Bandonegro is a young Polish tango orchestra of world-class level. It was founded in 2010 and is today regarded as one of the best and most fascinating ensembles of its generation. Now the band has released its fifth album „Color Aires“. Here you can hear another outstanding performance by the talented young musicians. Their perfect command of the instruments, combined with playing flair and passion, convinces across the board.
By Karin Lüders and Michaela Lugo
A musical journey into magical Buenos Aires
In the colorful, illustrated booklet of their new CD, the members of Bandonegro are promising quite a lot. „With this album, we want to show that the tradition of tango can receive a new sound, keep evolving, and attract and delight the audience. Every single piece contains our full temperament, our expression, and our passion. This is how we take listeners into the magical, colorful world of Buenos Aires.“
The new album Color Aires by Bandonegro
And the musicians keep their promise! The four young virtuosos play classical tangos, valses, milongas, and Tango Nuevo at a very high musical level in traditional arrangements. These are enriched with their own musical ideas and passionate playing style.
Pieces that are close to the musicians’ hearts
“We’re delighted to present a selection of well-known, outstanding tangos, milongas, and Argentine valses that are especially close to our hearts.“ So it continues in the CD booklet.
The selected pieces are driven by perfect sound and immense joy in playing. Lush Tango articulation and a very successful interweaving of the instruments make classics like Felicia and El Puntazo a delight for dancing and listening. Canaro en Paris surprises with a sensually retarded middle section and closes with a true fireworks display of harmonies. Here you can fully enjoy traditional tango, spiced with youthful, virtuosic playing joy.
Up-tempo milongas and radiant valses
In the lively milongas No hay Tierra como la mía and Reliquias porteñas, the instruments shine with colorful, dense playing. Despite virtuoso articulation, they never lose their cheeky light-footedness. That just makes it fun!
Outstanding here Silueta porteña: It’s opened with a syncopation. This percussion-like emphasis is taken up again in the middle section and makes the milonga a sensuous experience. A great match of tradition and freshness!
Music video for “Silueta Porteña” with Panagiotis Triantafyllou and Agnieszka Stach
The radiant valses Palomita blanca and Desde el Alma win over with a romantically flowing gesture. The instruments communicate wonderfully with each other. A true treat here is the virtuosic ease in handling the instruments.
The link to Tango Nuevo
The Tangos Nuevos La Bordona, A mis Viejos, A los Amigos and Zum create an exciting variety of strongly marked staccato passages and dramatic legato arcs. The art of tempo changes at melodic peaks, combined with passionate playing, guarantees goosebumps.
With a rhythmically distinctive La Cumparsita in the style of Juan D´Arienzo, the young tango musicians say goodbye and leave happy listeners behind! For the best-known of all tangos, Bandonegro presents a music video featuring the masterful dance couple Lorena Tarantino and Gianpiero Galdi.
Music video for “La Cumparsita” with Lorena Tarantino and Gianpiero Galdi
The new album Color Aires has been available for streaming since September 30, 2022, on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, iTunes, and Amazon Music. It is also available on CD, which can be purchased directly from Bandonegro, at their concerts, or on the website of Tangodanza magazine.
Bandonegro’s path so far
Bandonegro is Michal Glówka on the bandoneon and accordion, Jakub Czechowicz on the violin, Marek Dolecki on the piano, and Marcin Antkowiak on the double bass. The four musicians, all born in 1993, have known each other since childhood. They attended the same school for young people with special musical talent. Alongside regular classes, they received qualified training on an instrument of their choice there.
After school, they first went on to various music colleges. But the friends stayed in touch, and during their studies their enthusiasm for tango began. Later on, they wanted to devote themselves to this genre—there was agreement on that!
Early admiration for Astor Piazzolla
The trigger was the fascinating music of Astor Piazzolla, through which the doors to tango opened for them. The four talented teenagers first completed their qualification as professional musicians at the conservatories. In 2010, they then founded their own tango ensemble.
Already at the age of 18, the young Poles won the international competition „PIF Castelfidardo“ in Italy. Almost a year later, their first album Tango Nuevo by Astor Piazzolla was released.
Orquesta or Cuarteto?
Only later did they discover and explore the tango of the „golden age“—the great orchestras and sextets of that era. For the young quartet, it was like a journey into an unknown musical adventure.
Nowadays, they consciously call themselves „Tango Orquesta“ rather than „Cuarteto“ or quartet. Their style is actually less chamber-music-like than is typical for four-person lineups. They often achieve a richness of sound behind which you might suspect a much larger group. They also owe this to the fact that they studied the stylistic tools and playing methods of the old orchestras very closely.
