Astor Piazzolla & Gary Burton – The New Tango (1987)

Super Awesome South America logo by Sarca @ caughtmegaming

Made in South America Artist #1: Astrud Gilberto
Made in South America Artist #2: Bebel Gilberto
Made in South America Artist #3: Elis Regina
Made in South America Artist #4: Sepultura
Made in South America Artist #5: Astor Piazzolla

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[Album 476/1001]

When something is marketed as ‘New,’ I tend to think:

1. “There’s a New Mexico?” – Homer Simpson/Montgomery Burns

2. New Street, a major thoroughfare in Burlington, ON

3. The curiosity of permanently titling something as ‘New,’ given that an instant after naming, it’s well, no longer quite so.

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When I listened to this Astor Piazzolla & Gary Burton concert, I often thought about how ‘new’ product marketing also tends to be quite loud.

Colourful fonts, CAPITAL LETTERS, excessive exclamation points!!!

While the colourful cover fonts & upper-case lettering might have somewhat shouted this album’s arrival, I was quite impressed by the musical subtlety of the first few tracks (not to mention the admirable restraint regarding exclamation marks).

I was expecting big sounds right off the bat and was pleasantly surprised to be eased into the show through some subdued, meandering tunes.

That being said, when the title track/genre-defining name arrived in track four, it was all in – but I was ready for the rhythmic onslaught, even looking forward to it by that point. I’ll echo the audience call-out of “Bravo!” following the final notes; it’s quite the frenetic, yet controlled, finish.

In terms of the two principal artists, Gary Burton provides good vibes throughout (pun could not be more intended) and I’m now keen to learn to play Astor Piazzolla’s instrument of choice, the Bandoneon.

Argentinian Arranger/Composer/Bandoneonist(?) Astor Piazzolla is also credited with taking the traditional tango in new directions. That he was in his mid-60s for this perfomance, still changing the game after decades of productivity, is even more impressive.

And while ‘New Tango’ (or Tango Nuevo) has given way to the 21st Century ‘Neotango’ (led by ‘less old’ artists like Gotan Project), this 30-year old concert still sounds fresh to me.