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Tango, with a splash of jazz

Two Piazzolla devotees team up for an inventive homage
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By Tony Ozuna
For The Prague Post
October 24th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
Galliano worked with Piazzolla for nearly 20 years.
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Richard Galliano Quartet with Gary Burton

When: Monday, Oct. 29 at 9
Where: Lucerna Music Bar
Tickets: 390 Kč (seats) – 490 Kč (standing), available through Ticketpro and at the venue

Argentine tango master Ástor Piazzolla gets an all-star tribute in Prague next week from two well-recognized jazz leaders, vibraphonist Gary Burton and accordionist Richard Galliano, who are touring to promote their latest recording, an homage titled L’hymne a L’amour.
The French-born Galliano is a disciple of Piazzolla, who in 1983 invited Galliano to be a bandoneon soloist in a theater performance in France. They remained friends and close collaborators until Piazzolla’s death in 1992.
Burton, an American, is ranked among the highest-regarded vibraphonists in jazz along with Cal Tjader and Milt Jackson. He began his career playing with Stan Getz and George Shearing in the early ’60s, then formed his own quartet in 1967, influenced by the rock ’n’ roll of those times, yet still with a firm devotion to jazz improvisation and harmonic complexity.
In the ’70s, Burton’s fusion quartet included a very young Pat Metheny on guitar. Seemingly at the height of this group’s success, Burton shifted his focus to more somber and experimental duo projects with musicians such as Steve Swallow, and, most notably, Chick Corea.
Burton also worked with Piazzolla. Their Suite for Vibraphone and New Tango Quintet was recorded live at the Jazz Festival in Montreux in 1986. In 1997, Burton recorded with the best tango musicians in Argentina under the name Ástor Piazzolla Reunion. In 2000, he recorded Libertango, another selection of Piazzolla’s music. Two years later Galliano also recorded a Piazzolla tribute album, Piazzolla Forever.
Both men’s separate projects provided inspiration for the current one. Burton has characterized it as among the most important recordings of his career, saying this about the collaboration: “Teaming up with Galliano is absolutely a natural thing for me to do. I have a long history of playing tango music, and I have long admired Richard’s many recordings of both Piazzolla’s music and his own. Combining jazz with tango is something I love to experiment with …. This will be some of the most interesting music of our careers.”
As for Galliano, this is what he had to say about his first meeting with Burton: “I knew Gary Burton’s work with Ástor Piazzolla ... After this natural attraction, I thought of the union of metallic strips, those of the vibraphone (36) and those of the accordion (488) and of course the legendary virtuosity of Gary Burton. After our first meeting we naturally agreed to do a jazz tango project, including Piazzolla’s pieces but also a few personal compositions.”
The Burton-Galliano Quartet includes Phillipe Aerts on double bass and Clarence Penn on drums. The Philadephia-based Penn previously recorded some remarkable jazz standards with Galliano in 2004 as the New York Trio. By then, Penn had been working with Galliano for more than ten years.
“Actually, the first concert was in Europe,” Penn recalls. “Galliano’s manager heard me play with Betty Carter in 1991. Galliano was looking to start a new group, a quintet. After the tour he asked me to do more dates, and I’ve been with him ever since.”
Recognized as one of the most versatile and talented new drummers in jazz, Penn has played in Prague several times: with Betty Carter, David Sanchez and the fusion group Steps Ahead. He also toured this summer with Galliano’s Tangaria project, a quartet with violin, bass and percussion. Tangaria’s sound is a burst of flames and positive energy led by Galliano on accordion. But the current project with Burton is more toned-down.
“We are doing the music of Piazzolla,” says Penn, adding that unlike Tangaria, “it’s very soft.”
Lucerna will reflect that mood, with the normally open club floor arranged with theater-like seating. Sitting or standing, it should be a great show by two first-rate interpreters of a 20th-century master.

Tony Ozuna can be reached at features@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (24/10/2007):

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