JAZZIZ Travel is a new podcast series hosted by JAZZIZ online editor Matt Micucci that explores jazz and creative music in all four corners of the globe. In this series, you will hear conversations with artists and people talking about the significance of jazz as an art form, the influence of folk music traditions of different cultures and backgrounds, or simply sharing their thoughts, ideas and insight on their multicultural projects.
Argentinian Astor Piazzolla, born in 1921, leaned heavily on the jazz vocabulary to create the nuevo tango, a form of music in which new elements are incorporated into the traditional Argentinian tango. To celebrate the centennial of this groundbreaking music artist, conductor Gisele Ben-Dor and bandoneon virtuoso Juanjo Mosalini have released an exquisitely expressive tribute album titled Piazzolla: Cien Años.
The album was released on August 5 via Centaur and documents a live performance recorded in January 2020 with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra at the Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This was neither the first time the pair have collaborated together nor is it the time they find themselves celebrating the legacy of Piazzolla. However, every time they do, they expose the heart of tango as Piazzolla imagined it: a cosmopolitan and emotional roller coaster, technically virtuosic, savage and tender.
Listen to our JAZZIZ Travel podcast conversation with Gisele Ben-Dor and Juanjo Mosalini via the player below. Piazzolla: Cien Años is out now via Centaur Records and you can order it HERE.
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