Search - Astor Piazzolla :: Nuestro Tiempo

An Important Step Forward

Kurt Harding | Boerne TX | 07/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Nuestro Tiempo is the third Edicion Critica reissue/remaster of Astor Piazzolla's recordings for RCA Victor and CBS Columbia I have acquired since I noticed their appearance on the market, and so far it is the best. On this CD, Piazzolla and his Quinteto Tango Nuevo have taken an important step forward in the development of the Tango Nuevo sound which was to propel him toward his current status as the godfather of that sound and to the international recognition that status brought him. The inauguration of Antonio Agri as violinist and the introduction to what was to become a long-running theme based on Alberto Rodriguez Munoz' El Tango del Angel are two benchmarks that make Nuestro Tiempo an essential part of any Piazzolla collection.

The two previous releases of the Edition Critica series I have reviewed ( En Persona and La Bicicleta Blanca) are merely OK and the bonus tracks largely redundancies culled from other works. In contrast, Nuestro Tiempo is quite spectacular. I recognize only a few renditions here (Muerte del Angel, Milonga Triste and Los Mareados) that duplicate what I already had. Two of them I have only on a very obscure and now unavailable "greatest hits" type CD. On this CD, all songs were recorded in 1962, and except for the vocalists, all the players are the same.

I like the entire CD, but I have my favorites. These are: The magnificent Introduccion Al Angel; the staccato fugue of Muerte del Angel that prefigures some of the instrumental work of Frank Zappa; the mournful Milonga Triste which features the deep baritone of Hector de Rosas; the avant-garde title cut; Simple, which see-saws between a deep melancholy and a frenetic whirl; and the superb exotically romantic rendition of the classic Los Mareados. Of the bonus cuts, which feature Roberto Yanes on vocals, I most enjoy the rendition of the Mores/Discepolo classic Cafetin de Buenos Aires.

When you hear how advanced this music is, it is hard to believe that it was all recorded so long ago. While Piazzolla reached into the past for inspiration he simultaneously rushed headlong into the future. You hear influences of Bartok, Vivadi and Bach built onto a decidedly futuristic musical tableau.

Those who buy Nuestro Tiempo are getting nearly fifty minutes of magnificent music. The CD comes with a fold-out cover insert that features useful album notes and information as well as a reproduction of the original liner notes, all in Spanish. Nuestro Tiempo is definitely a CD no Piazzolla fan should be without."