309  tempo in these times

Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 03:12:13 -0600
From: joe grohens <joe@WOLFRAM.COM>
Subject: tempo in these times

>Bibi asks:
>
>
>"{But what if the band interprets the music differently, so that at any
>anticipated moment, be it a melody, a beat or the transitional bridge, when
>both dancers are about to enjoy each other, the band switches their
>interpreation on the tempo; would the dancers be disappointed? I was."}

Red Fox interjects:

>This brings up the interesting point of "anticipated moment". Is the moment
>"anticipated" because the dancers are thinking of a recorded version of the
>song the live band is playing, and when the live band does something else,
>this unsettles the dancers? To me this is sad.

From the dancer's viewpoint, the "anticipated moment" is more likely to be
a predictable pulse and a logical completion of the musical phrase.

There is a tendency among many of today's tango ensembles to place a high
value on musical ritards, cadenzas, rubato sections, free-tempo pauses
after phrases, and song endings that dribble on ambiguously until the
leader says "cut".

When dancers have some familiarity with an arrangement that uses time
freely, such as in, for example, Pugliese's "Desde al Alma", then the
dancers can make good use of those moments where the musical pulse slows.
But in Pugliese, these effects are used sparingly and always in contrast to
a strong marcato rhythm. I sometimes hear people describe Pugliese's music
as typically having "tempo changes" and being full of "pauses". I think
this is a misperception. "Gallo Ciego", for instance, has moments where the
music seems to stop, yet if you count through it, there are no ritards
really. The building and subsiding effects that we associate with Pugliese
are more a matter of instrumentation than slowing or speeding up the tempo.

By contrast, Piazzolla's music does speed up and slow down, and many of
today's "tango" dance bands seem influenced by his example. Trio Pantango
and The Tango Project, to pick two sort of worst-offending examples off the
top of my head, both like sections of the music where soloists lead the
tempo as they wish (playing free-tempo in an introduction, an ending, or
sometimes even in the middle of a piece). When you go to a milonga where a
tango ensemble is playing with such tempo changes, you will see the
musicians watching each other, waiting for an eye signal for when to come
back in tempo or to end. Another thing some ensembles seem to like is
arrangements where different sections of a tango (or even a milonga) are
played at different tempos - one fast, the next slow, the next fast - with
again the musicians taking a visual cue from the leader about the tempo
change. Dancers cannot be expected to dance with the chan chan in their
hearts when the musicians are working with time in this way. And even if
one is willing to "dance the pauses", armed with firuletes and
near-stationary movements, the pauses need to be a little bit more
predictable and sparing than what is frequently done.

Why does this happen? I don't think it has anything to do with "what
sells", or aiming at listeners rather than dancers. I imagine that it has
more to do with today's musicians wanting to make the music "interesting"
from their musical viewpoint. Compared to many other kinds of music, tango
is simple both harmonically and rhythmically. It is easy for classically
trained musicians to feel like "nothing's happening" if they just play it
straight. And by convention tango does not have the challenge of
improvisation (as in jazz or rock, where the beat never changes but a
soloist can improvise on top of the rhythm section). And today's tango
bands often do not have enough members to produce sophisticated
instrumental coloring. Yet the music seems to require dramatic development
of some sort. So what are they going to work with to make it challenging,
different, moving, surprising, etc.? And how can the individual players get
the equivalent of a "solo"? Often they stretch the tempo of the melodic
line to put their stamp of personal expression on the music.

I think that's the mindset. It's too bad. It is frustrating for the
dancers, and undermines their ability to participate as a dancing couple
with each other and the music.

There should be more appreciation for the pulse. That is the main reason
why, in my opinion, many modern recordings of tango music are not good for
dancing. And why a modern ensemble can be less satisfying than dancing to a
scratchy old recording, despite the energy and excitement of being in the
same room with live musicians.

In salsa you have a related problem, where musicians sometimes make the
music interesting for themselves but at times not really that great for the
dancers. You find strings and sound effects layered in, or hear fusions
with house music or Rachmaninoff, or jazz-like explorations by the horn
sections... all kinds of inventive things that take the music away from its
roots. Dancers can still dance to this, though, because the music never
sacrifices the beat, and when you do have a tempo change, it is decisive
and governed by eight-measure sections.

Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 14:52:32 -0600
From: "Frank G. Williams" <frankw@MAIL.AHC.UMN.EDU>
Subject: Re: tempo in these times

Friends,

An interjection re: improvisation

joe grohens wrote:

big snip...

> It is easy for classically
> trained musicians to feel like "nothing's happening" if they just play it
> straight. And by convention tango does not have the challenge of
> improvisation (as in jazz or rock, where the beat never changes but a
> soloist can improvise on top of the rhythm section).

First, though I am not a musician, I am very interested to see tango for
dancing produced live. Here in Minneapolis, some of us dancers have
tried to work with various musicians to see what we could get going. We
mostly failed, even though we had the aid of '50's Argentine sheet music
with nice arrangements. My experiences are based on that venture and
lovely conversations with Dan Diaz while visiting Denver.

To my mind:
Group A) The classical musicians who seemed to have the skills to pull
off tango still had the poorest understanding of the music. Their
playing seemed cold and lacked expression. The songs had familiar notes
but were played without the hoped-for feeling. No life! ...too bad - NO
fun for dancing...

Group B) Jazz musicians (and fine players) were much closer to the
mark, although they were too liberal with the forms and structure of the
music, and would sometimes ramble (scramble?) in the middle of a piece
before getting back to the theme and conclusion. Each song was five
minutes plus... But their ensemble-based improvisational skills were an
improvement over Group A. In the end, though, they felt the music
better but could not hold it's form.

point C) When I talked with Dan Diaz about how he works with local
musicians, I was surprised by the degree to which he relies on player's
improvisation. Certainly, it's working for him! I would opine that
there is a group dynamic by which the playing of each member affects the
playing of other members and that is absolutely necessary lest the
openness and introspectiveness of the music be swept away by other
habitual ways of playing. ...not unlike the difference between dancing
simply within the music vs. dancing fancy figures in ignorance of the
music.

I suppose, then, that improvisation at a more subtle level (less than
taking off on a round of solos but greater than coloring the phrases of
chamber music) is where the life is. I surmise that each musician has
to feel the tango for themselves. Part of this opinion comes from
hearing Yoyo Ma playing Piazzolla with some great tango musicians. I am
his ardent fan! Yet, Yoyo's tango seems out of synch with his
accompanists'. If it weren't for those players around him, most pieces
would not have what impact they do. [Daniel Barenboim, on the other
hand, obviously feels the tango. I wonder if Jacqueline duPre' ever
attempted tango? On losing someone like duPre', Barenboim HAD to feel
the tango!]

In conclusion, it seems to me that dancers and musicians both must be
disposed not only to feel the tango - they must learn to respect it.


Best wishes all,

Frank in Minneapolis

Frank G. Williams, Ph.D. University of Minnesota
frankw@mail.ahc.umn.edu Dept. of Neuroscience
(612) 625-6441 (office) 321 Church Street SE
(612) 624-4436 (lab) Minneapolis, MN 55455
(612) 281-3860 (cellular/home)

Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 15:21:12 -0500
From: Natarajan Balasundara <rajan@EMC.COM>
Subject: Re: tempo in these times

"Frank G. Williams" wrote:

> [Daniel Barenboim, on the other
> hand, obviously feels the tango. I wonder if Jacqueline duPre' ever
> attempted tango? On losing someone like duPre', Barenboim HAD to feel
> the tango!]

And being born in Buenos Aires, perhaps?

rajan.

Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 15:35:30 -0600
From: Stephen Brown <Stephen.P.Brown@DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: Re: tempo in these times

Frank Williams wrote:

>When I talked with Dan Diaz about how he works with local musicians,
>I was surprised by the degree to which he relies on player's
>improvisation.

The smaller size of groups helps explain why tango groups improvise more
today than it seems like they did during the golden age. The room for
improvisation is much greater when playing in small ensembles. In larger
ensembles, players typically use charts to avoid getting in each other's
way. Today's longer recording times also allow for more improvisation.

