Oct 17, 2017

RhoDeo 1742 Roots

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Today an Argentine composer, pianist, arranger, currently the leading exponent of nuevo tango, thanks to the skills and reputation he gathered while working extensively as Ástor Piazzolla's regular pianist from 1978 until the maestro's retirement for health reasons in 1989. During their collaboration, they performed with Milva, Placido Domingo, Gary Burton among others. His playing style, both sharply percussive and metallically lyrical, is instantly recognizable and bears some similarities to that of Vladimir Horowitz as well as some of the wistfulness of Bill Evans. As a composer he has taken Piazzolla's contrapuntal approach to tango music and added more jazz influence, notably with the regular use of a drumkit, lighter harmonies similar to those used in Bossa Nova, and extended passages of improvisation.     ....N'Joy

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Pianist Pablo Ziegler is known as one of Astor Piazzolla's foremost protégés. He began performing classical music in concert as a teen and became inspired by Dixieland jazz soon thereafter; he combined the two styles in his Pablo Ziegler Trio, which performed classical pieces with jazz arrangements.

After his years with the trio, Ziegler was invited to play with Astor Piazzolla's New Tango Quintet in 1978, and performed and recorded with the group for over a decade. He also performed with international artists like Milva, an Italian singer with whom he collaborated on an homage to Maria Callas at the Arena de Verona, as well as American vibes player Gary Burton.

Ziegler played with Piazzolla throughout the '80s, appearing on albums like New Tango and Astor Piazzolla: The Central Park Concert. After Piazzolla's death in 1992, Ziegler formed the Quintet for New Tango, performing internationally and releasing albums like 1999's self-titled work. He has also collaborated on albums with Emanuel Ax and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, both of which showcase Piazzolla's music. From 2000 on, Ziegler spent a great deal of time as a soloist with orchestras all over Europe, Asia, and South America -- especially in Argentina. He also recorded Quintet for New Tango for BMG in 2000, before issuing Bajo Cero: Duo for Tango with guitarist Quique Sinesi and guest bandoneonist Walter Castro on Enja two years later. In 2007 he released the live Tango & All That Jazz with a new quintet that also included vibraphonist Stefon Harris in a guest role.

His orchestral appearances and tours kept him from recording again until 2013, when he signed with the Zoho label. His label debut, Amsterdam Meets New Tango, featured Ziegler as soloist with the Metropole Orkest. Two years later, another duet offering with guitarist Sinesi (with Castro again guesting) resulted in Desperate Dance for Enja's Yellowbird imprint. It was back to Zoho for 2016's Sax to Tango in collaboration with saxist Julio Botti, followed by the all-Piazzolla program Tango Nuevo in duo with American classical pianist Christopher O'Riley a year later.

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The late New Tango composer and bandleader Astor Piazzolla has cast a nearly inescapable shadow over those who have attempted to further his tango innovations. Consider the hurdles for Pablo Ziegler, Piazzolla's pianist for a decade. Remarkably, Ziegler does not shy away from Piazzolla (in fact he revisits several of the master's pieces) and still offers a personal sound. "El Empedrado" runs the gamut from Piazzolla's influence to Ziegler's lush romanticism. "Milonga en el Viento" has a surprisingly traditional feel--paced by jazz style drumming. The ambitious Radio Tango II suggests an intriguing fusion of jazz, rock, Piazzolla, classical music, and traditional tango. Ziegler has quite a challenge before him, but if Asfalto is any evidence, he has the tools, the smarts, and the imagination to inch the New Tango line forward. The most startling difference is the addition of drum set to the tango ensemble. This adds a whole new dimension of drive and excitment, although possibly a step away from the intimacy of Piazolla's ensemble style. Recommend for those who love the Piazolla sound but also enjoy more a more frantic, rhythmic sound.This is music to be appreciated on all levels, intellectual, emotional, and certainly in your groove thang!



Pablo Ziegler - Asfalto-Street Tango   (flac  355mb)

01 Asfalto 5:12
02 La Muerte del Angel 3:08
03 Milonga en el Viento 6:04
04 El Empedrado 5:27
05 La Cumparsola 5:26
06 Soledad 6:04
07 Decarisimo 2:54
08 Radio Tango II 7:20
09 Elegante Canyenguito 5:05
10 Maria Cuidad 7:55
11 Michelangelo '70 3:11
12 Dos Cadencias Sobre "Adiós Nonino" 5:48
13 Elegia Sobre "Adiós Nonino" 3:50

Pablo Ziegler - Asfalto-Street Tango (ogg  150mb)

