Astor Piazzolla Centenary week

[Pulcinella]

Rising Damp....and here they are dancing the tango:





and this, your honour, is how we got from Astor Piazzolla to Rigsby in 3 easy moves.

Yes, of course! Associated character confusion in my lockdown brain.
Thanks for the reminder.

[kernelbogey]

Hearing a bit of Piazolla on EC this morning, I was reminded of the intro music to Montalbano: some of the same rhythms and harmonies. Does anyone know of any connection? I've always assumed that the music was Sicilian in some way, influenced by North African music, maybe.

[Globaltruth]

Hearing a bit of Piazolla on EC this morning, I was reminded of the intro music to Montalbano: some of the same rhythms and harmonies. Does anyone know of any connection? I've always assumed that the music was Sicilian in some way, influenced by North African music, maybe.

not immediately but that's a great question.
I always think of polyphony as archetypal Sicilian music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVf5mH5G4gg

of course, there is more.

[Bryn]

Hearing a bit of Piazolla on EC this morning, I was reminded of the intro music to Montalbano: some of the same rhythms and harmonies. Does anyone know of any connection? I've always assumed that the music was Sicilian in some way, influenced by North African music, maybe.

It's by Franco Piersanti

[kernelbogey]

It's by Franco Piersanti

Thanks Bryn - I'd gathered that the composer was an Italian, but couldn't have named him. No obvious connection, in the Wiki entry, to Piazolla's world. Maybe some very below-the-radar connection between tango and tarantella...?

[Bryn]

. . . Maybe some very below-the-radar connection between tango and tarantella...?

Possibly on the level of the connection between the quadrille and mento in the development of reggae?

[gurnemanz]

We spent some days in Buenos Aires a few years ago on a tour of Chile and Argentina. It included an evening tango show - aimed at tourists but great atmosphere and vividly put across. I also remember an elegant tango duo doing some very superior busking in a shopping mall. I did buy a tango CD as a souvenir and back home I looked for a Piazzolla disc, not really knowing his music at all. The one I opted for was Vol 1 of the Edicion Critica with the composer on bandoneón and his nonet, Conjunto 9. It turned out to be a good choice and remains the only recording of his music which I own. Seems to be not so readily available but it's on Youtube.

[Pulcinella]

I have this CD, though I can't remember how come in its Spanish incarnation: perhaps bought on holiday there.
I see that it was also available as an HMV Classics release.

I might just give it a Friday night spin.

https://www.discogs.com/José-Carli-Orquesta-Estable-Del-Teatro-Colón-Piazzolla-Classic-Tracks-From-Argentina/release/11957550

[Globaltruth]

Music Matters Reminder:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000t4fp

[rauschwerk]

Music Matters Reminder:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000t4fp

A disappointingly superficial programme, imo. There was no proper explanation of the essential differences between traditional ('golden age') tango and Piazzola's 'tango nuevo'. Traditional tango (described by Piazzola as 'boring' in this programme) evolved for social dancing and has a walking bass which suits the dancers well. Tango nuevo rarely has that walking bass: 3+3+2 is more common (eg Libertango). Dancers really don't like it for that reason.

[Globaltruth]

A disappointingly superficial programme, imo. There was no proper explanation of the essential differences between traditional ('golden age') tango and Piazzola's 'tango nuevo'. Traditional tango (described by Piazzola as 'boring' in this programme) evolved for social dancing and has a walking bass which suits the dancers well. Tango nuevo rarely has that walking bass: 3+3+2 is more common (eg Libertango). Dancers really don't like it for that reason.

Well that's a fair point.
Here's a comparison from a Tango Dance forum, quoting Homer Ladas, an American contemporary tango teacher and dance

there is a lot of controversy over what is 'traditional' tango and what is 'nuevo' tango. Unfortunately, less experienced social dancers or observers often times look for general categorical definitions of tango dance styles. In general it is a meaningless question to ponder for the more experienced social dancers, but I will try to give you a clear answer...

As you may know already, or perhaps will discover one day, trying to find an answer to your question leads to community divisiveness and separation. The main reason for this is because the labels of "traditional tango" and "nuevo tango" are primarily marketing concepts attempting to incorrectly and categorically create a definition for two styles of social dance tango that often times appear to have opposite characteristics. Since the globalization of tango in the mid-eighties and throughout the nineties, mainly external influences (US, Europe, Asia, etc) have driven this over generalization and categorization of tango styles to fit into several nice marketable groups. Every so often a new style emerges (i.e. milonguero with a nuevo twist).

Historically speaking, contemporary proponents of the term 'traditional tango' are those who are trying to preserve a sense of nostalgia over what tango was. It is an attempt to have us reflect back to the Golden Age of tango (approximately mid 1930's thru early 1950's). It is often times a mythological reflection of all the things we imagine the Golden Age to be. Where as 'nuevo tango' emerged from an exploration study group lead by Gustavo Naviera and associates in the mid 1990's. While this group helped solidify a structural approach to the dance it by no means claimed to be 'nuevo tango' until marketing forces again encouraged them to do so.

In final analysis, and to put it very pragmatically... You are either a good social dancer, or you're not, regardless of categorical style. There are bad 'traditional tango' dancers, good 'nuevo tango' dancers and vice versa. In fact, each experienced dancer will dance their own way and evolve to find their own personal style. Defining one's style in the categorical sense rather than the individual sense only adds to the confusion and defuses one's ability to really find their own style. The question folks should be more interested in is "What makes a good social tango dancer?" >

those "marketing concepts" have a lot to answer for.

[johncorrigan]

For this edition of Songlines, Chris Moss, who wrote the article in post 1, compiled an 'Essential 10 of Piazzolla and beyond'. Here's his list:

Astor Piazzolla y su Orchestra Tipica - 'Anthologie 1946 - 1948'
Astor Piazzolla - 'The Beginning of Tango Nuevo'
Astor Piazzolla & Soloists - 'Maria de Buenos Aires'
Astor Piazzolla - 'Libertango'
Astor Piazzolla - 'Suite Troileana'
Astor Piazzolla with Tango Nuevo Quinteto - 'Zero Hour'
Astor Piazzolla - 'Homage a Liege'
Astor Piazzolla - 'Les Annees Milan'
Escalandrum - 'Piazzolla plays Piazzolla'(Astor's grandson)
Eduardo Rovira - 'Tago Vanguardia'