Astor Piazzola Pablo Zinger - The Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night Tango Apasionado (14 tracks) +Album Reviews

Quintessential Piazzolla

Kurt Harding | Boerne TX | 12/27/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this years ago as part of an American Clave box set and consider it the finest realization of Piazzolla's later musical visions. All the more remarkable in its greatness is that it was specifically commissioned and so was composed under a certain amount of pressure. As a missionary for the musical gospel of Astor Piazzolla, this is one of the CDs I like to play to introduce his music to those who have never heard of him. Rough Dancer... is a work that is at once sophisticated and yet accessible to the Nuevo Tango neophyte. This is a CD that tells a story of life in the arrabal through the music. While the whole album is excellent, my favorites are Tango Apasionado, Butcher's Death, and both versions of the searing melancholy of Milonga For Three. Paquito d'Rivera's sax on the reprise is nothing short of breathtaking. If I were to make a list of ten must-own Piazzolla CDs, this would be near the top of the list as it is not just essential Piazzolla, but quintessential Piazzolla."

"... if you try to 'correct' anything I'll shoot you!"

Wayne Scott | Atlantic Beach, Florida | 04/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"That's what Astor Piazzolla said when he found that Suarez Paz and Kip Hanrahan were trying to edit out some of the "rough edges" of this recording. (This story is from the liner notes.) So, he burst through the door and put a stop to it. And there's just no arguing with his rationale; "...this record needs the darkness of a nostalgic dream. It's music meant to be played by half-drunk musicians in a bordello." Then, of course, he offered to take them both out for a drink. (Well, that's the way I heard the story ...)This recording achieves exactly what Piazzolla intended, and hearing it, one becomes immersed, an enthralled participant, in that "nostalgic dream". I'm no authority on Tango music. I have Al Dimeola's tribute album to Piazzolla, "The Tango Lesson" soundtrack, and this one. But it's not going to be the last. And if you're not careful, you'll discover, as Paul Valery noted, that "The ear is delightfully connected to the ankle." This is late night music, that pulls you in, wraps itself around you, and leaves you in that last gray hour before dawn, dreaming ...If you can only afford one Tango album, this is it! !!!"

If you think you've heard Piazzola's best work...

Wayne Scott | 11/06/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was the fifth Piazzola CD I bought, and it should have been the first. Being a saxophone player, I love Paquito d'Rivera's saxophone performance in the reprise. But this is not a saxophone CD. It has some of the most emotional music I've heard from Piazzola. This is one of my most-played compact discs."

A true gem.

martýn alexandro | Barcelona, Spain | 02/06/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you like Astor Piazzolla, you'll love this one. This, along with Buenos Aires Tango: Zero Hour and La Camorra, are Piazzolla's best works (even recognized by the master himself).If you like tango, you'll love this one. No matter how purist you could be, Milonga Picaresque es as pure as tango itself.If you like Jazz, you can't miss Milonga For Three (Reprise).And, if you just like music (like me) well, this is the CD to have. It has something that makes it so special. It's great for all tastes. One funny thing: Milonga For Three (reprise) is GREAT FOR LOVEMAKING ;-)"

Piazzola plays Piazzola

J. C CRUZ | Lubbock, TX | 06/18/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The recent popularity of Mr. Piazzola is associated with well known clasical artists like Yo-Yo Ma or Emanuel Ax who recently recorded Mr. Paizzola's music. Their names have given to Mr. Paizzola certain respectability and sales in the clasical music scene, but Mr. Piazzola's music is resistent to definitions and Mr. Piazzola does not need their help to stand out. "The rough dancer and the cyclical night", is a great example of the sophistication and richness of his music, which he called "Nuevo Gotang". He performed and tape it with his superb quintet (Paquito D'Rivera plays de sax, Pablo Zinger the piano and Astor the Bandoneon), it is rich in rhythms and melodies, and is Piazzola at his best. Every single track is a story by itself, has its own life and range of emotions threaded by the nostalgic bandoneon, and still every track flows to the next as all part of the same song. Any other musician performance of Mr. Piazzolas music is pale compared with the Porteno genius playing it himself. Despair, love and passion in the argentinian style is what you get. Jorge Luis Borges' poem "Buenos Aires" is the perfect match for this music. I am not argentinian, but this CD proves that "turn of the century Buenos Aires was never a geographic or historical location" as is suggested in the notes inside the CD. Nobody is better than Astor himself to deliver (Buenos Aires) at your home, wherever home is."

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