Saturday, December 02, 2006
Orquesta Típica Fervor de Buenos Aires in San Telmo
Friday, December 1, 2006
This was one of those hot Buenos Aires nights in which we could go out to dinner at 11 pm, eat at a comfortable pace, take two different buses to the concert on the other side of town, and still arrive early. Lesson learned: if you want to see and hear tango in Buenos Aires you have to love these late nights, or at least be up for them.
Fervor de Buenos Aires is one of the many new Orquestas Típicas playing in Buenos Aires today. Orquestas Típicas are like tango big bands, with sections of several violins and bandoneones accompanied by a rhythm section of piano and bass. It is an instrumentation that can pack quite a punch, and make you feel why tango, despite its complexity, is really a visceral dance music before anything else.
Directed by pianist Javier Arias, Fervor de Buenos Aires takes its inspirational cue from the writings of J.L. Borges (from whose work they take their name) and the stylistic approach to tango associated with pianist, composer, and bandleader Carlos Di Sarli (1903-1960). Di Sarli, who is one of the key figures from the earlier “golden age” of orchestral tango, was known for a crisp style that emphasized quick interchanges between sections and a mostly rhythmic rather than melodic use of the bandoneones. And while they do not play with the hard driving energy I have heard in other Orquestas, Fervor de Buenos Aires executes the Di Sarli style with clarity and grace. I especially liked how seamlessly the piano would interject quick musical ideas in the cracks of the violin parts. They have clearly been doing their homework—intense study of their musical predecessors—and that work is paying off: the band played several of Arias’ original compositions that both fit within the Di Sarli mold and brought something new and distinct to it. It is from this kind of work that tango is going to move forward in the years ahead.
By the end of the concert, the small room where the performance took place was so overheated that everyone almost ran out into the patio to get some fresh air. The band was really feeling it. Sweating entirely through their nearly matching green shirts, they looked more like a rough and tumble Boston bar band than a refined tango orchestra. You have to suffer for your art, so they say. Outside, it had cooled off a bit from what had been a sweltering day. It was December first, and just starting to become summer. I really felt like I had been part of something special, and look forward to feeling the fervor on many more such nights.
Related Recording
Orquesta Típica Fervor de Buenos Aires, Quién Sos (Derechos del Autor) 2006.
Related Link
http://www.fervordebuenosaires.com/
This was one of those hot Buenos Aires nights in which we could go out to dinner at 11 pm, eat at a comfortable pace, take two different buses to the concert on the other side of town, and still arrive early. Lesson learned: if you want to see and hear tango in Buenos Aires you have to love these late nights, or at least be up for them.
Fervor de Buenos Aires is one of the many new Orquestas Típicas playing in Buenos Aires today. Orquestas Típicas are like tango big bands, with sections of several violins and bandoneones accompanied by a rhythm section of piano and bass. It is an instrumentation that can pack quite a punch, and make you feel why tango, despite its complexity, is really a visceral dance music before anything else.
Directed by pianist Javier Arias, Fervor de Buenos Aires takes its inspirational cue from the writings of J.L. Borges (from whose work they take their name) and the stylistic approach to tango associated with pianist, composer, and bandleader Carlos Di Sarli (1903-1960). Di Sarli, who is one of the key figures from the earlier “golden age” of orchestral tango, was known for a crisp style that emphasized quick interchanges between sections and a mostly rhythmic rather than melodic use of the bandoneones. And while they do not play with the hard driving energy I have heard in other Orquestas, Fervor de Buenos Aires executes the Di Sarli style with clarity and grace. I especially liked how seamlessly the piano would interject quick musical ideas in the cracks of the violin parts. They have clearly been doing their homework—intense study of their musical predecessors—and that work is paying off: the band played several of Arias’ original compositions that both fit within the Di Sarli mold and brought something new and distinct to it. It is from this kind of work that tango is going to move forward in the years ahead.
By the end of the concert, the small room where the performance took place was so overheated that everyone almost ran out into the patio to get some fresh air. The band was really feeling it. Sweating entirely through their nearly matching green shirts, they looked more like a rough and tumble Boston bar band than a refined tango orchestra. You have to suffer for your art, so they say. Outside, it had cooled off a bit from what had been a sweltering day. It was December first, and just starting to become summer. I really felt like I had been part of something special, and look forward to feeling the fervor on many more such nights.
Related Recording
Orquesta Típica Fervor de Buenos Aires, Quién Sos (Derechos del Autor) 2006.
Related Link
http://www.fervordebuenosaires.com/
Comments:
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Hello Morgan, its been more tahn a year from taht show... now i just find this link to our page (wich i thank you) and read your comment that i really, really appreciate.
thanks again for your words and hope to meet again
Esteban
www.fervordebuenosaires.com
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thanks again for your words and hope to meet again
Esteban
www.fervordebuenosaires.com
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