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| CABARUTE
An Episode in Sensuality
New York Tango Trio
Raul Jaurena, bandoneon, musical director
Pablo Aslan, Contabass
Ethan Iverson, Piano
ABOUT TANGO
The Argentine tango has gone through a period of renewal around the world in the last 15 years. Thousands of dancers hav |
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| CABARUTE
An Episode in Sensuality
New York Tango Trio
Raul Jaurena, bandoneon, musical director
Pablo Aslan, Contabass
Ethan Iverson, Piano
ABOUT TANGO
The Argentine tango has gone through a period of renewal around the world in the last 15 years. Thousands of dancers have rediscovered the intricacy and sensuality of this classic style. At the same time though, tango music continues to be misunderstood and stereotyped. The style of the great Argentine orchestras of the 1940’s and 1950’s, perennial favorites among dancers, has been neglected and perhaps also overshadowed by the modernist style of Astor Piazzolla. This recording is a response to the enthusiasm generated by dancers and an effort to redefine the dance music in contemporary terms.
The first task is to define what the tango rhythm is, or rather, to explain the many elements that go into arranging and performing good tango music. So, what is the tango? The tango is a complex mixture of several rhythms, effects, phrasings, and shifts in tempo, with a wide palette of instrumental techniques. The basis of the rhythm is the marcato, a straight four beat pattern with accents on the first and third beats. Marcatos come in different weights and lengths and allow for accentuations and syncopations that give it what we may refer to as “tango swing.” These different marcatos are derived from the individual styles of the great orchestras: Osvaldo Pugliese created the Yumba, which is a heavy marcato with a deep bass note on the second and fourth beats. Other directors, such as Juan D’arienzo and Carlos Di Sarli, based their rhythm on a faster and more even beat, adorned with piano effects in the off beats. Contrasting with the marcato is the sincopa, with an emphasis on upbeats, particularly of the first and fourth beats. This is used frequently in slower sections or to accompany melodies. Again, sincopas also come in different hues: Horacio Salgan leaned on the upbeats with particular strength, while Anibal Troilo and Pugliese preferred a heavy, dragging feel. And finally, the old mionga rhythm, the ancestor of the tango and its most clear link to other music such as the babanera, appears in its full or implied form in the arrangements of Pugliese and Alfredo Gobbi. Add to these rhythms a complex web of tempo shifts, sometimes as frequently as every tow bars, a deliberate use of dynamic contrast, a number of instrumental percussive effects, slides, glissandos, and you start getting a sense that the music is just as complex and sensual as the steps that choreograph it. Which brings us to this recording.
The arranging and musical direction of Raul Jaurena incorporates the perspective of over three decades of involvement with tango. Throughout his career, Raul has played with, accompanied, heard and absorbed the work of the great artists of the tango. In preparing for this recording, he passed on his knowledge not just of the music itself, but a wealth of techniques and licks for every instrument, and the experience in rehearsing the subtle nuances of rhythm and interpretations.
He also added a true New York element to his arranging: The use of improvisation, which is rarely heard in traditional tango. But beyond all this technique and experience is his gut-wrenching soul as it comes out of the bandoneon: melancholic, defiant, sweet and aggressive.
In creating New York Tango Trio, Jaurena looked for versatile musicians with not only strong musicality and professionalism, but with a street-wise sense of drama. Pablo Aslan, a native Argentine, discovered his passion for the tango long after he had left his homeland and has since become a steady member of the US tango scene. Working in tango haunts in Los Angeles and refining his experience since moving to New York, he is one of the very few musicians of his rock-bred generation who has taken the tango as a source of musical expression. He informs his tango playing with years of experience in symphonic music and jazz, and with a deep devotion to studying the recorded legacy of the tango. Ethan Iverson is a different story altogether. A Wisconsin native, devoted to contemporary music and modern jazz, he found in the tango a vehicle for his flamboyant style, peppered with jazzisms, Rachmaninovisms and quite a bag of tango tricks.
The pieces on this recording span almost the entire 100 year history of the tango, from the old mionga-inflected pieces such as El Portenito, to the straight dance numbers like Don Jaun and El Once, to the classic Quejas de Bandoneon and Canaro en Paris, to the modern arrangements like A Primera Vista. Throughout the repertoire the emphasis is on dialogues between the dancers, weaving patterns for stylish figures, turns, sensual movements and the intricate phrasing of the trio’s particular style of music.
New York Tango Trio is a project derived from the New Tango group New York Buenos Aires Connection. The purpose of the trio is to perform traditional tango for dancers, incorporating an innovative approach drawn from the individual styles of the performers.