The legendary Argentine dancer Nito García said about the musicians: „A unique energy and a distinctive sound. They’re standing there on stage just as four, and they sound like an orchestra of ten!“
Classic tango with a fresh sound
Bandonegro stands for traditional Argentine tango, but also for Tango Nuevo and their own compositions with elements from jazz and classical music.
As representatives of the young generation, however, they also want to play contemporary music. It should inspire a younger audience for tango and motivate them to dance. That’s why they also deal with neo- and electro-tango, adding further instruments to their lineup, such as drums or an electric guitar. At concerts, for example, you can hear their version of „Englishman in New York.“
Bandonegro as a sextet—with drums and an electric guitar
Acclaimed performances in Buenos Aires
In 2019, the young Poles traveled to Buenos Aires for five weeks. There they gave sixteen concerts in the best-known tango clubs and halls, such as the Salon Canning. They also appeared at the „Argentina Tango Salon Festival“. At the finale of the Tango World Championship, they played their own arrangement of the classic Gallo Ciego. Everywhere they were able to surprise and delight their audience.
Statements from Argentine music legends
José Colángelo, the last pianist in Aníbal Troilo’s orchestra, said after a Bandonegro performance: „I never would have thought that the Poles could play tango so fantastically! All respect!“ And Fernando Suárez Paz, long-time violinist in Astor Piazzolla’s „Quinteto Nuevo Tango“, said: „Your music touches the hearts. I really enjoyed listening to you!“
Music to dance to, concerts to listen to
Bandonegro’s repertoire includes over 70 tangos, milongas, and valses with a particularly danceable character—selected in collaboration with the best European DJs.
With a great sense of style, the ensemble interprets the pieces of the great orchestras such as D’Arienzo, Di Sarli, Pugliese, Troilo, Canaro, or Sassone. Their enormous energy, passion, and emotion immediately creates a close connection with the dancers. That’s why the dance floor is always full during their performances!
Their program also includes concert music meant more for listening. For example, during the opening of festivals concerts are often held where guests who aren’t dancing can still listen to the sounds of tango.
Bandonegro in Buenos Aires – the film
The leitmotif of this film is tango, created in the port districts of Buenos Aires and in the meantime has become an international world language „without words“.
Documentation by Fabio Sánchez Vidal
Fabio Sánchez Vidal’s documentary film accompanies the four young tango musicians who traveled from Poland to Argentina to make their dream come true and to play in the most famous halls of the tango capital.
Film trailer for „Bandonegro in Buenos Aires“
In this film, we learn a lot about the band members, about the music that brought them together, about their goals, motivations, and dreams. From spontaneous football games in the neighborhood of La Boca to statements from tango legends and underground milongas, Bandonegro in Buenos Aires shows a tango that had never existed like this before.
A look at Argentine culture
The film is also a journey into the depths of Argentine culture, which is firmly rooted in dance and in the customs that are typical for South America. The documentary also addresses the problems that today’s Buenos Aires is facing. All of this is supported by statements from the Porteños, the residents of Buenos Aires. And of course you can hear a lot of tango music!
Albums by Bandonegro published so far
Tango Nuevo by Astor Piazzolla (2012)
The group’s first album. It contains acoustic compositions by the Argentine master of tango, Astor Piazzolla, in fresh interpretations. Ten tracks—from the famous Libertango and Oblivion through the energetic Escualo and La Muerte del Angel to the atmospheric Milonga del Angel or Resurreccion del Angel.
Tanchestron (2017)
Well-known pieces by famous orchestras of the golden age of tango, in the style and arrangement of the Bandonegro Tango Orquesta. The first album of this kind recorded in Poland, an answer to the growing interest in the tango dance and tango music in the country. The result of a passion and remarkable persistence in the search for tango’s origins.
Hola Astor (2019)
A subtle fusion of tango with jazz and rock. The beautifully arranged, carefully selected pieces by Astor Piazzolla were combined with Bandonegro’s own compositions. Working with two young stars of the Polish jazz scene—Dawid Kostka on the electric guitar and Mateusz Brzostowski on drums—keeps the album’s sound fresh, catchy, and current.
Bandonegro plays its own composition „Vislumbrar“ in a sextet lineup
Tangostoria (2020)
This album, held in the traditional tango style, includes selected compositions by artists such as Aníbal Troilo, Lucio Demare, Vicente Greco, Horacio Salgán, and Astor Piazzolla. Despite the variety of styles of Argentine composers, the work is a self-contained whole and feels like a fascinating musical narrative! Here, Bandonegro worked together with the Uruguayan singer Andres Martorell.
We’re excited to see what Bandonegro has planned for the future!
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A big thank you to Michaela Lugo for the expert support with the CD review!
Photos and video material: Bandonegro
Links
Go to Bandonegro’s website: Bandonegro
Bandonegro on Facebook
