A delightful group from Canada consisting of violinist
Stephane Allard
,
Denis Plante
on bandoneon, pianist
Richard Hunt
, and bassist
Rene Gosselin
Quartango
performs colorful and adventurous versions of
tangos
. They play traditional melodies, more recent originals, and a couple offbeat pieces (including
Dave Brubeck
's
"Blue Rondo a la Turk"
). A few guests add rhythms connected to the
Argentinian tango
tradition but the ensembles are far from predictable. Bridging the worlds of
tango
and
jazz
shows humor in spots (such as the group vocal on
"Gigolo Jig in G"
) and utilizes advanced harmonies and dissonances to show that this is not museum music. Hints of
classical
opera
Irish jigs
, Brazilian and Cuban music, and particularly
ragtime
pop up constantly.
Allard
's violin is consistently beautiful while
Plante
's bandoneon is a major asset in the ensembles. Although not strictly a
date, this music should interest
fans who also enjoy
rhythms. ~ Scott Yanow