Sunday, October 08, 2006
Colonizados at Pigmalion Tango
Saturday, October 7, 2006
Colonizados is a sextet of violin, bandoneón, guitar, bass, tres, and percussion. Given that instrumentation, you could guess that the group is up to something different, and you would be right.
The artistic project of the group is to mix tango with various kinds of Cuban music, especially son. This fusion is conducted mostly by playing traditional tangos such as “El Choclo” and “Uno” in a son style, though they also give some Cuban songs like “Dos Gardenias” and “Lágrimas Negras” the tango treatment. Some of these experiments were more successful than others, of course, but having initially been somewhat suspicious I was pleasantly surprised by how well the two styles went together. The group opened up the perennial “Libertango” into an extended groove that had everyone’s head bobbing, and which featured improvised solos from several band members among whom bandoneónist Matias Rubino and tres player Eduardo Suárez were particularly impressive. They performed a very original arrangement of Anibal Troilo’s milonga “La Trampera” that moved abruptly but fluently between half time and double time tempos. The two or three songs that featured the singing of violinist Geovanny Ruiz were especially enjoyable.
Chatting with percussionist Jorge Romero after the show, it was explained to me that the fusion of tango and son in fact is not such far-fetched idea because both styles share historical roots in common genres like the habanera. Thinking about it that way, fusion projects such as this one seem like they would almost be second nature for contemporary musicians, though I know a lot of tangueros have a certain distain for musical fusions of any sort these days. “Tango is tango,” I have heard several times and in several ways. “It does not need jazz, rock, classical music, etc. It is what it is.” I can understand that perspective too, but I wonder whose loss it is in the end?
Come April, those of you in the US can judge for yourself. Bassist and bandleader Roberto Amerise, who I met at the Nestór Tomassini concert described below and who invited me to this concert, told me that the band will be doing a tour of the US next year, playing at S.O.B.’s in New York City among many other places.
One final note on the venue: this is the third time I have been to the upstairs space of Pigmalion, a relatively new tango venue in Buenos Aires that seems to have everything going for it but which, for me at least, always ends up feeling like more of an impediment than an enabler. It does not help that the most aggressive waiter in the southern hemisphere works there: he is the only person who has seemed genuinely angry when I don’t order the $25 cheese and meat plate, and scoffs when friends order only a glass of wine rather than a whole bottle. I know it is their job to make money, but it is not our job to fill up on meat and cheese on demand. More serious issues are an overly resonant acoustics that swallows up and muddies the sound, and decor that make the room feel more like a highly formal dance studio with a bar than a music venue. I hate to complain, because there is by no means an overabundance of music venues in Buenos Aires these days, many of which were closed following a tragic nightclub fire in December 2004 in which almost 200 people died. The musicians, too, seem grateful to have the opportunity to perform there. But for me, going to concerts at this place always feels a little more like work than I wish it did.
Related Recordings
Colonizados, TangoSon (La Salsera A.C.) 2006.
Related Links
www.lasalsera.com/colonizados
http://www.pigmalioncasatango.com.ar/
Colonizados is a sextet of violin, bandoneón, guitar, bass, tres, and percussion. Given that instrumentation, you could guess that the group is up to something different, and you would be right.
The artistic project of the group is to mix tango with various kinds of Cuban music, especially son. This fusion is conducted mostly by playing traditional tangos such as “El Choclo” and “Uno” in a son style, though they also give some Cuban songs like “Dos Gardenias” and “Lágrimas Negras” the tango treatment. Some of these experiments were more successful than others, of course, but having initially been somewhat suspicious I was pleasantly surprised by how well the two styles went together. The group opened up the perennial “Libertango” into an extended groove that had everyone’s head bobbing, and which featured improvised solos from several band members among whom bandoneónist Matias Rubino and tres player Eduardo Suárez were particularly impressive. They performed a very original arrangement of Anibal Troilo’s milonga “La Trampera” that moved abruptly but fluently between half time and double time tempos. The two or three songs that featured the singing of violinist Geovanny Ruiz were especially enjoyable.
Chatting with percussionist Jorge Romero after the show, it was explained to me that the fusion of tango and son in fact is not such far-fetched idea because both styles share historical roots in common genres like the habanera. Thinking about it that way, fusion projects such as this one seem like they would almost be second nature for contemporary musicians, though I know a lot of tangueros have a certain distain for musical fusions of any sort these days. “Tango is tango,” I have heard several times and in several ways. “It does not need jazz, rock, classical music, etc. It is what it is.” I can understand that perspective too, but I wonder whose loss it is in the end?
Come April, those of you in the US can judge for yourself. Bassist and bandleader Roberto Amerise, who I met at the Nestór Tomassini concert described below and who invited me to this concert, told me that the band will be doing a tour of the US next year, playing at S.O.B.’s in New York City among many other places.
One final note on the venue: this is the third time I have been to the upstairs space of Pigmalion, a relatively new tango venue in Buenos Aires that seems to have everything going for it but which, for me at least, always ends up feeling like more of an impediment than an enabler. It does not help that the most aggressive waiter in the southern hemisphere works there: he is the only person who has seemed genuinely angry when I don’t order the $25 cheese and meat plate, and scoffs when friends order only a glass of wine rather than a whole bottle. I know it is their job to make money, but it is not our job to fill up on meat and cheese on demand. More serious issues are an overly resonant acoustics that swallows up and muddies the sound, and decor that make the room feel more like a highly formal dance studio with a bar than a music venue. I hate to complain, because there is by no means an overabundance of music venues in Buenos Aires these days, many of which were closed following a tragic nightclub fire in December 2004 in which almost 200 people died. The musicians, too, seem grateful to have the opportunity to perform there. But for me, going to concerts at this place always feels a little more like work than I wish it did.
Related Recordings
Colonizados, TangoSon (La Salsera A.C.) 2006.
Related Links
www.lasalsera.com/colonizados
http://www.pigmalioncasatango.com.ar/
