The Essential Tangos

Performer: Astor Piazzolla
Distributor: Select-O-Hits

Notes: Liner Note Author: John Lusk Band. This double-disc follow-up to 2003's similarly titled The Essential Tangos includes all but two of the dozen tracks that comprised the earlier single-CD collection, rendering that intro virtually superfluous. Like that compilation, this expanded version draws from the tango legend's final years (he died in 1992), its music spanning the '70s and '80s. It even features new liner notes by Jon Lusk, who penned the essay in the previous release. Repetition aside, however, it's a breathtakingly beautiful collection of intricately composed modern tangos by Argentina's most renowned musician. Many of the pieces verge on the classical in their sophistication and complex constructions, and while there is an up-tempo component to some of the performances ("Tanguedia II"), there is an overall gloominess pervading much of it. This is by no means the sort of tango that turns up in romantic movies, but it's a thrilling sampling of the late genius who renovated this venerable sound almost single-handedly. ~ Jeff Tamarkin 12 pieces performed between 1973 to 1989 are collected on this 12-track, hour-long anthology, most of them dating from the 1980s. This was the final period of Astor Piazzolla's life, but also the one which found him gaining his highest level of international recognition. So although it by no means samples the entire breadth of his work, it's a reasonable introduction, particularly as the later vintage of the material means that it was very well-recorded. This is tango that's more for reflection than for dancing, but not at the expense of heart, colored with various shades of melancholy dignity -- so melancholy that it almost approaches (but doesn't quite cross over into) the morose. It's also composed and performed with an almost classical sense of structure, not adhering to the more predictable melodies and tempos of more conventional tango. It's also pretty consistent in its slightly world-weary dignity -- maybe too much so, if you're in a cheerier mood. The final song, "Vuelvo Al Sur," has vocals by Roberto Goyeneche, though otherwise it's entirely instrumental. Though Piazzolla's bandoneon virtuosity figures strongly throughout, the arrangements do vary, sometimes putting emphasis on violin and piano as well. ~ Richie Unterberger

While tango had long been associated with the dancehalls of Buenos Aires, Astor Piazolla reinvented the music for the concert stage. In the 1950s and 1960s, he infused tango with the oblique harmonies of jazz and classical music, as well as new instruments such as electric guitar, and although he may have alienated traditionalists, he gained a worldwide audience seduced by his music's exotic beauty. Over the course of five decades, Piazolla continually expanded the scope of the tango--or "tango nuevo," as his music came to be called--to produce a wealth of inventive, emotionally rich music. He died in 1992.

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