Pablo Aslan – Tango Grill (Zoho Music – 2010)

To the unsuspecting ear, Pablo Aslan may sometimes appear to be just a fabulous bassist, with sublime technique and a virtuoso of limitless possibility. But dig a little deeper, especially into this album, Tango Grill and the impossible will seem to appear. Aslan takes the relatively rigid structure of the written music and dance form, the Tango, into a stratospheric space where no one else has ever dared to venture. At least this is not since Astor Piazzolla reinvented the form as Nuevo Tango, over 60 years ago. To be precise, Aslan is taking the Tango, a form of music that is played as written into the realm of the idiom of Jazz, a music that is as elastic as an improviser can be. This is where Tango Grill purports to fit in: like playing tocar a la parrilla, without written arrangements, on the grill.

And what a spectacular program Aslan presents here, together with the masterful bandoneon playing of Nestor Marconi, but especially the trumpet of Gustavo Bergalli and the percussion inventions of Daniel Piazzolla, Astor Piazzolla’s son. The musical challenge was immense: Take eleven classic tangos and reinvent them with the feeling of jazz. Aslan presents these swirling pieces as wonderful dancing, pirouetting spectacles that appear before the mind’s eye as they sweep across gleaming floors with just the swish of dark gowns and leather brushing against the invisible wax. Pablo Aslan recreates this classic setting with sublime playing arco con brio. His ability to create the fire of the music at one time, and then dampen it with murky suggestions of elemental dark sadness and loneliness is unparalleled. Although Aslan appears never to stray from the melodies, in fact he turns these pieces into miniature vignettes in the stellar regions of jazz.

The 1920s classic, “El Amanecer,” for instance conjures aural recollections of early Third Stream as the bassist and bandoneonist dance around each other with graceful counterpoint. “Viejo Smocking,” although reverently read is actually quite avant, with a singing bass and harmonic lines from trumpeter, Gustavo Bergalli, who is spectacular throughout the program. By the time “La Trampera” comes around the ensemble breaks the mould completely, with a wonderful, staccato solo from percussionist Piazolla that breaks down the rhythm for the rest of the ensemble. Aslan then brings proceedings to a spectacular close.

Although there are many defining moments on the album, it is “La Trampera” that presents the sojourn in all its glory as the group led by a bassist and musician of singular vision and ability takes the Tango to the outer reaches of possibility. Tango Grill is a rare and memorable album played flawlessly by a bassist destined for great things in 21st Century music.

Tracks: 1. El Amanecer; 2. Viejo Smocking; 3. El Marne; 4. La Payanca; 5. Sin Palabras; 6. Rencor; 7. El Flete; 8. Dandy; 9. La Ultima Cita; 10. Divina; 11. La Trampera.

Personnel: Pablo Aslan: bass; Nestor Marconi: bandoneon: (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11); Nicolas Ledesma: piano (1, 3 – 5, 7 – 10); Abel Rogatini: piano (2, 6, 11); Ramiro Gallo: violin (1, 3 – 5, 7 – 11); Gustavo Bergalli: trumpet (2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11); Daniel Piazolla: drums (2,3, 5, 6, 11).

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Pablo Aslan on the web: www.avantango.com

Review written by: Raul da Gama

Roger Davidson & Raul Jaurena – Pasion Por La Vida (Soundbrush 09)

Pasion Por La Vida is an unusual and memorable record, even by Roger Davidson’s standards. It is the third “Latin” record made by Davidson, a pianist influenced by Bill Evans as much as by Chopin. But Pasion Por La Vida takes Davidson’s love for the music of South America a shade further than – Mango Tango, Amor Por El Tango and Rogers in Rio – his earlier expressions of that love. This record is a kind of maturation for Davidson has composed all the eighteen titles on it. Spectacularly, all are tangos – eleven of them have been written in the classical Argentinean form. Several others are more European and there is a Brazilian chorinho, a bolero and a rumba but these may not be played in the familiar 2/4 time signature that exemplifies “the tango”, what unites them with the other tracks on the record is that they all reflect passion.

Davidson is able, here, to switch from his customary jazz-inflected voice to the staccato and sometime legato world of the tango. The dynamic he applies to his pianistic touch is therefore quite different. It is more percussive, following the internal rhythm of Latin melodies and the harmonic changes swirling thick, are heavier and more deliberately, almost unusually accented. Then there is that aspect of the “Tango” that is visual as the music can only partially tell the story with sound; the rest is the image that accompanies the song. Traditionally it helps always that the “tango” music accompanies a couple dancing statuesquely following the rigid dancing tradition. With Pasion Por La Vida, the dimension is singularly aural. The visual component must be imagined. This precludes the music having to work all the more harder – so that that dimension may be created like a virtual dimension, like a hologram. And here lies the success of this record.

Then there is also the almost symbiotic musical relationship between Davidson and Raul Jaurena. The pianist and the bandoneonist engage in interplay that comes from an almost telepathic understanding of the central idea of each piece. This is why ideas are exchanged as if they were imagined simultaneously but expressed separately. Harmonically as well, the musicians are intertwined and so the passionate flow of musical thought is seamless and heart-warming. And this is what separates this record form Roger Davidson’s first, Mango Tango: These songs cover a range of emotions – “Su Pasion” – the passionate romance of a man and woman, “Volvere” – that longing for home – “Puente a la Esperanza,” “Tarde Soleada,” “Alma Apasionada,” “Orquesta de Pueblo”… Throughout the record is a growing and deeper symbiosis between Davidson and Jaurena and it makes the music magnificent and moving.

This is going to be a difficult record to top in terms of following through on an idea whose raison d’etre is emotional. It would be interesting to see where Roger Davidson will go from here, but then again, if he is led by his emotions there is no horizon and more passionate music can never be very far away.

Track Listing: Fuerza Milonguera; Su Pasion; O, Te Quiero; Camino Al Sol; Tarde Soleada; Puente A La Esperanza; Vals Para Mañana; Optimista; Todo El Tiempo; Volvere; Cancion De La Montaña; Milonga Del Norte; Alma Apasionada; Orquesta De Pueblo; Tango Ruso; Si Loin De Toi; Que Pasara; Aventura.

Personnel: Roger Davidson: piano; Raul Jaurena: bandoneon.

Roger Davidson on the web: http://www.soundbrush.com/roger-davidson-biography/

Raul Jaurena on the web: http://www.rauljaurena.com

Review written by: Raul da Gama