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The tango nueva has a new champion in pianist Ziegler, who is well qualified since he was with grand master Astor Piazzolla's bands in the last years of Piazzolla's life. This music is even more challenging than Piazzolla's; it's jazz-oriented and not as swinging, less dominated by the bandoneon, with more piano and electric guitar lead. Ziegler's core band is Walter Castro (bandoneon), Enrique Sinesi (guitar), Horatio Hurtado (bass), and Horacio Lopez (drums), they play on ten of the twelve tracks, recorded in Buenos Aires, Two other cuts with a different band featuring tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano were waxed in N.Y.C.. Once again, this is not music strictly in the tango tradition, or following the path carved by Piazzolla, but an entirely new, creative sound inspired by the modern tango. The three selections that pay tribute to Piazzolla are the 6/8 modal, behemoth romp "Imagenes 676," the last piece recorded by Piazzolla and Ziegler and redone here; "Primavera Portena," with its staccato, head-nodding, and spontaneous half-time accents, and Ziegler's "Astor's Place," inspired by a walk with Piazzolla, actually a stealthy, slinky number that speaks directly to the intimacy of their friendship. The rest are Ziegler's riveting compositions: "Conexion Portena" with cinematic dramatism in its ever-shifting tempos, the similar "Ritmico y Nostalgico" jumpy and all over the place in its urgency, and a highlight -- "Alrededor del Choclo" -- an adaptation of the famous classic tango "El Choclo" or "The Corn," using a circle-the-wagons approach to hinting at the theme, but never actually playing it straight out. The purest tango form comes from the sad sax of Lovano during "Muchacha de Boedo" in agreement with the bandoneon of Hector del Curto, and Lovano's other feature, "Once Again...Milonga," is spirited, the tenor's moves and countermoves shadowed by bandoneon and Ziegler's piano. There's also a Chick Corea-inspired dancing figure as the centerpiece of "Sandunga," for Ziegler's wife, and the scatting, darting, daunting sounds of "Desde Otros Tiempos," which starts as a steady midtempo, goes lugubriously slow, then goes frantic with passion, as most romances go.

In the liner notes, the quite informative Fernando Gonzalez (Miami Herald) calls tango a music of "winks and dares, " a perfectly concise description for what you hear on this truly remarkable and beautiful disc of music. Listen to this in contrast to Guillermo Klein's "Los Guachos II" (Sunnyside) for both sides of the emerging sound of creative music born in Argentina, fueled and inspired by jazz improvisation. The results are revelatory. Highly recommended.



Pablo Ziegler - Quintet for New Tango (flac  370mb)

01 Conexión Porteña 6:30
02 Desde Otros Tiempos 5:21
03 Milonguera 7:24
04 Once Again... Milonga 4:25
05 Imágenes 676 4:10
06 Alrededor Del Choclo 4:56
07 El Vals Del Duende 3:13
08 Ritmico y Nostálgico 6:28
09 Astor's Place 6:15
10 Muchacha de Boedo 6:24
11 Sandunga 4:31
12 Primavera Porteña 5:26

Pablo Ziegler - Quintet for New Tango (ogg  153mb)

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On Bajo Cero, the internationally renowned pianist Pablo Ziegler is featured in a highly virtuosic duet setting with guitarist Quique Sinesi. The respected veteran of the vibrant Buenos Aires jazz scene and former member of Astor Piazzolla's highly regarded ensembles also invited Walter Castro to play the bandoneon and round out this great musical program of sultry tango and jazz improvisations. Among the beautiful milongas included on this program are "La Rayuela," "Milonga del Adios," and "Planufer Milonga." These are intelligent reflections of the South American dance songs that remain very popular in the southern part of the continent. To vary the song selection, Ziegler includes two of Astor Piazzolla's rarely recorded compositions: "Chin Chin," a recording dedicated to the piano, and "Fuga y Misterio," one of the most complex fugues ever composed by Piazzolla. "Bajo Cero" is but one of the four great originals penned by Ziegler. It is a standout because of its three-part structure and emotional understatements. As with previous efforts as a pianist, composer, and bandleader on his 1990s releases, Pablo Ziegler is in great form and furthers the tango nuevo movement to a new level of interest.



Pablo Ziegler - Bajo Cero     (flac  279mb)

01 La Rayuela 4:16
02 Flor De Lino 4:11
03 Chin Chin 7:47
04 La Fundicion 6:23
05 Milonga Del Adios 8:10
06 Bajo Cero 7:25
07 Yuyo Verde 4:22
08 Planufer Mionga 6:57
09 Los Mareados 7:03
10 Fuga Y Misterio 4:57

Pablo Ziegler - Bajo Cero   (ogg  134mb )

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Pablo Ziegler spent over a decade as the pianist with bandoneon player Astor Piazzolla's band and after the latter's death, he became one of the major interpreters of the modern tango. With a quartet including Hector del Curto on bandoneon, guitarist Paul Myers, bassist Pablo Aslan and adding a special guest, vibraphonist Stefon Harris on several tracks, the spirit of Piazzolla is very much alive. Two of Piazzolla's compositions are performed, "La Muerte del Angel" and "Michelangelo," both of them intense affairs. Among Ziegler's potent originals are the bittersweet ballad "Milonga en el Viento" and the haunting "Muchacha de Boedo." The presence of Harris invites comparison to Piazzolla's recording with vibraphonist Gary Burton added to his band. Intimately recorded at the Jazz Standard in New York City, the audience is clearly spellbound by the music and keep extremely quiet until offering enthusiastic applause after each number. Highly recommended.



Pablo Ziegler Quartet - Tango & All That Jazz (flac  276mb)

01 La Muerte del Angel 5:40
02 Milonga en el Viento 6:17
03 Pablo's Band Intro 1:14
04 Michelangelo '70 4:58
05 Alredor del Choclo 5:00
06 Desde Otros Tiempos 5:28
07 Once Again...Milonga 5:34
08 Muchacha de Boedo 8:28
09 La Cumparsola 6:32
10 La Rayuela 5:54

Pablo Ziegler Quartet - Tango & All That Jazz (ogg  124mb)

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