Several reasons for a shift to smaller tango ensembles come to mind:
Perhaps most importantly, modern amplification allows a small group to play
for a large audience. Consequently, a smaller combo can be paid less while
each musician in the combo earns more money. In addition, a smaller
ensemble allows more improvisation which is entertaining for the musicians.

With best regards,
Steve

Stephen Brown
Tango Argentino de Tejas
http:/www.tejastango.com/

Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 19:22:59 -0800
From: clayton beach <akumushi@ONEBOX.COM>
Subject: Re: tempo in these times

I'd like to add a to the subject of the "pulse" that Joe described,
and another cause of it's disappearance in many of the modern tango groups.

First, the pulse is what makes the tango for me. It may subside to
a murmur, but it always has that life. It's like a heartbeat, and it
lets the music tap into our emotions and stimulates the passion and zest
for life that we lose when we're caught up in the rat race of society.
I think the beauty of the music lies within it's simplicity. It is
not music that I want to challenge my mind with an intellectual dissection
and advanced music theory. If that s what I m craving, I ll listen to
some good Jazz like Thelonious Monk or Charles Mingus. The tango is
music of emotion, of melancholy, longing, and pain, but also of joy,
passion and zeal for life. It's like the blues, which was originally
created by people with no formal education in music. It was a simple
expression of the woes in life, and a cathartic experience for the underprivileged
that created it.
When I listen to tango I get an intense energy and it gives me a drive
that is quite unique. I feel that the bandoneon is the main component
of this pulse. The piano, bass, even the violins all mimic its characteristic
oomph.
I think that the second development that took the drive out of
the tango lies within the contributions of Astor Piazzolla. I don't presume
to guess what was in his head, but I do see that one thing was clear.
He wanted to move the tango beyond popular music and bring it into the
world's concert halls. I think he wanted bring the tango to a sophistication
at the level of musicians like Rachmaninov, Beethoven and Bartok.
In his renewal of the tango, the first thing Piazzolla did was remove
the bandoneon from the role of the primary rhythmic instrument, and place
it in the forefront as the primary soloist. His incredible contributions
to the bandoneon, in effect, ripped the heart out of the tango. It took
out the primary creator of the pulse, and changed it's style to a slow,
drawn out and complexly melodic instrument. I think the most characteristic
style of his music is that long, drawn out use of the bandoneon. Instead
of taking quick, short huffs and having the melody broken into short,
rhythmic fragments, he made the instrument take long, deep sighs, moving
fluidly across the melody, and using more complex, less regular rhythms.
If your heart had the pulse of Piazzolla's tango, you would be in some
serious need of defibrillation.
If you listen to modern tango, you will hear the bandoneonists playing
like Piazzolla.
The rest of the musicians also want to show their skill by carrying complex
melodies, and so you get beautiful music without the drive. Very few
modern tango musicians sit back and maintain a solid, regular drive while
their fellow musicians explore. If they do, then they mark the rhythm
with a plodding even beat that doesn t have the drive of the older tango.
The music has all the passion and emotion of the former tango, but it
is limpid and uninspiring from my standpoint as a dancer. It just doesn t
have the punch, the oomph that the older music has.
If you listen to the older music, you ll notice that when the
bandoneon is doing long, drawn out notes then one of the other instruments
is taking care of the oomph.
A perfect example is Di Sarli s use of strings. On many songs, it sounds
like there isn t even any bandoneon, except for a little of the melody.
A good drive and rhythm is sustained by his peculiar use of the violins.
Pugliese was a master at keeping that drive in the bass notes of the
piano. Even the bass can keep that oomph, alternating from a long, bowed
note accented on the full beat, and a sharp, pizzicato note on the half
beat. This was actually perfected (in my opinion) by Hector Console,
playing with Piazzolla s quintet. The few tracks that I find interesting
to dance to are the ones with that particular style bass or a more rhythmic
use of the bandoneon. (Contrabajisimo after the solo, and tanguedia
III)
I don t think that the tango has to have a particular rhythm to
be tango. The vals criolla, milonga and candombe all generate a tango
feel for me.
What defines the tango to me is a regular, driving rhythm that propels
the music forward. What creates this drive for me is the drawn out, approach
to the first accent, which is accented sharply with a staccato counter
beat. This drawn out entry and explosive of tension is what drives the
music along. It has an incredibly sexual connotation, and is what gives
the tango it repressed sensuality. Tango is a music that teases its
listeners more than anything else does. The next note is always anticipated,
and the release of tension in fleeting at best. This is why it just
feels good just to step with the music, and why the dance is such an
emotional and sensual thing. I think it is similar with the swing
that jazz musicians used and dragged Americans onto the dance floors
in droves.
Piazzolla has songs with unique rhythms that sustain a tango feel
and drive, like libertango or tanguedia, but those are exceptions rather
than the rule. For the most part, Piazzolla s music simply lacks the
drive that I feel in tango music. It is so refined that I would say
that it is more classical than tango. The majority of it is unique to
Piazzolla. I equate Piazzolla and tango to George Gershwin in jazz.
Much like Gershwin s Rhapsody in Blue is classical music with a jazz
flare and playfulness, Piazzolla made classical music with tangos emotions.
They both made operas based on the popular forms of music that they
began with. Both are unique musicians, whose works don t fall well into
any category. To define Piazzolla s music as tango is to underscore
its unique place in music history. If you wish to call it tango for
lack of a better definition, that s fine, but I d prefer to just call
it Piazzolla.
I would like to see modern musicians take the wonderful contributions
Piazzolla made to the use of the bandoneon, as well as the melodic and
harmonic possibilities within the tango, and move beyond them. I m waiting
for someone to take the new and old tangos, reconcile their differences,
and create a modern tango that is infused with the vitality of the old,
and the sophistication of the new.
--
Clayton Beach
akumushi@onebox.com

Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 23:25:40 -0500
From: "Irwin L. Singer" <singer@NRL.NAVY.MIL>
Subject: Re: tempo in these times

At 02:52 PM 11/15/01 -0600, Frank G. Williams wrote:

>To my mind . . . classical musicians who seemed to have the skills to pull
>off tango still had the poorest understanding of the music.

There is truth in the statement that classical musicians (meaning
trained in European-styled music) can't emulate the tango masters. It is
the latter whom I love dancing to and/or listening to: Pugliese, Canaro, de
Caro, Piazzolla, Salgan, all magnificent musicians who bring us "Rio de la
Plata" style tango. But like many gringos, I had to be brought into the
tango experience note by note. Two hours at "Tango Argentino" in the '80s,
a few moments of Tango Project ("Scent of a Woman") in the '90s, followed
by several years of attending tango concerts given by my wife and four of
her musician friends. The group, classically trained (two violins, cello,
bass and piano) but without a permanent bandoneonist (not unusual in the
USA), decided nonetheless to bring the full range of tango repertoire to
the concert-going US public.
After five years, I bear witness to the fact that a full range of
the public have become fans of tango music. Along the way, for every
tanguero who dismissed them as "sounding too Hollywood," there were dozens
of others (Turks, Armenians, Europeans, Latinos and good-old middle
Americans) who wept at concerts and passionately pleaded for more concerts
and recordings. The group, who initially called themselves "Tango Passion,"
paid heed to their fans (and ignored their detractors) and went on to
produce several CDs, develop an educational outreach programs for grades
K-6 ("The Story of Tango," a Cinderella parable) and put on a yearly Tango
Festival in Washington DC. Today, the group now known as "QuinTango"
counts as loyal fans hundreds of Washingtonians (tangueros and the
Clintons, among them) and thousands of others across the country who took a
chance to hear something different (two thousand gave them a standing
ovation when they soloed with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in
September). QuinTango continues to enthrall audiences who had never
experienced with their ears the evocative music that we tangueros have
trained our bodies to feel. I suggest that it is the playing skills that
come with classical training that has helped American audiences accept the
pulse-quickening poetry that we call tango.

Irwin Singer (who hopes his wife agrees with this assessment).