Tango Paradiso / March 23rd, 2008 / The Jazz Cellar / Vancouver, B.C.
Now for something completely different…on March 23rd, I decided to take in a show at Vancouver’s The Cellar Restaurant/Jazz Club. Tango Paradiso was billed as a unique experience, and as the quartet consisting of pianist Amanda Chan, violinist Yeul Yawney, bassist Michael Vaughan and bandoneon player Douglas Schmidt performed two sets, the crowd warmly showed their appreciation to the very talented musicians, even if they were not quite sure what it was that Schmidt was playing.
It was interesting to watch how four seemingly very different musicians, fused their styles and instruments to perform music that at times was elegant, in other moments simply enchanting, and in still other times gave way to European and Latin folk rhythms. With due respect to her colleagues, Amanda Chan, caught my eye and ear from the time she first walked onto the stage and took her seat at the grand piano. She has stage presence, and approaches her instrument with an air of sophistication. Her elegant playing at times, defies description. One got the sense that despite the other talented musicians with whom she shared the stage, the audience would not have complained one bit if they had paid merely to hear Chan perform solo. Vancouver continues to lead the way on the Canadian music scene, as Chan joins a stellar group of young pianists which includes, Chris Gestrin, Amanda Tosoff and Tilden Webb.
Chan’s finest moments may have come during her lengthy solo which introduced “Adios Nomino,” a selection from Tango Paradiso’s CD Passion. The piano ballad composed by Enrique Torres tells the tragic story of how his father was killed while riding a bicycle. For the most part the song is performed loudly and forcefully and it is only during the last minute that the melody grows quieter and more reflective.
When the tall, bespectacled Schmidt took the stage, my first thought was, ‘Why is this man holding an accordion, and I really was not counting on hearing a polka.’ It soon became obvious that Schmidt’s instrument might look similar to an accordion but it was missing the keyboard, and it only sounded vaguely familiar. Mercifully between songs, Schmidt took time to explain that the free-reed instrument that he held between his hands as he pushed and pulled the bellows, was in fact a bandoneon, invented by the German Henrich Band. The instrument apparently requires considerable more skill to master than the accordion, as it relies on buttons mounted on both the left and right hand sides of the instrument, to assist in producing the notes that the bandoneon emits. In fact, each note has two buttons, one for closing and the other for opening. The bandoneon is a cousin to the concertina, and is quite popular in Argentine tango music.
Rafael Canaro’s composition “Sentimiento Guacho,” sounds like a delightfully romantic tune, as Chan plays with a light touch, and Yawney wields his bow in a sprightly fashion. I was however surprised to learn that when Juan Andres Caruso put lyrics to Yawney’s song; it told the story not only of a tragic and lost love, but of a man who is obsessively bitter about losing his loved one to another man.
One of my favorite pieces performed by Tango Paradiso was taken from the opening track of their CD Passion, the Astor Piazzola composition, “Milonga del Angel.” Schmidt’s bandoneon combines with Yawney’s gentle and at times melancholic violin, as the two musicians paint burnt orange images of a Tuscany landscape.
One might best describe Tango Paradiso’s music as a blend of classical music, combined with traditional European and Latin rhythms. The quartet plays passionately, and is not content with walking through a stilted technical performance, but instead brings their music to life. The next time Tango Paradiso is in your city, I would highly recommend that you sit in on one of their concerts.
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Reviewed March 23rd, 2008
All photos by Joe Montague ©
