MP3 Zigatango - Zigatango
Zigatango rework Argentinean tango and traditional Gypsy music with a rare youthful flair exposing a burning intensity of emotion, often combined with a wild, almost demonic energy.
10 MP3 Songs in this album (39:37) !
Related styles: LATIN: Tango, WORLD: Gypsy
People who are interested in Astor Piazzolla Roby Lakatos Jay Ungar should consider this download.
Details:
Despite their diverse backgrounds in engineering, mathematics and humanities, the four members of Zigatango share a passion for Argentinean tango music and traditional Gypsy music from Eastern Europe (as well as the occasional folk tune from elsewhere), and have played together as a band since 2007. They have performed at several festivals, on occasion collaborating with other perfomers including a juggler and dancer. This album is Zigatango’s first, and features some of the music the band plays most often. In spite of the not insignificant geographical separation of South America and Eastern Europe, their respective musical styles have much in common: both have a basis in dance or in lively folk songs, and feature a burning intensity of emotion, often combined with a wild, almost demonic energy. It was because of these qualities that we decided to perform (and eventually record) the two styles together. Most of the South American music on this album is by Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992), the legendary Argentinean bandoneon player who is credited with revolutionising tango music, having infused it with sounds from his background in jazz and classical music. Like any good revolutionary, he led a tempestuous life, and managed to get on the wrong side of many of Argentina''s more traditionally-minded tangueros (his advice to anyone else wanting to tamper with tango music was "You had better learn boxing, or some other martial art"); and this fiery temperament certainly can be heard in his music. However, the fire is very often combined with a much more tender side, such as in Adios Nonino – one of Piazzolla''s most famous compositions – which was written in 1959 as a farewell tribute to his late father. A similar sense of sadness and nostalgia can be heard in the slow tango-waltz Chiquilin de Bachin (Little Guy at the [Café] Bachin) – originally a song about a poor flower-seller, and also in the bleaker, more melancholy Oblivion, which was written for the film Enrico IV.
The original version of Vuelvo al Sur (I Return to the South) is a passionate song of yearning; however it has suffered considerable butchering at our hands. Not only have we culled the singer and dramatically increased the tempo, but we have also rather unceremoniously inserted an interlude from one of Piazzolla''s other famous tangos (namely Verano Porteño). Of course, we like to think it works well in this more energetic and exciting form, but whether Astor himself would have approved is another matter (we should perhaps take up boxing for the next life, just in case). As a contrast to all this intensity and emotion, we''ve included a couple of lighter, more traditional tangos: Por una Cabeza (By a [Horse''s] Head) by the famous tango singer Carlos Gardel, used in the movie Scent of a Woman (amongst other movies); and La Cumparsita (The Little Parade), by the Uruguayan pianist and composer Gerardo Matos Rodriguez, which is probably the most famous tango tune ever written. The two Gypsy tracks are, of course, rooted firmly on the other side of the Atlantic. In the Russian Gypsy folk song Two Guitars, the energy and excitement comes not from a driving tango rhythm but from gradual accelerations towards frenzied velocity. The Lark, on the other hand, is frenetic all the way through. Written by Grigoras Dinicu as a violin showpiece, it famously requires the violinist to elicit bird-calls from the instrument. The remaining two tracks are perhaps best placed in the ''folk'' category. The waltz Ashokan Farewell, by Jay Ungar, here features solos by the viola and cello. Despite having been written in the 1980s, it has the timelessness of any great folk melody, and again conveys a sense of gentle nostalgia. Last is an arrangement by the group ''Fiddlers Four'' of a Duke Ellington classic called East St Louis Toodle-oo – featuring an accordion solo for the first time.