla - she was a fan and a promoter. Milva had been famous in Italy since the 1960's when Piazzolla first met her in 1979. Five years later, at Milva's invitation, he toured with her and that tour, according to the Azzi/Collier book, Le Grand Tango, "gave a definite and perhaps the decisive boost to Piazzolla's European fortunes." One of his most popular recordings, Live at the Bouffes du Nord, captured the results of that 1984 tour. It is remarkable that today's video captures the two nearly five years before that tour.
The song is not a Piazzolla composition. I believe it was composed by conductor and composer, Gianni Ferrio, with lyrics by Michele Guardi. Guardi along with Antonello Falqui produced the television show from which today's video was captured. The performance was the last of the show and the credits for the show are running through the entire song. Piazzolla is probably improvising over the accompaniment that Milva normally used for the song and his work is confident and flawless.
Milva's management is fairly aggressive about removing unauthorized video from YouTube. I suggest you watch this video as soon as you can just in case it is removed.
The Milva/Piazzolla performance begins at 1'54" into the video. You may wish to advance the video to that point.
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Escualo - Revirado
Video editors, rejoice! Today's featured video of the Argentine group Revirado playing Escualo should make all those video editors who have spent unrecognized hours with eyes glued to the screen and fingers dancing on the keyboard feel good about their work. The video clearly demonstrates the power of video editing.
In November, 2009, Revirado posted two versions of the same performance on YouTube. The first version showed the band playing live on stage with a video being shown adjacent to the performance. In the 28 months since the video was posted, it has collected 460 views. The second video took that adjacent video and edited it into the live performance video. That video, in the same 28 months, has collected 880 views. The audience has voted and the video editor won.
I am not sure if Revirado still exists as a band. Pity if not, they are quite good. They are a quintet but not a Piazzolla quintet - a drum replaces the electric guitar in the quintet. Members are Emiliano Greco on piano, Lautaro Greco on bandoneón, Javier Weintraub on violín, Juan Miguens on double bass and Martín Gonzalez on drums. Their webpage is defunct and their Facebook page appears abandoned. While I find evidence of a CD, Solo a tus estrellas, I don't find it for sale. Escualo is not an easy piece and they handled it well - it is articulated clearly and is rhythmically consistent. I would like to hear more.
The video is the work of the mysterious Amenaza de Pache. Whether he is responsible for the video editing that created the more highly viewed version of the video is not totally clear but I believe he deserves the credit. His YouTube site contains some other examples of his video work. Note as you watch the video the way he respects the phrasing in the music with his cuts - it is a text book example of the way music videos should be done.
Thanks to Amenaza de Pache and Revirado for creating this very interesting video and thanks to Kat Eiswald for bringing it to my attention.
Both videos are provided below. First the edited video:
And second, the original video:
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
In November, 2009, Revirado posted two versions of the same performance on YouTube. The first version showed the band playing live on stage with a video being shown adjacent to the performance. In the 28 months since the video was posted, it has collected 460 views. The second video took that adjacent video and edited it into the live performance video. That video, in the same 28 months, has collected 880 views. The audience has voted and the video editor won.
I am not sure if Revirado still exists as a band. Pity if not, they are quite good. They are a quintet but not a Piazzolla quintet - a drum replaces the electric guitar in the quintet. Members are Emiliano Greco on piano, Lautaro Greco on bandoneón, Javier Weintraub on violín, Juan Miguens on double bass and Martín Gonzalez on drums. Their webpage is defunct and their Facebook page appears abandoned. While I find evidence of a CD, Solo a tus estrellas, I don't find it for sale. Escualo is not an easy piece and they handled it well - it is articulated clearly and is rhythmically consistent. I would like to hear more.
The video is the work of the mysterious Amenaza de Pache. Whether he is responsible for the video editing that created the more highly viewed version of the video is not totally clear but I believe he deserves the credit. His YouTube site contains some other examples of his video work. Note as you watch the video the way he respects the phrasing in the music with his cuts - it is a text book example of the way music videos should be done.
Thanks to Amenaza de Pache and Revirado for creating this very interesting video and thanks to Kat Eiswald for bringing it to my attention.
Both videos are provided below. First the edited video:
And second, the original video:
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Duo de Amor - Beltango
I can identify more than 250 bandoneónists in the world but I can only identify one in Serbia, Aleksandar Nikolic. Aleksandar and his wife Ivana, a pianist and vocalist, are founders and two/fifths of the Beltango quintet featured in today's video performance of Duo de amor. Other members of the group are Jovan Bogosavljevic on violin, Bogdan Pejic on guitar and Ljubinko Lazic on double bass. The group is headquartered in Belgrade but perform all over Europe The work they perform in today's video, Duo de amor, is from Piazzolla's score for the 1985, Fernando Solanas movie, Tangos, the Exile of Gardel.
