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Nuevo Tango Ensamble

GIANNI IORIO – bandoneón PASQUALE STAFANO – piano PIERLUIGI BALDUCCI – bass

The NUEVO TANGO ENSAMBLE was born in 1999 starting from a deep admiration for music from Argentina. The trio has established its own identity well recognizable, into which the lesson of classical music, tango nuevo, an Italian melodic sensibility and a conception of authentic jazz performance. The music of the great composer Astor Piazzolla, who had grandparents from Puglia as the three musicians, was therefore assimilated and converted into a new synthesis between the classical music, tango nuevo and jazz that the three musicians have always loved, between the discipline of written and structured music the recognizable Italian character of their melodies and improvisation that makes their every concert a unique event.

Nuevo Tango Ensamble performed all over the world in prestigious Theaters, Festivals and Jazz Clubs like: Paesiello in Lecce, Abeliano in Bari, Giordano and Teatro del Fuoco in Foggia, Eliseo in Rome, Regio in Turin, Lauro Rossi in Macerata, Nymphenburg Castle in Munchen, Duc Des Lombardes in Paris, La Palma and Alexander Platz in Rome, Ferrara Jazz Club, Folk Club in Turin, Maison Musique in Rivoli Chorus in Lausanne, La Spirale in Friburg, Porgy & Bess in Vienna, Treibhaus in Innsbruk, BP Club in Zagreb, Panic Jazz Club in Marostica, Jazzhaus in Freiburg, Bird’s Eye in Basel, New Theatre in Guebwiller and many others, Dusseldorfer Jazz Rally in Dusseldorf, Warsaw Jazz Festival, Beat Onto Jazz in Bitonto , Tam Jazz in Pedaso, Bolzano Jazz & Other, Bucarest Music Festival, Fivizzano International Music World Festival, Senigallia Tango Festival, Macerata Jazz Festival, Groznjian Jazz Festival, Cracow Jazz Festival in Poland, Gipfel du Jazz in Freiburg, a tour of concerts in Gulf Jazz Festival in Dubai, Kuwait City and Manama in Bahrain, Emmas Festival, Villa Celimontana Music Festival in Rome, Musica sulle Bocche in Santa Teresa di Gallura, Akkordeon Music Festival in Wien, Ortaccio Jazz Festival, Bratislava Music, and many others.

The trio collaborates also with international well-known musicians as Argentinian saxophone player Javier Girotto, Italian clarinet player Gabriele Mirabassi, Argentinian bandoneon player Gustavo Toker, the great jazz musician as Daniel Humair.

In 2002 was released the first CD "Astor's Mood” by the classical label Realsound.

In July 2005 was released the second album: "A night in Vienna for Astor Piazzolla". It’s a live CD recorded in Porgy & Bess in Vienna. The album was produced by the prestigious Italian jazz label Philology Jazz Records.

Take Five With Nuevo Tango Ensamble

by Nuevo Tango Ensamble
March 7, 2013

Meet Nuevo Tango Ensamble:Bandoneonist Gianni Iorio, pianist Pasquale Stafano and bassist Pierluigi Balducci have pooled together the love they share for jazz and classical music and their devouring passion for tango and in particular for Astor Piazzolla's music, by setting up a by now well-experienced ensemble that performs all over Europe.Their particular and original sound is accompanied with a poetry, melody and great energy and the original compositions of the trio find a Mediterranean variation of ...

Patrick Dalmace (France) – JAZZHOT “[…] Tous trois sont les auteurs de huit des compositions (titres en italien pour la plupart car il est inutile de dissimuler ses origines). Les rythmes ne sont pas seulement le tango (« d’Impulso ») mais plus largement ceux d’Argentine. On trouve une magnifique milonga, « Milonga para la luna », pour laquelle le trio a invité le saxophoniste Javier Girotto, né à Cordoba mais venu en Italie au bout d’un quart de siècle d’existence (Passage par Berklee, participation en France à l’O.N.J….). On écoute aussi Girotto sur « Il Fiume in piena », sur un fond de chacarera tout comme « Angelica ». Le rythme candombe, avec ses réminiscences afro, est aussi présent. Enfin la lente milonga « Le lanterne di Phuket » est, comme tous ces rythmes, délicatement mixée de classique, jazz, de diverses influences[…]”

