The New Tango in Bloomington, MN

Recorded at the
Montreux Festival
of 1986,
The New Tango
is an album of collaboration between the undisputed leader of the nuevo tango movement,
Astor Piazzolla
, and American vibe master
Gary Burton
. All of the pieces on the album were written by
Piazzolla
over the course of some 40 years of work, along with one special composition,
"Vibraphonissimo,"
written expressly for
Burton
's usage. Surprisingly enough -- given the virtuosity and coherence that one receives on the album -- there were a mere three rehearsals prior to the recorded performance. As the listener finds out, the vibraphone is perfectly suited to the tango; or at the very least, that
is fully capable of the job. As with all of
's albums, the chances of disappointment are quite slim, with a special amount of attention given here to details by all musicians involved. Any fan of the nuevo tango or
will be pleased as usual. Fans of
or jazz vibes may find the album surprisingly good as it shows the versatility of the vibraphonist. As
Fernando Gonzalez
once said, "this music knows many dialects. And listens. There are no lines drawn and no sides to defend. This is new tango." ~ Adam Greenberg