2326 Tango-Fusion and Astor Piazzolla Remixed
Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 10:07:41 -0600
From: Stephen Brown <Stephen.P.Brown@DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: Tango-Fusion and Astor Piazzolla Remixed
As most of us know, at some of the milongas frequented by younger tango
dancers, the DJs are now playing a mixture of traditional and neo-tango
music. Neo-tango consists of two genres of music: tango-fusion and
"alternative tango" music. Tango fusion integerates tango rhythms with
those of other musical traditions to create a modern and culturally
relevant world tango music with a dance-club sound. Often the other
rhythms are layered on top of the tango. Some of the better-known
tango-fusion artists are Gotan Project, Bajofondo Tango Club, and Carlos
Libedinsky. Alternative tango music is non-tango music or tango music
from other traditions that some dancers find interesting for dancing
Argentine tango steps.
At its best, neo-tango music adds variety and fidelity to an evening. At
its worst, neo-tango is simply a music to which tango steps can be
executed. The use of neo-tango music depends largely on the dancers at
the milonga. While many dancers under 30 seem to love neo-tango music and
expect to hear it at milongas they attend, older traditionalists often
hate it.
I claim to have an open mind on the subject, but some of the neo-tango
music leave me cold. In selecting music to include on my playlists, I
always listen for music that has a strong feeling and rhythmic core that
makes me want to dance tango. The relatively new CD, Astor Piazzolla
Remixed illustrates what I consider the issue. Aside from the problem
that the CD I purchased contained only six of the 15 listed tracks, the
underlying tango music--a fusion of tango and jazz--which was recorded by
Astor Piazzolla himself is not particularly well suited for dancing.
Overdubbing club-style electronica creates an impression of French lounge
music that isn't quite inspiring for dancing and doesn't have the rhythms
to support tango dancing.
On the whole, I think some are trying too hard to create something new.
With best regards,
Steve (de Tejas)
Stephen Brown
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 09:36:44 -0600
From: Korey Ireland <korey@KODAIR.COM>
Subject: Re: Tango-Fusion and Astor Piazzolla Remixed
Thank you Stephen, for an informed opinion.
I offer an some other possible perspectives:
1) I'm not at all sure that taste in tango music is age specific, it
certainly doesn't work that way in my hometown. I get frequent
requests for what I refer to as "novelty tangos" but which we could
easily fit under the NeoTango tag from the over 50 contingent of our
community, while our staunchest traditionalist is under 25...maybe
we're just all backwards here in Kansas City ;-)
2) The Astor Piazolla Remixed album is, I must agree, an unfortunate
disappointment. To my ears, it displays very little skill in either
tango or remix genres. I'm not sure who put this together, but there's
much better tango out there including some of the artists you've
mentioned. But the idea of tango music for modern ears shouldn't be
judged on the basis of the mediocre work done in its pursuit. Believe
it or not, there is uninspiring tango music from the Golden Era as well.
3) For those interested in NeoTango or Alternative Tango music, there
are a some websites that you might enjoy. Sharna Fabiano's
www.neotango.com has essays, play lists, and a good deal of information
about new tango music. Santiago Steele also has a new music section on
his www.tangonauts.com website with revues of a number of poplular
NeoTango titles. And yet another site to consider - Jackie Wong's DJ
page https://www.tangopulse.net
>
>
> On the whole, I think some are trying too hard to create something new.
Perhaps you are right Stephen, but I'll take unfruitful effort over
apathy or stagnation any day. Tango music has evolved non stop in its
100 plus years. Not all of the innovations have been embraced, and
certainly not all have been popular with dancers. This seems to me a
very interesting phase with energy and development coming from all
corners of the globe. If we haven't succeeded yet in creating a neo
tango music that really works on the dance floor, its just more
opportunity to try...
Respectfully,
Korey Ireland
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 10:21:24 -0600
From: Stephen Brown <Stephen.P.Brown@DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: Re: Tango-Fusion and Astor Piazzolla Remixed
Korey Ireland wrote:
>But the idea of tango music for modern ears shouldn't be
>judged on the basis of the mediocre work done in its pursuit. ...
[T]here is uninspiring tango music from the Golden Era as well.
In many respects, Korey is right.
We must remember that the music from the Golden Age has really been cherry
picked for dancing. Only a small minority of the originally recorded
tracks are still used for dancing. To some extent, the CD companies have
concentrated on releasing the most highly regarded material from the most
well known orchestras. Second, the djs and dancers have gone through the
material and selected the material that is most suitable for dancing.
Personally, I have 11 Canaro tangos, 9 Canaro milongas and 12 Canaro
valses on my playlist -- which is less than 3 percent of the material that
Canaro recorded. If I got aggressive with the tangos I could push it up
to about 4-5 percent.
By including just six tangos and one vals from Color Tango on my playlist
and four tracks from El Arranque, I have a much higher percentage of the
recorded material put by those two orchestras. The same would be true of
just a few tracks from Juan Carlos Caceres, Gotan Project or Bajofondo
tango club.
I stand by my original view,
>>[S]ome of the neo-tango music leave me cold.
>> ... [S]ome are trying too hard to create something new.
I also agree with Korey:
>Not all of the innovations have been embraced, and certainly
>not all have been popular with dancers. This seems to me a
>very interesting phase with energy and development coming from
>all corners of the globe. If we haven't succeeded yet in
>creating a neo tango music that really works on the dance floor,
>its just more opportunity to try...
I wonder to extent the neo-tango musicians are trying to appeal to tango
dancers and to what extent tango dancers are just looking for additional
music for dancing. In the case of Color Tango, who is a modern tango
orchestra -- not a tango-fusion ensemble -- we know that they intend to
create music for tango dancers. Maybe it doesn't matter what the
musicians intend. But then maybe it does, layering Piazzolla's
recordings, which did not work well for tango dancing by themselves, with
other rhythms doesn't create a music that suddenly becomes suitable for
tango dancing.
With best regards,
Steve (de Tejas)
For more extensive information about Tango-Fusion and "alternative" tango
music, Korey makes great recommendations
https://www.tangonauts.com/music.htm
https://www.neotango.com/neotangos.html
https://www.tangopulse.net/dj_jackie_wong__argentine_tango.htm
