Bailemos Tango

Bailemos Tango

The popularity of tango comes and goes, but the "vertical expression of horizontal desire" has remained synonymous with passion, unrequited love, and nostalgia for more than a century. Popularized by Rudolph Valentino and Carlos Gardel, and more recently by Madonna and Julio Iglesias, and often celebrated by Hollywood and Broadway, the tango has been reinterpreted continuously with less fanfare by old and young musicians in Buenos Aires and beyond. Eschewing well-known tangos like "La Cumparsita" for more obscure selections that illustrate the varied styles of tango, <I>Bailemos Tango!</I> elegantly demonstrates how tango music has evolved from the 1920s through today. Compiled by a team of Argentine tango dancers and aficionados, the 19-track CD has a rich sound that is rootsy, not slick. It opens with a '20s instrumental number by Uruguayan bandleader Miguel Villasboas in the style of <I>canyegue</I>, a flamboyant rhythm danced with bent knees.<p> Subsequent tracks highlight the disparate musical styles that make up the tango: the Cuban-influenced <I>milonga</I>, the African beat of <I>candombé</I>, and the tango ballad, or <I>canción</I>, illustrated here by "Yira-Yira," one of Gardel's more obscure recordings. Other well-known talents included here are famed 1940s bandoleón player Aníbal Troilo, expressive pianist Osvaldo Pugliese, and tango modernist Astor Piazzolla. <I>Bailemos Tango!</I> ends with a contemporary tango played by Tangata Rea, a group of young Argentine musicians set on reviving the music and dance for their generation. As its title suggests, <I>Bailemos Tango!</I> will enrich the repertoire of dedicated dancers. For nondancers, it provides a sentimental education in the tango art, nice for quiet evenings at home with loved ones, but more appropriate for evenings spent yearning for them. <I>--Judy Cantor</I>