Argentinian Astor Piazzolla was responsible for the creation of "tango nuevo", or new/modern tango, fusing traditional tango music with jazz and classical elements. (If you know of Gotan Project, he was an inspiration for them - they also sometimes play his compositions.) While most of the other albums he recorded are sparklingly precise, this one is slightly rougher round the edges, often slow, sultry, even dirty - and deliberately so, Piazzolla himself said the music on this album was "meant to be played by drunk musicians in a bordello". Which is fair enough, given that is exactly where the tango originated.
This is a late recording, made in 1987 (he died in 1992) and features a small group of musicians playing piano, violin, bass, electric guitar, clarinet/alto sax, and bandoneon, which Piazzola himself plays - he did so on all his recordings. The bandoneon is a type of accordion - and before I discovered this kind of music, just thinking about accordions made me wince - but Piazzolla is a true maestro of this instrument, so it only ever sounds
tacky if he absolutely wants it to.
The CD was issued in 2000, in a red and silver shiny cover with a picture of Piazzolla playing the bandoneon. The programme notes are sparse - just a track listing and a couple of five-six line quotes, so don't expect anything else besides some wonderful music. Even though it was a relatively late recording, part of me still wishes I could hear it on vinyl; any scratchiness would only enhance the atmosphere that the music creates.
The music has many interwoven themes and a proper arc through the whole recording. It could easily be a film score, but it's not quite: the music was originally written for a dance-theatre production, story based on two tales written by Jean Luis Borges which depicted "a brief and tragic mirror of the character of those hard-bitten men living on the edge of Buenos Aires before the turn of the century". Many of the tunes had lyrics written to go with them; they are not on this recording, and it certainly doesn't feel like anything is lacking (I had to read the small print on the CD inlay to even find out that it was a theatre production!)
1. Prologue (Tango Apasionado) 2. Milonga for Three 3. Street Tango 4. Milonga Picaresque 5. Knife Fight 6. Leonora's Song 7. Prelude to the Cyclical Night (Part One) 8. Butcher's Death 9. Leijia's Game 10. Milonga for Three (Reprise) 11. Bailongo 12. Leonora's Love Theme 13. Finale (Tango Apasionado) 14. Prelude to the Cyclical Night (Part Two)
(Total playing time is about 40 minutes).
I haven't been to Argentina, neither have I read the Borges nor seen the production... so I have to go with my own ideas on this one, and to me this music conjures up something halfway between West Side Story and old French films.
The first tunes are slow and languorous,: the "Prologue" slow and deliberate, setting the scene, then the "Milonga for Three" a measured decadent and seductive dance. "Street Tango" increases the pace, evoking a busy street perfectly, and the "Milonga Picaresque" goes faster still, leading up to the pandemonium of the "Knife Fight", then "Leonora's theme" - almost a lament (she's so clearly a prostitute) - that becomes something more defiant for just a few eye-opening seconds. The Prelude to the Cyclical Night is little more than a snatch of a theme, cut off by the relentless turmoil in "Butcher's Death" with its psycho-like motif. "Leija's Game" is a piano solo, then we are back to the milonga, with a lower, more velvety saxophone tune that still sounds not quite raw enough to be in the bordello - but then again I don't frequent those kinds of places, so who am I to judge? "Bailongo" also has a more modern feel, then with "Leonora's Love Theme" we're back to a sultry, languorous tune, and it usually isn't until about this point in the recording that I notice the driving "traditional" tango staccato beat underneath the other swirls of music. Mmm. It sounds like whoever Leonora is, she ends up happy, anyway. Then two theme reprises finish up the album with stories that don't perhaps have such happy endings.
As far as I'm concerned this is late-night music - good background music or chill out music, and really good for the dead of night when you can't sleep or if you've got home late and your head is aching and you need to wind down. In order to get the full effect, low lighting is absolutely necessary. I find it especially good for an evening in when I'm having a mope - and far better and more cathartic than getting lost in a bottle of absinthe (not that the two don't go together!), there's something uplifting in even the music's most pessimistic moments. And I'm still trying to visualise the film-that-isn't (some dark nostalgic picture) in my head; it's enough to keep me happy for hours. It's music which makes you use your imagination.
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