Saxaphone in tango

Argentine tango on saxophones – who could imagine that it can sound so great?

The selection of modern musicians include this traditional jazz instrument into the old and modern Argentine tango.

This episode is an edit of the live radio show Tango Tales on Portsmouth Community Radio, 09.06.08.

Mentioned : Bocca Tango show (review) and its choreographer/lead dancer Julio Bocca. The artcile about the careers and artistic collaboration between Julian Vat (flute, sax) and Marcelo Macri (piano) is reposted below.

Bernardo Monk is a musician, composer and arranger who lives currently in Boston. I had a pleasure to hear him several times in concerts in Boston/New Hampshire in quartet or in duo with the most promising young tango pianist Octavio Brunetti. Monk is a very capable bandoneon player, by the way.

I highly recommend Pablo Aslan's writings on tango from his website. Read the review of his last album and play more pieces from it.

There is the variety of sources on Gato Barbieri, an Argentine master of saxaphone if you google his name.

Playlist

D’Cote Sax Quartet: Corralera, Decarisimo, Quejas De Bandoneon from Tango (available only from tangostore.com)

Julian Vat and Marcelo Macri: Naranjo en Flor from Tango Versions (see Amazon.com MP3 below)

Bernardo Monk: La Yumba, Ponele la firma - Ponele la firma (available only from CDbaby.com)

Pablo Aslan: La Cachilla from Buenos Aires Tango Standards (see Amazon.com below)

Gato Barbieri: Milonga Triste from Chapter 3: Viva Emiliano Zapata (see Amazon.com below)

Two that goes together by the tango

by René Vargas Vera

articlereposted from Mapas 

The saxofonista and flautista Julian Vatenberg and the pianista Marcelo Macri, a pair of exception

1990 ran and the friends Julian Vatenberg and Marcelo Macri, knowing their aesthetic affinities, seted out to make way when walking. But together. And thus, without more introductions, it was founded the Vat-Macri pair. Vat, contributing his saxo tenor and his flauta traversa; Macri, its piano.

"We joined common ideas and an identical attitude in front of music - Macri counts -. We could establish a dialogue with freedom and, for that reason same, with responsibility."

"We knew, in addition - Vatenberg clarifies -, that in the tango was something to say more. That we could try a melódica, harmonic and poetically powerful search."

"I create - Marcelo- adds that still we did not notice ourselves of the wealth of our pop music. Here we underwent an evacuating, breaks, more ago than thirty years. For that reason in these years it seems that we began again, that opened spaces, like this of the Club of Vino in which we appeared today and next Friday to celebrate our twelve together years."

The one of Vat-Macri also has his by what. The papa of Marcelo is tango singer. He was in the last orchestra of Florindo Sassone, and also in the one of Biaggi and Leocatta. Today still he sings sporadically. On the other hand, Julian, although is withdrawn of flauta of the conservatory, touched citizen music from mid the eighty in the group New Airs, that in that time Hut competed with the quinteto of Luis. And it was Piazzolla that invited them to touch when it received the title of illustrious citizen. New Airs touched then to the subject of Astor "500 motivations". Astor was honest later by Julian when it recorded "the history of the tango", for flauta and guitar, next to Tirao Piece. From which the way crossed by the flautista and saxofonista was retrospective: first Piazzolla, soon Pugliese, further on Troilo and the guards New and Old.

"saxo tenor is fantastic to express the tango - Julian maintains -. Is so warm, deep and sad like the bellows. But, although he is not current, and well it is not seen from ortodoxia tanguera, saxo opens fields to our music; it even opens ears. We recreated it trying to penetrate in the essences, but with freedom. Thus we participated, from 1992, in international festivales of jazz, in Europe, clarifying whenever we make tango."

- Tango that also welcomes well the improvisation, like the jazz…

- Clear - they say to choir -. Because the improvisation is not property of the jazz. From immemorial times it was it for all music. The classic ones like Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, always improvised. And in the popular thing, the same. Those divisions are false. By the way that we did not adopt the type of harmonization that practices in the jazz, but assumed the artistic risk that grants the licenses that we took ourselves, far from ortodoxia. Of the infinity of tangos that are writings, many accept it and they admit it.

The individual way or as pair drawn up by Vat-Macri is impressive. Of 1990 to 1992 Julian it directed to the successful spectacle "Tango x 2", with Zotto and Plebs, beginning by the room Martín Coronado of San Martín. Ever since the winds (it léase saxo and flauta) in that sexteto settled, the aesthetic line followed later with the direction of Daniel Binelli and soon with Bernardo Baraj. After "Tango x 2" it accompanied until 1994 to the company of the dancer Juan Carlos Close-woven part of a fishing net like director and musician in his trips by America and Europe. Also it took ahead, between 1995 and 1998, with Marcelo, about 300 micros of tango by TVA (today Only Tango), where a ninety percent of citizen music was offered.

"When Julio Bocca - Julian remembers listened to touch to me next to the Quinteto of the Piazzolla Foundation, invited to me to comprise of the show" Bocca tango ", in the Maipo theater (Marcelo celebrates there of arreglador) with a octeto. With him and this spectacle we go away to Spain in August. The same month we will be in Miami. In 2003 we will undertake a tour by Europe."

On the other hand, Marcelo began in 1998 like exclusive pianista of the singer Adriana Varela. And in 1999 he assumed the musical direction of the accompanying quinteto, being to his position the artistic production of the recent disc "More tango", in that Federico, Rodolfo Mederos, Néstor Marconi, Osvaldo Berlinghieri and Juanjo took part musical of the stature of Leopoldo Domínguez, everyone with his style. The aglutinante element was the voice of Varela - who chose the repertoire and the tones -, and with her Macri reviewed the letters well.

"That was a revealing experience - it confesses -. To make things so different, so tangueras, so beautiful. Today I continue directing the group of Adriana (who now has the guitar of Horacio Avilmo, unthinkable successor of Esteban Morgado), with excellent and repeated welcomed in Barcelona, Madrid and also Lisbon."

Macri also armed in 2000 the noneto Uruguayan-Argentinean who accompanied to Varela and Jaime Roos in the disc "When the river sounds", with Julian, by the way, like guest.

The members of the pair - as it is always demonstrated are called for the respective projects. Thus it happened when from 1990 to 1995 they participated in an infantile spectacle of Enrique Pinti: "Russian Cream, panchito with mustard". Soon they will release another one, "My beautiful dragoon".

The last year they were in the show "Both two", again in the Maipo, next to the coreógrafos Chet Walker and Ricky Pashkus and of the Ballet Sub 16 of Julio Bocca.

Vat-Macri, that takes hardly published two discs ("Vat-Macri makes tangos", of 1992, and "Tango Versions", of 1998, both with traditional tangos), will be today and the 12 - to the minus in the Club of Vino, Goatherd 4737, where they will celebrate, shortly before the midnight, with tangos, valses, candombes and milongas, more own subjects than are distributed salomónicamente: two of each one.

"It will be a review - they say to pair -, from classic" Don Juan "to the vanguardista" Oblivión ", of Piazzolla."

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