The Rough Guide to Tango

Performer: Various Artists
Producer: Phil Stanton (Compilation)
Distributor: Ryko Distribution

Notes: Jazz producer Orrin Keepnews once argued that when you get down to it, there are two main types of jazz: before Charlie Parker and after Charlie Parker; similarly, one could argue that there are only two types of tango: before and after Astor Piazzolla. Just as Parker introduced a whole new way of playing jazz, Piazzolla radically altered the tango by bringing in jazz influence, playing it with different chords and making it darker. Piazzolla certainly wasn't without opposition -- he was hailed as a visionary by many, but his opponents saw his breakthroughs as musical heresy and an insult to Argentinean culture. In Buenos Aires, the bandoneon player was even beaten and threatened! A diverse collection that came out in 1999, The Rough Guide to Tango shows us how tango sounded before and after Piazzolla. Hearing such Piazzolla recordings as "Melancolico Buenos Aires" and "Tres Minutos Con la Realidad" on the same CD as pre-Piazzolla, 78-era pearls like Carlos Gardel's "Caminito" (Gardel died in 1935) and Juan D'Arienzo's "La Cumparsita" (recorded in 1937), one is reminded just how tremendous Piazzolla's contributions to tango were. It's impossible to miss Piazzolla's influence on selections by such modern tango artists as bandoneon player Carlos Buono ("Retrato de Nana"), singer Adriana Varela ("Cada Vez Que Me Recuerdes") and violinist Antonio Agri ("200 Anos"). If you were to assemble a comparable jazz collection, you'd have to include Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman along with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Joe Henderson -- that's how far-reaching this CD is. The frustrating thing about The Rough Guide to Tango is its lack of recording dates -- the World Music Network should have known better. But except for that flaw, this compilation is nicely put together. ~ Alex Henderson

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