[Tango-L] Jazz and Piazzola-influenced tango bands

[Paul Akmajian]

Interesting and timely thread about the overwhelming preponderance of jazz
and Piazzola-influenced tango bands....

Here in the high desert, we are about to launch something different with the
recent formation of the Santa Fe Tango Ensemble. Albeit in its infancy, the
goal of SFTE is to recapture the energy, emotion and tempo of Golden era
orchestras.

Shahin Medghalchi, an organizer, teacher and dancer in Santa Fe has brought
together a group of professional musicians and is acting as advisor and
consultant as they rehearse and develop their repertoire. Her aim is to
guide the musicians toward developing a sound specifically for dancers.

We will experience their first public endeavor on Sat. May 12 with a milonga
in a beautiful space at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in
Albuquerque. 

Tom, Huck, and everyone out there -- we welcome you to join us!

Paul



> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 2 May 2007 14:24:45 -0600
> From: Tom Stermitz <stermitz at tango.org>
> Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Goodbye bs as rentals...welcome Color Tango
> To: Tango-L <tango-l at mit.edu>
> Message-ID: <37D383D7-E4F5-4B3F-A43D-E614D732EC77 at tango.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
> 
> Do I recall correctly that there two re-incarnations of the group
> Color Tango?
> 
> I saw one of the Color Tangos at the Ideal the last time I was in
> Buenos Aires (June of 2005), and it was embarrassingly awful. The
> singer had no guts; the music was off; the mix was off. There seemed
> to be a lot of new, younger musicians, almost like a pick-up band.
> 
> I have a more general complaint.
> 
> Although I love late-Pugliese, why do so many tango orchestras choose
> to work in the Late-Pugliese and Piazzolla style (same as late-
> Troilo, late-D'Arienzo). Why do the singers always present the over-
> wrought 1950s concert style? What is wrong with 1940s Pugliese? If
> you have an 8-piece or 12 piece orchestra, why not try to sound like
> 1940s Di Sarli, or Troilo, or (heaven forbid) 1930s D'Arienzo.
> 
> As an organizer, I get bands from all over asking if I'd be
> interested in paying them to come do a concert.  I'd only be excited
> at such an expensive and risky undertaking for something really
> special. We have a local tango quartet (Extasis) that does a great
> job with the late-Pugliese sound (plus some Piazzolla, and etc), so
> yet-another-pugliese-clone is not so special.
> 
> 
> In the US there are a lot of jazz bands who love to play in ultra-
> traditional styles of different eras: Rockabilly, Gypsy-swing, Big
> Band era, Bebop. The swing dance revival generated a bunch of young
> swing bands that played swing in an updated style, while still
> honoring the originals. I'm thinking of bands like the Squirrel Nut
> Zippers or Indigo Swing.
> 
> It seems to me that if we  want live music, the tango orchestras
> should look to honoring and reviving the styles of the 1930s and
> 1940s instead of the 1970s. In the US (I don't know about Europe) 80%
> of the tango audience consists of tango dancers, not jazz or
> classical fans, who consider tango sort of curious rather than
> compelling.
> 
> 

> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 2 May 2007 13:56:14 -0700 (MST)
> From: Huck Kennedy <huck at eninet.eas.asu.edu>
> Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Goodbye bs as rentals...welcome Color Tango
> To: tango-l at mit.edu
> Message-ID: <200705022056.NAA17259 at eninet.eas.asu.edu>
> 
> Tom Stermitz <stermitz at tango.org> writes:
> 
>> Although I love late-Pugliese, why do so many tango
>> orchestras choose to work in the Late-Pugliese and
>> Piazzolla style?
> 
>      I'd guess because they perceive the music to be more
> complex and interesting to play?  They probably get bored
> with the more rhythmic stuff.
> 
>      I share your sentiments.  As with any business,
> it's not about what the seller likes, but what the buyer
> wants.  If these bands really want to be hired for
> dancing gigs (as opposed to concerts), they should play
> what more dancers would like to dance to more often
> (Golden Age, hello?), instead of what the musicians feel
> like playing, because they think it's cool.
> 
> Huck
> 
> 

> 
>