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Tango Voices: Songs from Buenos Aires and Beyond
Compiled and edited by Donald Cohen
Wise Publications 9781846099007
Paperback £24.95 (176 pages; CD 78 mins)
Terrific tango tutorial With Bajofondo and Gotan Project transforming tango with new musical concerns and bringing it slap bang into the 21st century, it’s easy to forget that as well as being eternally popular back home, where it emerged in the River Plate region between Buenos Aires and Montevideo, tango has strong ties to other parts of the world. Donald Cohen’s beautifully produced, well-researched book is brought alive by fantastic archive photos. It presents 26 songs ranging from River Plate classics to Greek, Italian, French, German Finnish, Yiddish, Russian, Algerian and Danish tangos in scores arranged for voice and guitar and in recorded form by the original artists on the accompanying CD. Cohen’s compelling introductions, which include full translations, tell the history of each tango, peppering his account with salient biographical information and rich anecdotes. Stories such as 93-year-old Nelly Omar reviving her career wearing a poncho to hide the poverty of her clothing after being effectively blacklisted for supporting the Peronist party. Cohen’s choices are spot on, from Roberto Goyenche’s devastating version of Solanas and Piazzolla’s ‘Vuelvo al Sur’ (surely one of the great songs of the 20th century) to Unto Mononen’s quintessential Finnish tango ‘Satumaa’ (first written as a calypso) via Vietnamese singer Khan Ly’s version of Danish composer Jacob Gade’s ‘Jalousie’. This is a glorious book, one that musicians, tango addicts and those completely new to the genre will find readable and covetable.
from Songlines Magazine
New Yorker attorney, history and music professor, guitarist and music folklorist Donald Cohen explores the life of the tango canción and its propagation throughout the world in his book Tango Songs From the Soul of Buenos Aires and Beyond. With printed music and lyrics, photographs, reprinted songbook covers and accompanying CD, Mr. Cohen introduces readers to the music, lyricists, composers, performers and stories behind twenty-six tango cancións from all over the world, celebrating the worldwide seductive lure of the tango.
Mr. Cohen delves right into the rich history of the beginnings of the tango in the orillas of Buenos Aires and finally ends up exploring the Hon Ghen or Jalousie by Danish musician and conductor Jacob Gade and lyricist Vera Bloom as sung by Vietnam's Khanh Ly. Mr. Cohen fills in the history of tango canción greats through life and music of Carlos Gardel and his truly exquisite Me Buenos Aires Querido and Francisco Canaro's tango vals (waltz) You No Se Que Me Han Hecho Tus Ojos or the Algerian tango Ana El Owerka with music by Mustapha Skandrani and lyrics by Mustapha Kechokoul with not only a music professor's sense of historical importance but with a personal passion for the music.
Readers of every stripe will love Tango Voices as it is no staid history, just as the tango is no polite, friendly hop. Juicy nuggets like the affair of tango maestro Francisco Canaro with songstress Ada Falcon or tales of Oh, Donna Clara lyricist Fritz Lohner Beda and his defense of African American dancer Josephine Baker are shot throughout the book, making it clear that the passion of the tango exceeds far beyond the music.
Tango Voices captures a modest selection of the tango canción's history (a complete history would take volumes) in an easy fashion that will appeal to both the dedicated aficionado and the tango novice. Musicians are certain to take to the book with its printed music that includes melody line and chord boxes. Another draw is the lovely black-and-white photos and printed lyrics like those from A Media Luz:
"And all in half light
That is the sorcerer of love
At half light the kisses,
At half light the two of us
And all in half light,
Twilight within
As soft as velvet,
The half light of our love"
Tango Voices exists nicely with the text and photos, but the accompanying CD is worth its weight in gold with such plummy treats like Nelly Omar on La Cumparsita, Alberto Podesta's version of El Bazar de Los Juguetes and the vocals of Roberto Goyaneche on Astor Piazolla's Vuelvo Al Sur. Without a doubt the CD is filled with wonders like Mesanichta, Le Plus Beau Tango Du Monde, Ana El Owerke with vocals by Lili Boniche and my personal favorite Viejo Coche with vocals by Rosita Quiroga. Mr. Cohen takes readers and listeners around the world with Tango Voices and it's a rich, sultry journey.
from World Music Central
Tango Voices
By Donald Cohen
Wise Publications/Amsco Publications
c/o Music Sales Corporation
257 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010
9781846099007, $39.95 Music Sales Group
Also available from Amazon.com
From its inception in the barrios of Argentina, the Tango has proven one of the most enduringly popular dances in the world. "Tango Voices: Songs From The Soul Of Buenos Aires & Beyond" is a remarkable and memorable compendium of celebrated tangos from around the world. Knowledgeably compiled and deftly edited by Donald Cohen, the music is arranged for voice and guitar with each individual pieces being informatively annotated and fully illustrated with complete translations from their languages of origin into English. "Tango Voices" also includes a CD featuring performances by original artists of twenty-six tangos. A superbly organized and presented showcase of the tango, "Tango Voices" is highly recommended for personal, professional, academic, and community library Music & Dance reference collections.
from Internet Bookwatch, May, 2008
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