I do not fully understand the connection between musicians of the Balkans and the music of Piazzolla but there is no question that their musical roots give them some advantage in the interpretation of tango - both traditional and nuevo tango. The rhythms and phrasings seem to come quite naturally to them. I would guess that the incredibly complex rhythms of the folk music of the region are the source of the advantage. Balkan folk music is famous for its "asymmetric" meters of 5,7,9,11,13, or 15 beats per measure which are played in groups of beats which musicians come to feel as slow and fast rather than counting the complex combinations. I suspect that slow/fast feel translates to a very natural adaptation to the rhythms of tango. The naturalness of playing is quite apparent both in today's video and in the many other Beltango performances you can find on their YouTube channel. The excellence of Beltango has not gone unrecognized. They were the only European tango ensemble to be invited to the 2007 World Tango Festival in Buenos Aires and they are often invited to perform at tango festivals throughout Europe.
The work they perform in today's video is notable as one of Piazzolla's only "right hand" compositions. While the first couple of opening measures utilize the bass side of the bandoneón, all the rest is performed with the right hand on the treble side of the instrument. Listening to Piazzolla's performance of the work, found on the CD, Tango, el Exilo de Gardel, it appears that he also is playing with the right hand only. If you doubt Nikolic's ability to play with both hands, take a look a this delightful performance of Libertango which also provides a wonderful opportunity to compare the difference in sound between a bandoneón and an accordion.
But perhaps the most important part of today's blog is not Piazzolla, it is 100% Beltango. Nikolic is not only a superb player of the bandoneón, he is also a composer - perhaps the most capable composer in the style of Piazzolla alive today. It is exciting to realize that through the pen of Nikolic, we could enjoy another thirty years of new, nuevo tango music. The group has recorded a full CD of music they refer to as "Balkango." You will find music samples and a place to buy the CD here. Fortunately for us, a performance of Nikolic's compositional contribution to that CD, a piece titled Balkango, can be seen in a video which I have posted below today's featured video. Nikolic adopts a classic Piazzolla structure - opening with a fugue which is developed in the first section, an up-tempo second section (note the Balkan rhythms), a slow melodic section, and a return at the close to the theme of the fugue. The music could be easily mistaken for a Piazzolla composition with only some slight doubt induced by the rhythm of the second section. If Nikolic has more such music in his brain, I hope he gets it into performance as soon as possible and shares it with the world. The man is channeling Astor.
If the video of Duo de amor does not appear below, click here.
If the video of Balkango does not appear below, click here.
To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.
Follow Piazzolla on Video on Twitter.
I do not fully understand the connection between musicians of the Balkans and the music of Piazzolla but there is no question that their musical roots give them some advantage in the interpretation of tango - both traditional and nuevo tango. The rhythms and phrasings seem to come quite naturally to them. I would guess that the incredibly complex rhythms of the folk music of the region are the source of the advantage. Balkan folk music is famous for its "asymmetric" meters of 5,7,9,11,13, or 15 beats per measure which are played in groups of beats which musicians come to feel as slow and fast rather than counting the complex combinations. I suspect that slow/fast feel translates to a very natural adaptation to the rhythms of tango. The naturalness of playing is quite apparent both in today's video and in the many other Beltango performances you can find on their YouTube channel. The excellence of Beltango has not gone unrecognized. They were the only European tango ensemble to be invited to the 2007 World Tango Festival in Buenos Aires and they are often invited to perform at tango festivals throughout Europe.
The work they perform in today's video is notable as one of Piazzolla's only "right hand" compositions. While the first couple of opening measures utilize the bass side of the bandoneón, all the rest is performed with the right hand on the treble side of the instrument. Listening to Piazzolla's performance of the work, found on the CD, Tango, el Exilo de Gardel, it appears that he also is playing with the right hand only. If you doubt Nikolic's ability to play with both hands, take a look a this delightful performance of Libertango which also provides a wonderful opportunity to compare the difference in sound between a bandoneón and an accordion.
But perhaps the most important part of today's blog is not Piazzolla, it is 100% Beltango. Nikolic is not only a superb player of the bandoneón, he is also a composer - perhaps the most capable composer in the style of Piazzolla alive today. It is exciting to realize that through the pen of Nikolic, we could enjoy another thirty years of new, nuevo tango music. The group has recorded a full CD of music they refer to as "Balkango." You will find music samples and a place to buy the CD here. Fortunately for us, a performance of Nikolic's compositional contribution to that CD, a piece titled Balkango, can be seen in a video which I have posted below today's featured video. Nikolic adopts a classic Piazzolla structure - opening with a fugue which is developed in the first section, an up-tempo second section (note the Balkan rhythms), a slow melodic section, and a return at the close to the theme of the fugue. The music could be easily mistaken for a Piazzolla composition with only some slight doubt induced by the rhythm of the second section. If Nikolic has more such music in his brain, I hope he gets it into performance as soon as possible and shares it with the world. The man is channeling Astor.
If the video of Duo de amor does not appear below, click here.
If the video of Balkango 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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