Vittorio Lo Conte (Italy) – ALL ABOUT JAZZ “[…]Il loro percorso mischia tango nuevo e jazz, la musica di Buenos Aires, così come l'ha interpretata Piazzolla, ed il jazz americano, grazie al pianismo sensibile di Pasquale Stafano, a suo agio in entrambi gli stili. I suoi dialoghi con il bandoneon di Gianni Iorio sono pervarsi di malinconia, ma anche di uno swing sottile, di qualcosa che proviene dal mondo dell'improvvisazione e che arricchisce la musica di note speziate. Un impulso che proviene, a ben guardare, proprio da Piazzolla, che volentieri aveva accettato i confronti con Gerry Mulligan e Gary Burton.[…]”

Roberta Zlokower (USA) “This CD is one of the most gorgeous collections of recorded and live music I have ever heard. The tango genre is challenging to replicate, and only true professionals, well versed in this genre, should attempt such compositions. Pasquale Stafano and Gianni Iorio have composed seven new works, all on this album, adding two works by the great tango genius, Astor Piazzolla. This collection of music is not just for occasional listening, even twice or three times. This collection of music is for repeated listening, as it grabs the imagination and transports the listener to Buenos Aires tango halls […]” Nestor Minsk (BIELORUSSIA) […]Проект Nuevo Tango Ensamble оказался очень успешным. Трио весьма востребовано, гастролирует по всему миру,издает альбомы. Представляемый сегодня альбом «Средиземноморское танго» - это уже третий диск группы. Издан оннемецким лейблом Jazzhaus Records из Фрайбурга. Для записи этого альбома итальянские музыканты привлекли своегоземляка Габриэле Мирабасси, джазового кларнетиста с европейским именем[…]

Ollie (JAZZRYTMIT - FINLAND) […] Koko äänitteen musiikki on hyvinkin vetävää. Aikanaan tuli rahan takia pakkopullana soitettua "tango viejoa", johon verrattuna nuevossa on se ero, ettei sitä ainakaan amatööri pysty tanssimaan. Kyllä hotelliravintola Männyn hienostuneet asiakkaat olisivat venäyttäneet niveliä yrittäessään[...]

Jonio González – (CUADERNOS DE JAZZ – Spain) De los varios y apreciables grupos europeos (de los daneses Tango Orkestret a los suecos de la New Tango Orquesta pasando por el trío de Eric Chapelle entre otros) que practican esa reinterpretación más o menos circular de la música de Piazzolla llamada "nuevo tango", los italianos de Nuevo Tango Ensamble destacan por varios motivos. En primer lugar porque cuentan con el que tal vez sea el mejor bandoneonista nacido en Europa, Gianni Iorio, emotivamente al menos por encima de colegas como Per Arne Glorivgen o William Sabatier. En segundo lugar, porque su conocimiento y dominio de la tradición "tanguera" es superior a la media y les permite, […]

Neri Pollastri (ALL ABOUT JAZZ – ITALY) “[…]La novità è anche uno dei tratti caratteristici del CD, perché il clima tanguero è tangibilmente risituato in un'atmosfera nostrana, fatta di melodie non meno struggenti di quelle argentine, e tuttavia diversa, forse più aperta, meno drammatica e malinconica, nella quale le frasi narrative si alternano ai ritmi del tango con un fascino e una dolcezza di particolare originalità. Ne sono esempio "Il canto del mare" - che conserva numerosi stilemi classici del tango argentino, ma ne distende il respiro narrativo - e "Terre lontane" - ancor più melodica, ma caratterizzata ancora dall'incedere tipico del tango […] Un bel gruppo che merita complimenti, così come meriterebbe ascoltarlo dal vivo, magari - visto che si tratta di un gruppo nostrano - senza dover necessariamente andare fino al Porgy & Bess di Vienna...

Piotr IWIKI (POLAND) “[...]To, ze Wloch wie o muzyce Piazzolli wszystko, slychac bylo w kazdej frazie. Nie gorzej wypadl wirtuoz fortepianu - jak sie okazalo - Pasquale Stafano. Solidny w tangach, ale i wyluzowany w improwizacjach podszytych jazzem, pokazal, ze mozna pogodzic nuevo tango ze swingowaniem. Gdy gral wstep do "Adios Nonino", udowodnil, ze ròwnie bliski jest mu Piazzolla jak Thelonious Monk i Chick Corea. Dopelniajacy trio kontrabasista skupial sie bardziej na budowaniu solidnego fundamentu niz technicznych popisach. Ot, mistrz drugiego planu.

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