The trio has performed at countless milongas (tango dances) in New York, Canada and California. They are planning on a European tour in 1996. In this debut recording they feature the repertoire that has delighted thousands of tango dance fanatics in the United States.
Raul Jaurena, bandoneon, born in Montevideo, Uruguay, first studied bandoneon with his father and was a member of a children’s Tango Orchestra at age 8. He started playing professionally at age 15 performing in dances, theatres and recordings. Throughout his career he accompanied many of the most prominent tango singers, most notably Roberto Goyeneche, Raul Lavie, Agustin Irusta and Libertad Lamargeu, and performed with Astor Piazzolla at the Montreal Jazz Festival. He was bandoneonist and arranger of several tango orchestras in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Chile during the 1960’s and 70’s, and a member of legendary Uruguayan pianist Cesar Zagnoi’s trio. Jaurena is the musical director of the acclaimed New Tango group New York-Buenos Aires Connection. He formed a duo with bassist Pablo Aslan that was enthusiastically received at the 2nd Tango Summit in Granada, Spain and in performances in New York. He recently completed a Suite for the Irene Hultman Dance Company, which was premiered in New York and recorded with Brazilian singer Ana Caram for Chesky Records and with Paquito D’Rivera for Messidor.
Pablo Aslan, Contrabass, born in Buenos Aires, emigrated to the United States in 1980. While studying jazz and classical music at the University of California, he began performing throughout the state in various styles. He has been a member of several professional symphonic orchestras, and recorded on film soundtracks by Lalo Shiffrin and Marvin Hamlisch. He has also worked with Henry Mancini, John Williams and countless Latin popular musicians such as Dominican star Fernando Villalona and bolero legends Roberto Ledesma and Lucho Gatica. He became involved with the tango in 1986 and has played with various groups in New York and Los Angeles, performing also throughout the US, Canada, Mexico, Spain and Costa Rica with artists such as Argentino Ledesmas, Juan Carlos Godoy, Alberto Podesta, Pepe Motta, Raul Jaurena, Martin de Leon and Horacio Deval. He is co-founder of the New Tango quintet New York - Buenos Aires Connection. He is also a scholar of the tango and has written and lectured on its history and style at UCLA, Stanford and Wesleyan.
Ethan Iverson, piano, started performing professionally at age 13. A native of Menomoni, WI, he studied piano and jazz improvisation form an early age. In developing his style, he has absorbed the influence of pianists Paul Bley and Keith Jarret and of saxophonist Ornette Coleman, as well as the music of Chopin, Bach and the Romantics. Jazz Times, Tower Pulse and the Village Voice gave enthusiastic reviews to his jazz trio’s debut recording (“School Works,” Mons Records), which featured the legendary Dewey Redman on tenor sax. The Village Voice picked his record as one of the Best of 1994. H e has recorded for the soundtrack of NBC’s “The Cosby Mysteries” on several occasions. He has performed and traveled with New York-Buenos Aires Connection and the Greg Smith Singers and performs regularly as part of tango and jazz events throughout the US and Europe.
CD Tracks & Timing:
1. Yuyito (Jaurena/Juarena) - 3:23
2. Cuando Llora la Milonga (Filiberto) - 3:30
3. Quejas de Bandoneon (Filiberto) - 2:59
4. 9 de Julio (Padula) - 3:12
5. Desde el Alma (DePiuma/Melo) - 3:39
6. El Once (Fresedo) - 2:46
7. A Primera Vista (Caceres) - 3:18
8. Prometedora (Jaurena/Juarena) - 2:23
9. Don Juan (Ponzio) - 2:49
10. Canaro en Paris (Caldarella/Scarpino) - 4:09
11. El Porte�ito (Villoldo) - 3:19
12. A Mancuso (Jaurena/Juarena) - 3:36
13. El Entrerreano (Mendizabal) - 2:49
14. Catamarca (Arolas) - 2:49
15. Apilate Que Largamos (Fernandez) - 2:34
A Mancuso is dedicated to don Estegan Mancuso, a tireless enthusiast of the tango working behind the scenes in Montevideo to promote and preserve the music of his passion.
New York Tango Trio would like to thank Danel Bastone, master tango teacher and inveterate milonguero, for his guidance in the selection of repertoire and advice on style.
And thanks to the dynamo behind this whole production, from conception to its ultimate realization, Julia Lee Prospero.
Recorded and mixed at Studio 900, NYC, July 1995
Engineered by Julio Pena
Mixed by Raul Jaurena and Pablo Aslan
Executive producer: Julia Lee Prospero
Art director: Julia Lee Prospero
Designer: Brian D. Flahive
Photos: Alice Garik |
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