November 02, 2006

Gotan Interview

Gotan is on tour. Here as an interview with them in Montreal's "The Gazette".

As one sees, this band doesn't really think they are making tango music -- it is something different: electronica infused with tango.

"In the beginning, there was an attraction in bringing a melodic element to electronic music, a melancholy," Muller said. "Electronic music has a tendency to be 'up.' Tango is not at all like that. The only people to (explore melancholy in electronica) before were Massive Attack." Easier said than done. Tango is a complex music with a rich history. Doing it justice while making something relevant to the here and now demanded a delicate balance. "It was a challenge," Muller said. "It's not an easy music. I didn't know a lot (about tango). I knew Astor Piazzolla. Then after a while, I got into traditional tango, and studied with Eduardo (Makaroff). He taught me what it is."
[...]
"Somehow, without wanting to, we have created a new branch in the big tree of tango. Tango has been around for more than 100 years. It has many facets. Now we find ourselves in it, reinventing that music."

Posted by joegrohens at 01:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 02, 2005

Torito's web site

Rob "Torito" Nuijten of Amsterdam publishes a very interesting, and attractively designed, web site for tango in Netherlands. Links of interest:

From browsing his "Tango agenda" just now, I learned of the death of Jose Libertella, cited below.

On a lighter note, Torito reports on a great tango video clip ( "Uniquely Spikey".) from a TV commercial of the Singapore travel industry. (Requires QuickTime).

Fun: Webmovie commercial spotted: Dancing Tango for Singapore. Bold man with lady in selfmade SM bra. (Who are they, do you know?)

One must note that Torito takes some very nice tango photographs, as I have mentioned previously.

Posted by joegrohens at 01:41 AM | Comments (0)

December 30, 2004

Junior Cervila

Read Jackie Wong's interview with Brazilian dancer, actor and filmmaker Antonio Cervila Junior, who was seen in Carlos Saura's Tango and figured prominently in the final dance sequence.

Junior: You can dance tango to EVERYTHING. Well, I can because I want to. Piazzolla is a genius. Great to dance, but traditionalists don't like him. So they don't want to dance to his music. Then of course, it becomes impossible. The only possible things are the ones that you believe.

I came from Copacabana and would turn tango into salsa, mixing the two dances. I loved it. And then turn Milonga into Merengue. Anyway, I don't like to say that I am right and traditionalists are wrong because there is no right or wrong. It is only what you really feel. And everybody agrees that tango is a feeling. So, if you don't feel Piazzolla, don't do it. But shut up and let other people be happy.

In the forties Julio De Caro was considered too modern and people from that time used to say that the real tango were the old ones from 1910. So the question is not what is tango, but WHEN. A 40's tango was not tango for a 1910's dancer. So a 2000's tango will never be tango for a 60's dancer. And it's not a physical age, but where in the timeline you place your head. There are teenagers that are more traditional then older people.

[...]Tango is so stuck in one place. I think tango can give much more than it is giving. Tangueros only have to realize that everything is changing. We can't dance exactly like in the 40's because we are not in the 40's. The world has changed and so has changed people. If a tanguero is very traditional and thinks that everybody has to dance like in the 40's ONLY, I think that he should not use TV or cellular phones. He has to live like on those days. My choreography is modern. My dance at the milonga is calm and subtle: introspective. My productions try to bring young people to tango.

I became intrigued by Junior back in 1999 when Alberto and Valorie brought to town a CD music compilation that Junior had made. I don't know if the CD was ever published; it may have been just a pre-release version. It was called "Tangos Instrumentales para Bailar," but Carlota and I always referred to it as "The Junior CD" (as in "oh, that tune was on the Junior CD!"), and it influenced our tango listening at an early stage.

Here is the playlist.

Tangos Instrumentales para Bailar
  1. Cafe Dominguez - Angel D'Agostino
  2. Gallo Ciego - Osvaldo Pugliese
  3. Nochero Soy - Osvaldo Pugliese
  4. Bahia Blanca - Carlos Di Sarli
  5. El Pollo Riccardo - Leopoldo Federico
  6. El Andariego - Osvaldo Pugliese
  7. Racing Club - Angel D'Agostino
  8. Inspiracion - Annibal Troilo
  9. Recuerdo - Horacio Salgan
  10. Comme Il Faut - Carlos di Sarli
  11. Fuego Artificiales - Armando Pontier
  12. Boedo - Francini / Pontier
  13. Shusheta - Horacio Salgan
  14. Cuando Llora La Milonga - Alfredo Di Angelis
  15. El Internado - Los Solistas de D'Arienzo
  16. El Chamuyo - Domingo Federico
  17. El Rey del Compas - Juan D'Arienzo
  18. El Cencerro - Juan D'Arienzo
  19. Ataniche - Roberto Firpo
  20. Sabado Ingles - Roberto Firpo

And now there is his very exciting show Latin Dance Carnival. Not just anyone can put together a dance review like this one! This guy is deeply talented and intellectually very interesting. View the 2002 show video and 2004 show slideshow.

Posted by joegrohens at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

December 27, 2004

Bajofondo Tango Club

Pirineos Sur, Festival Internacional de las Culturas

July 10, 2004 Lanuzza, Spain (Pyrennees)- The international culture festival "El Festival Pirineos Sur" included the first live performance of Bajofondo Tango Club, with Adriana Varela, Javier Casalla y Cristóbal Repetto.

Read here for some interesting Background on some Bajofondo members. Reading this you quickly realize that these musicians do not think they are producing "tango" music. They are trying to create something new, that integrates tango, rock, electronica. I love the creativity and intertextuality of this music. In the song "Corazon", for instance, they sample Polaco Goyenache "senors, senoras...." I get goosebumps.

To quote keyboardist Luciano Supervielle:

- The fact is that I do hip hop. The things that serve me as the tango are those that I can associate with my genre. As in all work of experimentation, there are things that stay of side. But the tango and the hip hop share a dance origin, then there are many things that one knows that can be associated. Anyhow, if I do a contribution to some evolution it is to that of the hip hop or of the electronic music, not to that of the tango. The new tango is going to arise from a type that is tanguero, that he dedicates ten hours per day to doing tango. And if it approaches the electronic music, it will do it from the tango. I am of another side. { from }

J.Campo says the same thing in a different interview:

I think it's clear that this is not tango in a traditional sense. It's electronic music with a Tango flavor. We tried to mix both genres and we got something totally new. We'll wait and see how the public reacts. { from }

Anyway, one of these days, a tanguero musician will weigh in with some contemporary sounds, and then we'll have music for a milonga. On the other hand, Adriana Varela is one of the outstanding singers of tango argentino. The sound of her voice on Perfume and Mi Corazon definitely infuse these tracks with tango weight.

Watch a video of Bajofondo Tango Club in Performance: Bajofondo Tango Club - Sadler's Wells - June 2004

Sample Bajofondo tracks at Tangostore.com.

More links:

a Wifiblanes.com weblog » Bajo Fondo Tango Club en La Paloma(review of show in La Paloma)

MensTennisForums.com - Music (interview with Campo)

Posted by joegrohens at 11:41 PM | Comments (0)