It's astonishing to hear how four classical guitarists can achieve such a
unique sound texture
Acoustic Guitar Magazine

Tango Music for Guitar
From Acoustic Guitar / By Diane Gordon / July 1998

The sensual dance and music called tango, which sprang from the working class barrios of Buenos Aires at the turn of the century, will forever be a symbol of the passionate Argentine character. Today, it maintains a healthy following, with tango societies on all continents, but its scope has expanded considerably since it first took the world by storm on the eve of World War I. Until the 1980s, the word tango usually evoked images of the sultry dance, where couples with four feet pointing in the same direction performed intricate steps glued together chest to chest. Now, thanks to the compositions of Astor Piazzolla, a bandoneón (Argentine accordion) player from Buenos Aires, the music enjoys an international reputation, and the guitar has become one of its most important messengers. Before Piazzolla, tango's patron saint was Carlos Gardel, a suave singer who died in 1935 at the height of his popularity, which has hardly diminished through time.
Tangueros from around the world continue to make pilgrimages to his grave site, and his ghost has been seen strolling the streets of Buenos Aires.
"Each day, he sings better," say those who claim to have seen it. And of course, there are Gardel impersonators in Argentina.
If Gardel is the Elvis of the tango, Piazzolla is its international ambassador. His family moved to New York City when he was a teenager, and his exposure to the jazz he heard there made a lasting impression. Later the musically precocious teen went to Paris to study with famed pedagogue Nadia Boulanger. Her admonition to her student to explore his roots in the tango of his homeland led to his development of nuevo tango, a fusion of tango with jazz and the techniques of modern classical composers. Piazzolla's compositions are characterized by complex arrangements and rhythmic intensity, led by the mournful wheeze of his bandoneón. Two of his best-known recordings are the vintage Tango: Zero Hour and an experimental release produced by world music champion Kip Hanrahan, The Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night. Piazzolla's recent death has prompted his colleagues and admirers to produce many recordings of his "Nuevo Tango," while his demanding "Tango Suite" for two guitars has earned a place in the standard classical repertoire. It was inevitable. The rhythm and sensuality of Piazzolla's music are a perfect match for the guitar, as can be heard in a number of recent CD releases. Tango fanatics often enjoy both modern and traditional forms. Jazz whiz Al DiMeola has long been an advocate of Piazzolla's music and has made several recordings of his compositions. His most recent, DiMeola Plays Piazzolla, is his best yet. DiMeola manages to respect the spirit of the music while sounding like pure DiMeola, one of the greatest jazz guitarists to play an acoustic instrument.
A record called Tango Kings is a guitarist's dream, with four compatible guitar players: Brazilian artists Toninho Horta and Romero Lubambo, French Gypsy Bireli Lagrene, and Adam Rogers, who toured with Piazzolla's bandoneón-playing colleague, Roberto Pensara. The four add their musical personalities to the mix, which includes works by Pat Metheny, Egberto Gismonti, Django Reinhardt, and Lars Gullen. Four for Tango, by Guitars a Quattro, is a lush tribute to Piazzolla by a
classical guitar quartet that achieves an intense, dynamic sound, not unlike the L.A. Guitar Quartet's. The Swiss-based group plays works by Torroba and Turina and dense arrangements of Polish folk songs by Lutoslawski. Argentina's Santa Fe Guitar Quartet presents a fabulous contrast to the Swiss quartet with their Portraits of the Americas, a collection of gorgeous works by Piazzolla, Aaron Copland, Leo Brouwer, Guido Santorsola, and others. It's astonishing to hear how four classical guitarists can achieve such a unique sound texture. A real gem is their rendition of Piazzolla's beloved "Zero Hour" ("Buenos Aires Hora Cero"), which captures city night sounds in an enchanting mix that would make Charles Ives smile.
Vibraphone player Gary Burton's Astor Piazzolla Reunion showcases long-standing associates of Piazzolla, including guitarist Horacio Malvicino, in an elegant jazz chamber setting. The recording culminates in a duet Burton plays with a 1970 Piazzolla recording of "Mi Refugio." The song, a tango classic from the '20s, is a subtle reminder of the music's roots, an ironic and bittersweet closing to a recording that remains intimate with Piazzolla's spirit of innovation. While there's a stark contrast between the jazz harmonies and dissonance of nuevo tango and the tango of the old guard, tango fanatics often enjoy both modern and traditional forms. Classic Bands of Tango's Golden Age is one ofa series of compilations (released by Sterns Music) of bands recorded in the '20s, '30s, and '40s. Sheet music for both traditional tango and nuevo tango is also widely available. Editions Orphee's Tangos de la Guardia Vieja (Tangos of the Old Guard) is an anthology of classic turn-of-the-century tango pieces arranged for the guitar. For an audio-visual approach, try Latin American Rhythms for Guitar, a video and booklet/CD set in which prominent Argentine guitarist Jorge Morel clearly describes various forms of the tango, along with other Latin American rhythms. The video approach is good for guitarists who don't read music, but it is equally valuable for those wishing to get a feel for how the music is played, something that is difficult to glean from sheet music. There are fantastic tango resources on the Internet. Ernesto's Tango Page (members.ping.at/kdf-wien/tango/) is exhaustive. The site provides links to books, articles, newsletters, lyrics, tours, videos, and even a dictionary. An entire domain dedicated to Astor Piazzolla at www.piazzolla.org has an impressive amount of material, including an enormous playlist of his recordings. You can also subscribe to a discussion list by sending the
message "subscribe tango-L Name" to listserv@mitvma.mit.edu.
The guitar has been with the tango from its beginnings in the poor neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, where former African slaves combined syncopated rhythms with the ballads of the Argentine guitar-strumming gauchos. The Spanish and Italian immigrants contributed the bandoneón, an instrument of German origin. Although the bandoneón is tango's signature
instrument, it's not surprising that tango music on six strings is so captivating. As one of the tango's most important voices, the guitar speaks from the heart of Spanish-speaking Argentina. Call it Argentine soul music.