Tag: Astor Piazzolla

Title: Astor Piazzolla – The Rough Dancer And The Cyclical Night (Tango Apasionado) [1987] {Japan 2009}
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Following the acclaimed 1986 album Tango: Zero Hour, Ástor Piazzolla’s Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night, recorded with his Quinteto Nueva Tango, including pianist Pablo Zinger and violinist Fernando Suarez Paz, features guest artists Andy Gonzalez on bass and Latin jazz alto saxophonist Paquito d’Rivera. Piazzolla’s passionate, complex bandoneon solos dominate, set against producer Kip Hanrahan’s spacious soundscape, with a smoother, more whimsical feel compared to the intense tempo and mood shifts of Zero Hour. Created for the musical Tango Apasionado, which traces tango’s evolution from Buenos Aires origins to the modern era, this album blends nuevo tango’s jazz and classical influences with a refined touch. A must-have for Piazzolla fans and tango enthusiasts, it stands alongside Tango: Zero Hour as a pinnacle of his innovative legacy.

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Title: Astor Piazzolla – Tango: Zero Hour (1986) [Japan 2010]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Ástor Piazzolla, the Argentine tango innovator, considered his 1986 album Tango: Zero Hour his finest work, a pinnacle of his nuevo tango style that fused jazz, classical, and avant-garde elements with traditional tango. Beginning his career in the 1930s, Piazzolla played bandoneón with tango legend Carlos Gardél, narrowly escaping death by declining a tour that ended in Gardél’s fatal 1935 plane crash, and later honed his craft in 1940s and 1950s tango bands before studying with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, who urged him to reimagine Argentina’s music. With his Quinteto Tango Nuevo—violin, piano, guitar, and bass—Piazzolla presents seven original compositions in Tango: Zero Hour, capturing the moody, noirish essence of the “Zero Hour” between midnight and dawn, earning global acclaim from adventurous listeners while alienating tango traditionalists. This groundbreaking album, one of the most remarkable of the late 20th century, showcases his visionary artistry and is essential for all music lovers.

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Title: Astor Piazzolla – La Camorra (1989) [Japan 2010]
Genre: Jazz
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Ástor Piazzolla, the foremost innovator of tango music, revolutionized the genre with his nuevo tango, blending jazz and classical elements, as showcased in this 1988 album, recorded four years before his death in 1992 and originally released on American Clave. Leading his New Tango Quintet—featuring violin, piano, bass, and electric guitar—Piazzolla crafts art music that transcends traditional tango’s dance roots, emphasizing a fierce melancholy with occasional hints of the genre’s hesitation-step beat. The piano and bass anchor the rhythm, while the bandoneon and violin weave intricate minor-key counterpoint, and the guitar intermittently complements their melodies. The album’s centerpiece, “La Camorra (The Quarrel),” a three-part tone poem, explores fading manhood and honor through an archaic lens, while “La Fugata,” a modal fugue, brilliantly evokes a Bach-like complexity with an Argentine soul, highlighting Piazzolla’s genius as a composer and bandoneon virtuoso.

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