Fernando Otero, piano – Pagina de Buenos Aires – Nonesuch 257084-2, 54:42 *****:
(with Nick Danielson – violin; Inbal Segev – cello; Hector Del Curto – bandoneon; plus others and a 25-piece orchestra)
The parents of composer-pianist Otero had moved to Argentina from Spain. He was a gifted teenage classical music student when his guitar and composition teacher showed him the possibility of creating something with the sound and feeling of tango but not necessarily tango itself. It was similar to the advice Nadia Boulanger had given struggling classical composer Astor Piazzolla years earlier. Otero called it X Tango.
Now living in Brooklyn, he has been employing tango as the starting point for an instrumental sound having the improvisatory thrill of jazz but within a more formal, often classical structure. Two of the tracks of his latest CD have a 25-piece orchestra backing his bandoneon player. Otero’s music sounds more mischievous and quirky than Piazzolla’s – it is often full of quick stops and pauses and has been compared to Carl Stalling’s music for Hollywood animation shorts. This music would be even more difficult to really dance the tango to than Piazzolla’s. The wild duos Otero performs with violinist Danielson reminded me some of Darol Anger’s duos with pianist Barbara Higbie, but within a tango idiom and a more complex jazz influence. This is definitely a young composer to watch; I found this first exposure to Otero just as exciting as hearing the very first Piazzolla LP.
TrackList:
1. Chirimbolos 0:33
2. La Vista Gorda 3:23
3. De Ahora en mas 3:19
4. Pagina de Buenos Aires 4:07
5. Desde Adentro 2:21
6. Piringundin 2:45
7. Lejana 4:07
8. Musica del Circo 3:22
9. Ausencias 4:58
10. El Momento 4:31
11. El Circulo rojo 4:36
12. Union 3:31
13. Preludio 19 3:22
14. Calendario 4:52
15. Siempre Amor – Las ruedas siguen girando 2:02
16. Sublevados 2:19
— John Sunier
