Te Amo Tango

In the spirit of Argentine tango master Astor Piazzolla — with whom he performed as a teenager at the Montreal Jazz Festival — Uruguay native Raul Jaurena has become the world's premiere bandeonist over the past 40 years, performing most recently with artists ranging from Paquito d'Rivera and Giora Feidman to the Frankfurt Symphony and Pablo Ziegler, in addition to writing arrangements for Yo-Yo Ma. This dramatic, multi-faceted and utterly enrapturing recording is the product of his successful 2005 show at the Thalia Spanish Theatre in New York City — where he has been the Musical Director of Tango productions for over 15 years — when he invited the talented Sinopus String Quintet from his home country along with pianist Octavio Brunetti and vocalist Margaret Mitchell. He's spent a lifetime interpreting the compositions of other composers, but most of the songs here are his own. There's a great deal of depth and texture to the 14 featured tracks, which get off to a rousing and romantic start on "A Mancuso," which practically dares the listener to grab a partner and hit the floor. He and the orchestra settle in for more classical flavored, multi-movement journeys on "Danza Para un Bandeon" and "Bandeon Arrabalero," which include lengthy solo violin passages, before pepping up on the quirky "La Pirulita." These pieces set the tone of the collection, which features a mix of quick, pop flavored ditties amidst more involved, lengthy (but no less fascinating) works.