Tango Siempre

Tango Siempre present their new vision of nuevo tango in a brand new album of beautifully recorded original music composed by their pianist Jonathan Taylor, combining the tango tradition with jazz improvisation and electronica, and featuring the talents of virtuoso Italian bandoneonist Paolo Russo.

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Hopefully most of the music on this CD will be recognisable as contemporary tango in either style - rhythmic devices, melodic ornamentation, the all-pervading influence of Astor Piazzolla - or mood - wistful melodies, minor keys - or sound – emotional violins, the magnificently expressive yet diabolically finger-busting bandoneon. Aside from a mazurka and a chamamé (with unexpected South African influences) all the music has Piazzolla’s nuevo tango as a touchstone with the addition of drums, electronics, jazz improvisation (and some slightly wonky harmony in Straw Dogs). Although it isn’t traditional tango dance music, three of the pieces have been used as a basis for contemporary tango choreography. It fits a broad definition of the word ‘tango’ and represents another strand in the evolution of the music since Piazzolla’s death. Trying to define what is and what isn’t ‘tango’ is a frustrating and ultimately pointless exercise. Pointless because it’s mostly subjective. It isn’t like defining cheese. (Though there are probably those who deny that processed cheese is ‘real’ cheese). We all have a slightly different idea of the parameters that define a style of music. There are rhythmic accents in this music that are the same as Pugliese’s yet there are no traditional tangos that I am aware of where the bass plays in 5 and the violin in 3. Straw Dogs has the same rhythmic structure as Piazzolla’s ‘Tanguedia III’ yet the harmony for it was inspired by reading a book on chromaticism in jazz. Everyone who interprets a musical genre inevitably ends up infecting it with his or her own unique musical bacteria - Jonathan Taylor 2008

Reviews

Tango Siempre originally formed as a trio in 1998 and they've developed their nuevo tango sound through fruitful collaborations. Their excellent 2007 album, Tangents, featured the acclaimed saxophonist Gilad Atzmon, while their latest work stars the Italian maestro Paolo Russo (pictured) on the bandoneó* and Milo Fell on drums and electronics... they perform with a spry energy and cool intensity: contrasting talents, sleekly in tune with one another. New tracks such as Triphop & Fugue demonstrate their take on traditions but expect their improvisational skills to steal the show. They champion tango as a genre with allure and possibility. - ARWA HAIDER - Metro, October 2008

Only Human - Liner Notes

1. Introduction (Russo) – Solo bandoneon improvisation.

2. A Matter Of Life And Death (Taylor) – The rock musician Nick Cave once said in an interview that when he went to work in his studio he wore a suit because making music was a very important job. Why else would we commit so much time and energy to making this music happen with all the insane travel schedules and financial risks involved if it didn’t feel as though our lives depended upon it?

3. Belo Horizonte (Taylor) – The third largest city in Brazil, literally ‘Beautiful Horizon’. As much as I like Manchester it didn’t feel like the right name for this piece.

4. Straw Dogs (Taylor) – The result of leafing through Dave Liebman’s book on chromaticism in jazz whilst being locked away in a shed in order to write music for a tango dance show. The dancers we were working with described this as the most horrible piece of music they had ever heard. Tango + tragedy + comedy + drums + distorted violin = tango inglés.

5. Il Segreto (Russo) – The secret sadness of a happy joker played in the style of a funeral marching band from Southern Italy.

6. The Word ‘Tango’ (Russo/Piazzolla) – Astor Piazzolla in a radio interview, recorded in 1989, expressing his frustration with tango audiences’ expectations at his concerts. The bandoneon improvisation is by Paolo, not Astor.

7. Milonga Polirrítmica (Taylor) – The milonga is an earlier style of tango with recognisable Spanish ancestry, more closely connected to the Cuban tradition. This piece is best described as a slowed-down milonga with an extra beat in the bass and a piano ‘montuno’ that floats across 3 bars rather than 2.

8. Dance Of Death (Rosser) – Written by our accordionist of 10 years, Pete Rosser, who this CD is dedicated to. Originally used in a dance show to underscore a scene dramatising the brutality of the military dictatorship in Argentina during the 1970’s, hence the rather morbid title.

9. Only Human (Taylor) – ‘Tormented by inner demons I struggled to express the great vision that supernatural powers were communicating through me, one dark and lonely weekend in North London…’ Putting Beethoven myths aside, this is a tune full of hope for those moments where we are forced to confront our fallibility as human beings.

10. Chango (Taylor) – A tribute to the virtuoso accordionist Chango Spasiuk, a leading exponent of chamamé which is a style of folk music from Northeast Argentina.

11. Triphop & Fugue (Taylor) – Forging a link between Piazzolla, Bach and Portishead with a dash of Pablo Ziegler-inspired jazz-tango thrown in for good measure.

12. It Was Me (Russo/Piazzolla) – Astor Piazzolla in characteristically defiant mode. The importance of not being boring. The importance of playing the music you love.