CUARTETANGO NEEDS YOUR HELP
Cuartetango’s upcoming recording project “Masters of Tango and Jazz” with the top masters of Jazz will draw parallels between two great genres of the New World - Tango & Jazz in an unprecedented way. This project is unique, historically significant and will leave a lasting impact. We are closer then ever to our goal, which would allow us to begin recording, yet we cannot do it alone.
Your support will make you a part of this enduring legacy.
Last year we created a campaign, which raised 39% of our total initial goal. With further donations that were made last year we are currently at 60% percent of our STAGE1 & 2 funding requirements.
We are about 10 months behind schedule but work has already began on STAGE 1. Now we need to raise the remaining 40%, which equals to $4,500 in order to begin recording in 2015.
Please read the details of our project and become involved!
MASTERS OF TANGO & JAZZ
Copyright LSP Productions 2014
Masters of Tango & Jazz will draw parallels between Tango and Jazz, two great musical genres of the Americas. This project by Leonardo Suarez Paz's Cuartetango, a Latin GRAMMY-Award nominated ensemble and top Jazz artists is unique, historically significant and will leave a lasting legacy. Your contribution will make a difference!
THE HISTORIC RECORDING PROJECT
Taking the Legacy into the Future
Since the 1940s, Jazz artists have crossed over to Tango, using Tango orchestra arrangements with soloists taking on the role traditionally reserved for vocalists. Notable examples include recordings of "El Choclo" with Louis Armstrong recording the track under the title "The Kiss of Fire" (1952) and Nat King Cole recording an arrangement with the original Spanish lyrics (1959).
Later came Astor Piazzolla, who revolutionized Tango by combining classical techniques with elements of Jazz. Piazzolla recorded with notable Jazz musicians including Gerry Mulligan (Summit, 1974) and Gary Burton (Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, 1986, with Fernando Suarez Paz, Leonardo's father), paving the way for future collaboration.
Today, Cuartetango follows in the footsteps of Astor Piazzolla through it's leader, Leonardo Suarez Paz, who grew up alongside Piazzolla and was mentored by him.
In 2001, Wynton Marsalis commissioned Leonardo Suarez Paz for an arrangement of Scott Joplin's "Elite Syncopations," converting a ragtime piece into a Tango for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
"Wynton gave me the book and said, 'Tango and Jazz are cousins," said Suarez Paz . "I also believe that Tango and Jazz are cousins who played together in childhood, but grew up separately and established their own families and projects."
An Unprecedented Approach
In Masters of Tango & Jazz, Leonardo Suarez Paz's Cuartetango will explore the parallels between the two genres by working with individual styles of each Jazz soloist and relating them to specific styles within Tango. Cuartetango's distinct arrangements and compositions will unify the project.
"Masters of Tango & Jazz will reestablish a long overdue conversation and bring the two cousins together again on different terms, as adults. This is not about the usual folkloric sounds; this is about the genres and their essence. This will be a Tango album, where the Jazz cousins will come over Tango's house to chat about their lives and share a nice Malbec."
Masters of Tango & Jazz will open new roads and leave a lasting legacy for these genres, revealing their versatility and the similarities between the cultures of the people who play them.
CUARTETANGO - THE NUEVO TANGO ENSEMBLE
At the Forefront of a Genre
For composers of different eras such as Mozart, Beethoven and Shostakovich, the string quartet has been the most sublime form of musical expression, a perfect balance of sounds, rhythm, timbre, intonation and vibrato.
Cuartetango demonstrates a genre in evolution as the first string quartet dedicated entirely to Tango combining all the nuances and traditional authenticity of this art form with the virtuosity and subtlety of a string quartet. Cuartetango "personifies and embodies the authentic spirit of Tango," (LARAS, Live at the Latin Grammy Awards).
From the Cradle of Tango to New Found Freedom
Leonardo's search for a way to combine Tango with the perfect sound of a string quartet comes from his natural affinity for Tango and Classical music. A fourth generation Tango artist, Leonardo (whose father Fernando had been Piazzolla's collaborator for over a decade) was "born into a cradle of tango."
From an early age, Leonardo was an acclaimed Tango soloist and played with legendary masters Horacio Salgan, Mariano Mores, Osvaldo Berlingieri, Atilio Stampone, among others. He was a star soloist in Broadway shows Forever Tango and Tango Argentino, productions that brought him to New York, where he immersed himself in Jazz, which had always been one of his passions.
Since then, Leo has played and recorded with Jazz masters Jim Hall, Stanley Jordan, Kenny Drew Jr., the Sugar Hill Quartet and produced arrangements for Wynton Marsalis and the JALC. New York had also proven to be the perfect place to recreate Cuartetango, which was first formed in Argentina in 1989.
Cuartetango Highlights
Since Cuartetango's rebirth in 1997, Tango composers, arrangers and artists have collaborated with the string quartet including poet & lyricist Horacio Ferrer, Quinteto Fernando Suarez Paz (Piazzolla's Quintet) with Beatriz Suarez Paz, pianists Osvaldo Berlingieri, Juan Carlos Zunini, Cristian Zarate and Octavio Brunetti, bandoneonists Leopoldo Federico, Nestor Marconi, Lisandro Adrover, Marcelo Nisinman, Hector Del Curto, composer and pianist Carlos Franzetti, Jazz guitarist Jim Hall, Jazz saxophonist Oscar Feldman and many others.
The members of Cuartetango, Leonardo Suarez Paz - violin & vocalist, Sami Merdinian - violin, Ron Lawrence - viola and Danny Miller - cello, are dedicated to presenting Tango as an evolving, complex, emotional genre. They have inspired audiences across the world, from the Teatro Colon Opera House and the Teatro Alvear in Buenos Aires to Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Cuartetango's first album "L'Atelier" was released on EMI Classics. "Masters of Bandoneon," , showcasing the principle characters of Nuevo Tango and earning two Latin GRAMMY-Award nominations in 2012 (Best Tango Album & Best Classical Contemporary Composition.)
$10K TO FUND THE 1ST STAGE
Given this tight fundraising timeline, your contribution will help Cuartetango complete the first, crucial stage of production on this groundbreaking album. Research will be conducted; arrangers and composers will be hired, and many rehearsals will take place. This is the ether where the project will take shape as we get ready to record and you can be a vital part of it!
$40K TO COMPLETE MASTERS OF TANGO & JAZZ
Masters of Tango & Jazz is an enormous undertaking, from the materials required to the artists involved. Time is of the essence and proper funding and support is needed to carry out the time-consuming work which will take place in 5 stages over the next two years:
1. Pre-Production: research, selection of repertoire, writing and commissioning compositions and arrangements, rehearsing new material, working with guest artists, documenting the project through photo and video. (8-10 months)
2. Recording: securing studios in North and South America, arranging recording schedules and guest artist schedules, traveling and recording. (4-6 weeks)
3. Post-Production: editing, mixing and mastering, writing the album booklet, photo shoot, CD and booklet design. (1-2 months)
4. Release: scheduling the CD release, arranging the CD release rehearsals and concert, publicity, promotion and performance. (1-2 months)
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5.Post Release: archiving the materials and editing the video documentary about this historic project. (2 months)
BE A LASTING PART OF THE TANGO LEGACY
Cuartetango has pushed the limits of the Tango genre and fearlessly explored new possibilities that the rich cultural traditions of Tango and Jazz have to offer. You can help make Tango and Jazz history happen by making a contribution to the Masters of Tango & Jazz and by sharing this project with others.
To show our gratitude for helping us move closer to the joy of a completed project, we are proud to share our musical journey with you and offer a range of gifts as tokens of our appreciation.