Tag: Performers

For the beginning of 2012 we have tango news, made in Germany from Cuarteto Bando and Iwan Harlan. In many aspects they differ from each other: quartet vs. solo artist, analog vs. digital, traditional vs. electro, East vs. West
… but what they do have in common is the passion for tango!

Let’s start with Cuateto Bando y Caio Rodriguez. “Reflexión del Tango”
is the name of the second album of this quartet, founded by the bandoneonist Jürgen Karthe. While on their first album “Tango A Tango” they presented strictly instrumentals, this time they collaborate with the singer Jorge Daniel “Caio” Rodriguez who lends his velvety-soft and clear voice to the emotions which make this CD alive and almost tear it appart.
Among the overall 22 songs there are many traditional tangos, most of them grandiosely reinterpreted. Especially remarkable in this respect is for example the version of “Percal” (Track 17). In Addition to these the album is rounded of – besides two “Piazzollas” – by three self-composed Songs (Tracks 5, 6, and 19)!

“Tango Sonorte and Harri Kaitila: “Un finlandés en Buenos Aires”
For some time now, the experienced opera singer Harri Kaitila and the band Tango Sonorte both have promoted Finnish Tango separately and contributed to its fame far beyond the Scandinavian peninsula. But now they’ve topped it all off by joining forces to create this superb album!

The musical references of the members of Tango Sonorte testify unbelievable creativity, expressivity and imrpovisation skills! The guitarist Antero Jakoila is one of the most prestigious artists in his field and his talent can be appreciated in various movies of the great Finnish film maker Kaurismäki. And this is just to name the probably best known musician of this ensemble!

Not all news is new. Although I wrote about this fantastic group about a month ago in the German blog and then wrote a few lines in the newsletter after that, I haven’t really got around to writing a few words in English until now.
The group, Jasstango, brought out the same-named album back in 2008. We just brought in on board at the beginning of this year. I listened to the album intensively for a good couple of weeks back then and was extremely enthusiastic. Then I took a break. I’m listening to the CD again as I write now and I can say that my ‘love at first hearing’ from more than a month ago was no superficial flirt: the music remains good.

The Argentinian singer Pablo Banchero lost his heart to tango in the late 1980s. Back then, he wanted to sing tangos, meanwhile most other teenagers preferred jazz and rock. Today, many years later, he recorded his first CD at the age of 42. The newspaper “La Nacion” calls him a new “icon of tango” (the complete, very interesting, article can be read under “reviews”).

The founder of the legendary Sexteto Mayor and the master of tango, Luis Stazo, is back. He recorded the CD “Tango con Pasión” with his new Sexteto Stazo Mayor. And this is only the beginning: He is already booked for the new Broadway show “Tango Pasión – El último tango”. Premiere of the show will be 19/12/08 in the renowned Champs Elysée Theater in Paris. This is the CD with 18 titles, some of them written by Luis Stazo himself.